Our trustees approved the decision to divest from fossil fuels at their December 2014 board meeting, inspired by the leadership and commitment of foundations that have publicly taken this step, including the many signatories of the Divest-Invest Pledge (http://divestinvest.org/philanthropy/signatories/). The momentum is clearly building. We hope that our action will, in turn, inspire other small foundations, and we stand ready to share our experience with others considering the decision to divest from fossil fuels.
On a beautiful day in May 2013, a group of friends gathered to dedicate Foster Crossing, a section of public-access trail maintained by the Essex County Trail Association. The trail is named in the memory of Susan F. Foster, New England Biolabs Foundation’s long-time assistant director, who passed away in December 2012. Foster Crossing is located on a westward-facing meadow on the New England Biolabs’ campus in Ipswich and is marked by a granite bench created by local artist Michael Updike. The inscription on the bench, taken from a poem by Emily Dickinson, reads: