About the Wyss Foundation

The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable foundation dedicated to supporting innovative, lasting solutions that improve lives, empower communities, and strengthen connections to the land. To confront the global conservation crisis, the Wyss Foundation launched a $1.5 billion campaign, called the Wyss Campaign for Nature.

Climbing and hiking the Rocky Mountains as a young man, Hansjörg Wyss developed a lifelong love for America’s open lands and a passion for discovery and innovation.  After a successful career in life-saving medical science, Mr. Wyss created the Wyss Foundation in 1998 to help ensure that the iconic Western landscapes that inspired him are protected for everyone to experience and explore.  Today, the Wyss Foundation’s philanthropy supports projects in areas from conservation and education to economic opportunity and social justice.  Each philanthropic investment seeks to encourage new ideas and new solutions that expand the reach of human possibility and compassion.

What We Do

Protections

The Wyss Foundation and its partners have helped local and Indigenous communities, national governments, land trusts, and non-profit partners permanently protect more than 120 million acres of land and more than 3.2 million square kilometers of ocean.

COMMUNITIEs

The Wyss Foundation invests in programs and initiatives that expand economic opportunity, help more Americans enter the middle class, and develop innovative, lasting solutions to ensure that everyone has the chance to pursue their dreams and fulfill their potential.

Discovery

As part of its work to expand economic opportunity, empower communities, and build the next generation of leaders, the Wyss Foundation supports groundbreaking research to shift paradigms, bridge divisions, and solve some of our world’s most pressing problems.