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Planting Impact

Stories of People and the Urban Forest | 2025 Canopy Impact Report

From Executive Director Jean-Paul Renaud

Dear Friends, Trees thrive when communities thrive. That idea sits at the heart of community forestry, the belief that the most resilient urban forests are not simply planted and maintained but actively stewarded by the people who live among them. While municipal forestry is necessarily focused on managing trees as public infrastructure, community forestry recognizes that lasting canopy growth depends on something equally important: relationships, trust, education, and community ownership. Throughout this report, you'll see the principle of community forestry come to life again and again. You'll meet students at Los Robles-Ronald McNair Academy, where a collection of trees became something much larger: California's first accredited public K-12 school arboretum.  You'll meet residents who welcomed trees into their homes and neighborhoods through our residential planting programs, which reflected the truth that community forestry is never one-size-fits-all.  You'll see the care that must follow planting. In community forestry, success is not measured by how many trees go into the ground, but by how many grow into healthy, mature canopy. You'll meet people who discovered that caring for a tree can become a gateway to something larger. Through fruit tree adoptions, residents who may not have had access to traditional planting opportunities found a pathway into stewardship.  Through Community Forestry School, community members became planting leaders, advocates, educators, board members, and founders of new initiatives. Through our Teen Urban Forester program, young people developed not only environmental knowledge, but leadership skills, confidence, and a sense of civic purpose that will serve them long after the trees they planted have matured. And you'll see how this work is expanding beyond any single neighborhood or city. Through Planting Hope, our regional community forestry symposium co-presented with Stanford University's Office of Community Engagement, more than 140 participants from over 30 Bay Area communities came together to share ideas, challenges, and solutions. Together, these stories remind us that community forestry is ultimately about people.

Every planting event, tree care workshop, classroom lesson, and community gathering creates opportunities for connection, belonging, and collective action. Those investments in people are what make long-term canopy growth possible.

This year also marked a milestone we are proud to share. For the first time in Canopy's history, we completed an independent financial audit, a reflection of the fact that, together, we have grown this organization beyond the $2 million threshold that requires one. That milestone belongs to all of you. It reflects the trust you have placed in this work and the confidence you have shown in our mission. We take that responsibility seriously. Just as healthy urban forests require strong infrastructure, so does a growing organization. The investments we are making in staff, systems, governance, and accountability will ensure that Canopy is prepared to meet its next chapter with the same integrity that has guided the last 30 years. Thank you for helping us grow not only a healthier urban forest, but stronger communities as well. Together, we are planting hope for decades to come.

From Board Chair Maria Chai

Dear Friends of Canopy, I've had the privilege of watching this organization grow and change for many of those years—and what has stayed with me is not just how much Canopy has done, but how much it has listened. What three decades gives Canopy is not a formula. It gives us the wisdom to keep adapting, and the relationships, the trust, and the tools to do it better. That capacity for adaptation has never mattered more. The need is local and concrete: streets and sidewalks that trap heat, schoolyards in full sun, neighborhoods with fewer trees and the communities that need them most. The stories in this report live in those places, and in the people who show up for them, season after season. What you'll find inside reflects a year of meaningful firsts: a regional convening that brought together more than 140 urban forestry leaders across the Bay Area; new communities, new partnerships, new species; and the quiet, consistent work of caring for trees and the people who tend them. Taken together, they point toward something larger than any single season — a field growing in confidence, and a community deepening its roots.

This momentum is very intentional, and it is also beautifully unpredictable. It spreads neighbor to neighbor, through community partners who open doors and share the opportunity with the people around them. What has filled me with such hope this year is watching communities take this work and run with it in ways we never could have planned: a single tree becoming the start of a conversation, a conversation becoming a planting, a planting becoming a neighborhood transformed.

Planting a tree is an act of faith in the future. Thirty years in, that faith is something I feel more deeply than ever in this organization, in the communities it serves, and in you. I hope these stories move you the way they move me. This work is yours too.

2025 by the Numbers

Together, we planted 420 trees and cared for 450+ trees across Palo Alto, Mountain View, East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and North Fair Oaks.

1,300 + volunteers dug in at 115 tree planting and tree care events, volunteering for 5,800+ hours.

Photo by Jesse Kornblum, ProBonoPhoto

251 potted fruit trees were distributed to residents across 25+ Midpeninsula cities through 12 fruit tree adoption events.

Photo by Kenny Gabe of the East Palo Alto Library

2,060 students engaged in pre-K-12 environmental education through 109 hands-on lessons at 11 school sites across 6 districts.

32 Teen Urban Foresters worked a collective 5,800+ hours, planting 96 trees and engaging in 66 professional development and enrichment sessions.

39 Community Forestry School students from 20 Bay Area cities took community forestry knowledge and skills back to their communities.

