Who We Are

Canopy connects communities through thriving urban forests.

Our mission is to collaborate with communities to grow and sustain equitable urban forests for all.

We envision connected communities thriving within a vibrant urban forest.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Canopy prioritizes tree planting and stewardship, education, and advocacy in communities where people do not have a thriving urban forest due to limited resources, competing priorities, historical development, and urbanization patterns. Continue reading Canopy’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy.

Read about Canopy’s impact and recent accomplishments.

Canopy’s four key strategies involves:

• Engage: We plant and steward community trees in partnership with residents, volunteers, school communities, municipalities, and grassroots partners.
• Educate: We create life-long environmental stewards through exploration and education about trees and tree care.
• Steward: Our rigorous approach to tree care and maintenance—always engaging the community—ensures high rates of tree survival and longevity.
• Advocate: We uphold and promote policies and funding that protect trees and promote a healthy urban forest.

We’re guided along the way by our four core values:

• Excellence: We value evidence-based practice and continual innovation. To work effectively and maintain community trust, we invest in passionate, hardworking staff and Board Members who embrace and promote a culture of excellence.
• Equity: We actively seek to engage and reflect the diversity of people living on the Midpeninsula, and to remedy local inequities in access to tree canopy and urban nature.
• Collaboration: We actively share knowledge, experience, and resources with public, private, and other nonprofit agencies. We invest in strong partnerships to achieve greater collective impact.
• Gratitude: We value, recognize, and celebrate the diverse contributions of staff, board, volunteers, donors, and partners who power Canopy’s success and create long-lasting impact.

Canopy’s diverse programs include:

• Tree Planting: expanding our urban forest. Canopy recently completed a major initiative to plant 1,000 trees on underserved school campuses. Now we’re working on the next thousand.
• Tree Care: tending our young and mature community trees
• Tree Walks: inspiring people of all ages to explore and appreciate the urban forest
• Events and Workshops: Engaging the community and sharing the latest in arboriculture science.
• Youth Engagement and School Programs: Inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards.
• Urban Forest Advocacy: Working with public and private agencies to protect our forest as a whole.
• Community Services: Providing guidance and advice for City of Palo Alto programs, and mentoring other organizations.

Canopy manages all these programs with a small professional staff, dedicated board, advisors, community partners, and hundreds of volunteers.

As a professional organization engaged in national and local best practices, we are proud to be partners with Cal Fire, California ReLeaf, and the Alliance for Community Trees (ACT).

     

If you have been a volunteer, supporter, or recipient of our work, please write a review about us on Great Nonprofits, or join our Facebook community to share your experience with others.

Canopy Logos for web use:

Download our logo in various formats from Google Drive or email [email protected] for other logo or photographic needs.