We believe in our partners’ expertise, reliability and truth.
Locally-led organizations are essential drivers of sustainable change rooted in localized knowledge, community connections and experience maximizing limited resources.
Economic and social justice are crucial for community-wide development that offers all people the opportunity to pursue dignified, creative and productive lives.
Nonprofits can enhance their impact and the public good by integrating private sector best practices that increase efficiency and results.
Grassroots vision and resilience are central to sustainable community change.
Eric Younger founded Confluence Institute to advance his dream of empowering outstanding NGOs in places that are important to him and his family – rural East Africa and the U.S. Interior West. Eric’s commitment to furthering the work of outstanding nonprofits is driven by his personal experiences leading nonprofit organizations such as the Gathering Place on the Navajo Reservation and the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD). These roles and his work with the Peace Corps in Papua New Guinea and Bulgaria fueled his commitment to advancing sustainable community development.
Eric and his wife Heidi devote their time to helping visionary thinkers build local capacity to lead community change in rural East Africa, and to fostering stewardship, restoration, research and educational opportunities in central Idaho.
Cydney oversees Confluence Institute’s business activities ranging from resources and operational planning to policies, procedures and efficiencies. Her experience spans nearly 25 years in the government and non-profit sectors. Most recently, she was Operations Director with the Wood River Land Trust, which works to protect over 26,000 acres and 14 public preserves in Idaho’s Wood River Valley. Previously, she was Director of Development with Idaho State University. She served as a senior aide to former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas from 1999-2010. During that time, she focused on economic development and legislative issues related to education and the environment and served in three U.S. Senate campaigns as Deputy Campaign Manager and Financial Compliance Director.
In 2002, she received the Jeffrey Ledbetter Memorial Award from the Democratic Party of Arkansas and represented the state as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Cydney earned a master’s degree in public administration from Idaho State University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi. A native of Helena, Arkansas, Cydney and her husband John relocated to Idaho in 2011. In her spare time, Cydney can be found running her Bloodhound Poodle mix Jenny on a local trail, skiing or hitting the links on a nearby golf course.
A Pacific Northwest native and Idaho resident, Eric has 25 years of executive leadership experience in sustainable development. His academic background and professional experience are focused on enabling nonprofits to become vibrant, effective and sustainable organizations that provide a powerful voice for the constituencies they represent.
Heidi is cofounder of White Clouds Preserve (WCP), a nonprofit organization fostering stewardship, restoration, research and education opportunities in central Idaho. She and her husband Eric have worked in the U.S. and internationally supporting community organizations that use sustainable development practices.
Scott is president of SP Holdings Inc., a Pacific Northwest-based entity in the wholesale sector industry with 13 companies in its portfolio. In addition to his extensive background in business operations, Scott is passionate about enabling sustainable business development in East Africa.
Laird is founder and executive director of Advocates of the West, a public interest, nonprofit environmental law firm that protects and defends the West’s natural treasures and wildlife. A leader in international environmental litigation for more than 20 years, he possesses a deep understanding of how to achieve environmental conservation and resilience, and sustainable development.
As the senior FCDE representative in Uganda, Sylvia has been with the organization since inception in 2011. She has more than 14 years of experience with nonprofit organizations and is passionate about sustainable development through empowering grassroots community groups.
A nonprofit devotee, Rebecca has almost 20 years of experience working with organizations dedicated to youth and community development across the globe. She has capitalized on her work in the field in order to create comprehensive, multi-faceted programs designed to address community-identified needs and solutions.
At the Confluence Institute, our focus is on supporting sustainable development in East African communities experiencing the front-line impacts of a changing climate. Explore some of the revolutionary organizations we’re partnering with.