8,000 people engaged face-to-face with Canopy at 165 community events, including 12 tree walks, 13 webinars and workshops, and 137 tabling and canvassing sessions.

Photo by DJ Stamper, Treasured Visions

336 individual donors supported Canopy's work, making the community forestry, education, and workforce development programs possible.

Planting Connection

Roots and Stars Arboretum at Los Robles-Ronald McNair Academy

In November 2025, the Roots & Stars Arboretum at Los Robles-Ronald McNair Academy (LRRMA) received Level-I accreditation from the Morton Arboretum ArbNet Accreditation Program, making it the first arboretum on a public K-12 school campus in California. This accreditation was a landmark achievement built on three overlapping connections: children to nature, a community to needed green space, and collaborating organizations willing to show up together to make something unprecedented possible. The school's name carries two legacies. Los Robles is Spanish for "the oaks"—roots, ground, community. Ronald McNair was an astronaut and physicist who broke barriers to reach the stars. Together, they give this arboretum its name and its north star: Roots & Stars. Canopy helped make both aspirations real, grounding students in the natural world beneath their feet while nurturing the sense of possibility that space exploration embodies. Through community planting days and Canopy's "Planting Trees is Fun" lessons, students planted trees alongside their families and neighbors, learning why trees matter as integral green infrastructure. Then students made the trees more deeply part of the community: they named them. Fourth and fifth graders hand crafted aluminum labels and attached them to stakes and branches across campus. These students didn't inherit an arboretum. Guided by Canopy, they built one.

Left to right: Community tree planting at LRRMA, "Planting Trees is Fun" lesson, and tree tagging with students

Today, 122 individual trees representing 28 tree species populate every dimension of the campus. They shade courtyards, line walkways, and anchor the large Outdoor Science Learning Area (OSLA) turning it into a living laboratory and natural shade steps from the classroom. The trees are visible through classroom windows every school day. The students can now grow with the trees, developing stewardship, belonging, and a sense of possibility that extends well beyond the school grounds. Achieving ArbNet accreditation required Canopy to do what we do best: show up consistently as an enduring partner. Canopy provided the expertise and continuity that transformed a school planting from just trees into a tree museum. In partnership with the Ravenswood City School District and LRRMA, that sustained commitment made the difference. At Roots & Stars, the trees and the people who tend them are growing into something the same: rooted, reaching, and built to last. This is Canopy's impact. It is connection that spreads, shade that shelters, and roots that will outlast us all.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Young Tree Care Community Tree Plantings | Fruit Tree Adoptions | Regional Forestry Symposium Community Forestry School | Teen Urban Foresters | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons 2025 Financials | The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

Planting Resilience

The Power of Young Tree Care

“Tree care is community care,” says Elizabeth Robles, Community Forester for San Mateo County. “Our tree care approach is to understand why people want trees and what they need from the tree care.” For every tree care visit made by a Community Forester like Elizabeth, there is a conversation with the Tree Steward about what they want from their tree and where they need support. Depending on the priorities of the Tree Steward—greater fruit production, improved street clearance, increased shade, or privacy screening for their home—our team will harness the science and art of young tree pruning to help them grow a tree that meets their needs and sets the foundations for a resilient urban forest.

Community Forester Elizabeth demonstrating tree pruning to volunteers

In 2025, Canopy Community Foresters cared for more than 450 Canopy-planted trees across Palo Alto, Mountain View, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, and Belle Haven. Canopy is committed to nurturing each of these trees with our community, providing 3 years of intentional and specialized care to ensure every tree grows into mature tree canopy. Care needs can vary from tree to tree and across communities, but Canopy understands that starting tree care when they’re young is the best practice. One of the most important aspects of young tree care is strategic pruning to create a strong, stable structure and promote healthy growth. Young trees can bounce back more easily from corrective cuts, and early pruning helps guide growth, reduce overcrowding or unbalanced branches, and prevent future diseases or defects.  This specialized pruning and attentive care is an investment in the tree’s long-term health, and in turn, the ability of the Tree Steward to care for and benefit from the tree. When trees are set up for success from the beginning, we reduce the need for significant mature tree care and minimize future maintenance costs for issues like branch failure or sidewalk upheaval. In this way, young tree care is also care for the people who live amongst urban trees. While tree care and pruning can be quite specialized, our Community Foresters make the effort to share their knowledge and skills with our community. Through public tree care workshops, Canopy introduced and trained Teen Urban Foresters, Community Forestry School students, residents, and community members to essential tree care practices. When community members not only benefit from their trees but know how to care for them, they’re more likely to continue investing in their urban trees.

