Steen Foundation

The Steen Foundation is a Detroit-based, Black youth-led operational foundation investing in the next generation of environmental, economic, and civic leaders.

Our story began with Dr. Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots movement. At 18, founder Jeremiah Steen became the youngest Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots Fund II National Fellow. That experience helped inspire an organization built around a simple idea: young people should have more than a voice in shaping the future, they should have the resources, relationships, and decision-making power to build it.

Since 2018, the Steen Foundation has impacted more than 5,000 young people through environmental leadership, literacy, workforce development, philanthropy, and civic engagement. Our work includes a 25-person Environmental Policy Fellowship developed with Audubon Great Lakes; TradesForce, which has connected more than 1,600 young people to climate-resilient career pathways; and the Green Mobile Book Fair, which has distributed more than 20,000 books throughout Detroit. We also create opportunities for young people to develop policy recommendations, lead community projects, access mentorship, and turn ideas into sustainable solutions.

Across our work, we connect environmental action with economic opportunity. We believe communities navigating climate and economic transition cannot simply invest in today’s infrastructure, they must invest in the people who will inherit, operate, improve, and eventually lead it.

That is why our philosophy is rooted in succession planning as an economic transition strategy. Literacy builds knowledge. Mentorship transfers experience. Investment provides agency. Leadership ensures the work continues.Our goal is not simply to prepare young people for the future. It is to give them the tools, capital, and opportunity to help build it.