Colcom Foundation Works to Protect America’s Natural Environment

Founded in Pittsburgh in 1996 by Cordelia S. May, Colcom Foundation has spent nearly three decades directing philanthropic resources toward one of the most pressing issues of our time: the relationship between human population growth and ecological decline. Mrs. May established the foundation at age 68, drawing on a lifetime of concern for the natural world, and it was substantially funded following her death in 2005.

A Vision Rooted in Early Observation

Mrs. May’s awareness of environmental fragility began remarkably early. By 1952, when she was just 23 years old, she had already started supporting family planning causes motivated by a clear-eyed understanding of how unchecked population growth could destabilize natural systems. She recognized that incremental daily growth is nearly invisible, but its long-term cumulative force could be overwhelming.

That insight became her life’s work. Long before climate disruption and biodiversity collapse entered mainstream public conversation, Cordelia S. May was sounding the alarm connecting the dots between population pressure and ecological strain. Colcom Foundation describes her as someone whose “humanitarian perspective brought the approaching drama into focus decades before it reached public discourse.”

Mission and Grantmaking Focus

The primary mission of Colcom Foundation is to foster a sustainable environment that ensures quality of life for all Americans. The foundation focuses specifically on addressing the major causes and consequences of overpopulation and its adverse effects on natural resources. On a regional level, the foundation also supports conservation initiatives, environmental projects, and cultural assets throughout western Pennsylvania.

Through their grants, they have supported many organizations, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, which works towards protecting endangered species, and the Sierra Club Foundation, which advocates for clean energy and climate solutions. These grants have helped to advance important causes and support organizations that strive to make a difference.

Current headlines about habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, aquatic ecosystem collapse, and pollution reflect exactly the imbalances Mrs. May predicted. Colcom Foundation’s grantmaking honors her humanitarian objectives, her foresight, dignity, and compassion carrying forward a mission she articulated when few others were paying attention. See related link for more information.

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Founded in Pittsburgh in 1996 by Cordelia S. May, Colcom Foundation has spent nearly three decades directing philanthropic resources toward one of the most pressing issues of our time: the relationship between human population growth and ecological decline. Mrs. May established the foundation at age 68, drawing on a lifetime of concern for the natural…