Laurene Powell Jobs joins Leonardo DiCaprio to form Earth Alliance

Launched on Tuesday, the Earth Alliance bills itself as an organization "to help address the urgent threats to our planet's life support systems," in response to a "growth climate crisis and staggering loss of biodiversity threatening the stability of life on Earth."

The organization brings together Powell Jobs, DiCaprio, and Sheth, combining the communications of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation with the talent and capabilities of the Emerson Collective and Global Wildlife Conservation. As part of the effort, LDF's staff and operations will fold into Earth Alliance, which will be led by an "independent management team of globally renowned scientists and conversationists."

Since its founding in 1998, the LDF has provided more than $100 million in grants to projects working in all five oceans and all seven continents. By enrolling into Earth Alliance, the LDF aims to increase the level of impact and scale up projects by combining the talents of all of the organizations.

"All we know and love is threatened by the climate crisis, and each of us must ask ourselves and one another what more we can do to protect the planet we share," said Laurene Powell Jobs. "Earth Alliance is part of our answer. I am proud to join with Leo and Brian to make a habitable earth possible for future generations. Leo is one of the most uniquely gifted communicators of our time, and with Earth Alliance, we will harness those gifts to inspire people, regardless of age, race, or geography, to stand up as leaders for our natural world and safeguard our imperiled planet."

DiCaprio offered similar sentiments, stating, "Today marks the next step in the evolution of LDF as it fully merges under the new Earth Alliance management and grant-making framework. Laurene and Brian are incredible civic leaders who share my passion and understanding of the urgency and scale of the challenges we face. I am proud to partner with them to form this new larger, nimble platform that shares resources and expertise while identifying the best programs to drive real change around the planet."

GWC will be operating as the fiscal sponsor for Earth Alliance, assuming financial oversight and administration. All three co-founders will be offering programming oversight for the effort, with Earth Alliance also seeking to partner with other nonprofits, communities, funds, and government agencies to further its work.

The environment is one of a number of areas of interest for Powell Jobs and her Emerson Collective. Over the last year, the organization has helped fund Boom Supersonic, a project to create an economically-viable supersonic airliner, while Powell Jobs has signaled an intent to increase investment in journalism.