Remembering Jay Harris

Jay Harris, a conservation champion and founder of the state conservation voter league movement, died unexpectedly on December 29 at the age of eighty-one.  His funeral service will be held on Tuesday, January 5 at 2 p.m. in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Memorials may be sent to

Jay was one of our quiet giants.  Today I reached out to a few friends to remember Jay.  This is a hastily composed but heartfelt set of brief reflections on a very special human being and philanthropist.

Jay was one of the founders of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.  He was also one of the most magnanimous, dedicated and active environmental donors in the United States.  Since the late 1970s, Jay generously supported groups working to promote sustainable agriculture, climate solutions, clean energy technologies, nuclear disarmament, family planning, and land conservation.

Jay was a visionary and a pragmatist.  As a visionary, he was an early and avid supporter of prophetic leaders like Dana Meadows, co-author of the Limits to Growth, and Gerry Barney, founder of the Millennium Institute.  He consistently supported organizations and leaders working to address the root causes rather than symptoms of ecological

distress:  excessive consumption, growth, and rising population on a finite planet.  Yet he also delved deeply into politics and was very active with the League of Conservation Voters and Sierra Club.

According to Gene Karpinski, president of League of Conservation Voters, “Jay was one of the fathers of the state league movement. His vision and commitment to a robust network of state leagues helped start the federation in the mid-1990s.  To this day, the "league movement" would be little more than a dream if not for Jay Harris.”

Jay never sought the limelight. "He was a good and gentle person who applied his resources and keen instincts in uncommonly quiet, venturesome and effective ways" says Wade Greene, a Rockefeller family philanthropic adviser, who has known Jay and directed support to many of the same causes and individuals for over three decades.   Jay was also widely appreciated for his personal hand-written notes and checks that were sent with minimal bureaucracy and always with a short note of affirmation for the recipient.  He was a very straightforward man who spoke the truth and was renowned for asking tough questions at EGA events and gatherings.  He was also extremely passionate about the urgency of our plight.  “Jay regularly reminded us of the importance of our work, that the crisis of global warming is an impending and dire threat that will need all of our hard work to stop.  With Jay now gone, the task of curtailing global warming will fall to the rest of us” says Bill Roberts, former CEO of the Beldon Fund.

Jay also walked the talk.  He put his property under environmental easements, drove an electric car, and practiced sustainable farming on the eastern shore of Maryland.  He was very conscious of his personal carbon footprint and worked in small and large ways to live a sustainable lifestyle.

I spoke with Jay two weeks ago when I was in Copenhagen at the United Nations climate summit.  He was distressed that the summit would not result in solutions at the scale or speed needed, yet he was very positive about the many groups and leaders working for change.  As always, he was both a visionary and a pragmatist, doggedly searching for transformational breakthroughs while also supporting the critical day-to-day work of  incremental change in the policy arena.

Many of us knew and loved Jay.  We will miss him very much.  His spirit of determination and his unwavering generosity will live on through the many leaders and groups he has supported.  His memory will continue to inspire us as we embrace the beauty of life and work to ensure a safe future for future generations.

Submitted with much sadness and with deep appreciation for a great friend and colleague, Betsy Taylor