Applicant Name: Sarah Baxendell

Applicant ETH Address: 0xEa8bc703924637438313ABf086D952011eb568F5

Organization(s) or Affiliation(s): ArtEcology, Layer Labs, Just Open Source, Regen Network, BioFi

Why do you want to serve as an Expert Evaluator for the Localism Fund?

Funding distribution is not merely capital allocation — it is an act of value discovery. The Localism Fund represents a crucial inversion: the movement from extractive, centralized models toward regenerative, place-based systems of value creation. This matters.

Over fifteen years designing funding mechanisms and reviewing grants (currently for Just Open Source), I bring operational expertise in funding design, sectoral depth in nature finance and bioregionalism, and six years of technical literacy in blockchain ecosystems. In my career I have raised $37 million for climate change projects, and bring large-scale capital management expertise.

I care deeply about how local funding is distributed because it is the proto-institutional architecture through which communities learn to value differently. The Localism Fund is not simply distributing resources — it is prototyping new grammars of worth. I want to contribute to that generative work.

🪴 Grant-Making Expertise

Program Design & Management: ****3

Evaluation & Impact Learning: 2

Financial Strategy & Fundraising: 3

Governance Systems & Mechanism Design: 3

Experiences, Highlights & Evidence:

I managed the Regen Network grant program. I am a grant reviewer for Just Open Source.