“People love to take ownership of their trees, so these workshops give them the skills, knowledge, and confidence to work on their own trees,” says Michael DeBroeck.
Volunteers care for public trees at a Canopy tree care workshop

Most importantly, the tree care visits and workshops are an opportunity to connect and build community. For every tree care visit, a relationship and trust is built between the Community Forester and Tree Steward. For every school tree care workday, young students and parents excitedly ask questions about their campus trees. For every street tree care session, there is a curious community member who strikes conversation about their neighborhood’s trees.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum Community Tree Plantings | Fruit Tree Adoptions | Regional Forestry Symposium Community Forestry School | Teen Urban Foresters | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons 2025 Financials | The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

Planting Canopy

Meeting communities where they are

Urban trees often evoke a park, a median strip or a row of street trees outside a school, and those trees are critical infrastructure, but the vast majority of the urban tree opportunity is where we live. In a dense urban matrix where Canopy sits, most plantable space can be found in front yards and backyards. The urban data indicates that more than 80% of the plantable space in these neighborhoods is on residential land under the stewardship of homeowners and landlords, beyond the scope of our municipal and city arborists. Expanding tree canopy at the scale communities need to impact our temperatures, improve air quality, and reduce flood risk requires meeting our community residents where they live. Canopy’s residential planting program is built on this understanding. Planting in residential neighborhoods isn’t a single, replicable formula. Every community has different soil, different infrastructure, different utility layouts, and, most importantly, different humans with varying needs, priorities, and relationships to trees. What works in one community may not be a fit for another, and Canopy’s planting program's real strength is our capacity to adapt. One of the clearest expressions of this adaptability is the tree palette–the mix of species planted in community. Tree planting palettes emerge from a combination of ecological science, site conditions, nursery availability, and the preferences of the people who will actually live with these trees for decades.

Left: A Western Redbud is planted in a Mountain View yard | Right: A Chinese Elm is planted in the Montage neighborhood of East Palo Alto

The differences between communities are striking and instructive. In Mountain View, roughly 40% of trees planted in 2025 were native species: coast live oak, valley oak, and western redbud. Residents stated a preference for native trees, and the site conditions support it. In East Palo Alto, the 2025 tree palette looks entirely different. Native species made up just 14% of plantings. More than 10% were fruit trees—figs, citrus, persimmons—chosen for the future harvest, cultural resonance, and fast growth. The EPA tree palette is also influenced by factors such as unpredictable utility lines, which can limit space for viable planting sites, and close proximity to major roads, which can call for the planting of pollution-tolerant species. These differences in community tree palettes are a precise response to where people live and what they want from their urban trees. In 2025, Canopy deepened its community relationships and connections with prospective Tree Stewards in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and North Fair Oaks by working with Promotoras from Nuestra Casa. Modeled after the 1960s Promotora community health model, the Promotoras are community engagement partners already embedded in the neighborhoods we serve. Their connections opened doors that a flyer or a social media post never could. That's what meeting communities where they are looks like. And for the first time, Canopy planted residential trees across all five of its communities in a single season. Across Canopy’s communities, the trees going into the ground in 2025 reflect years of learning about what each neighborhood needs, who lives there, and how to build trust. A coast live oak in a Mountain View backyard and a fig tree in an East Palo Alto yard are both part of the same mission—just adapted with intention to the ground beneath them.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum | Young Tree Care Fruit Tree Adoptions | Regional Forestry Symposium | Community Forestry School Teen Urban Foresters | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons | 2025 Financials The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

Planting Equity

Fruit Tree Adoptions

Our Fruit Tree Adoption Program began with a simple but powerful idea: everyone deserves the chance to care for a tree and to feel part of a community-centered movement for change. With 12 fruit tree adoptions in 2025, we set out to make that vision reality. At each adoption event, community members arrive on a first-come, first-served basis to select a five-gallon fruit tree. The tree is intentionally sized: light enough to carry home or load into a car, yet substantial enough that its very weight communicates responsibility. This is not a giveaway; it is an invitation to stewardship. When someone lifts one of these trees into their arms, they are quite literally taking on care, patience, and possibility. The program was designed to address two critical, and often overlooked, challenges in community forestry. First, equity. Many residents, particularly renters or those living in apartments, do not have access to plantable space. Too often, urban forestry programs unintentionally exclude these communities. Our fruit tree adoptions change that. With the right knowledge and support, fruit trees can thrive in containers, producing food, shade, and joy for years.

Residents adopt fruit trees at community events in East Palo Alto. Left photo courtesy of Kenny Gabe

This truth came alive at a 2025 spring distribution at the East Palo Alto Library. One resident, initially hesitant, realized that even without a yard, she could still take home a tree. In that moment, she became emotional, not because of the tree itself, but because of what it represented: belonging. She, too, could be part of a movement to foster community, resilience, and care through trees. That moment captured the heart of this program: trees as a bridge, not a barrier. Second, strategic canopy growth. Each adoption event doubles as a powerful listening and discovery tool. When residents pick up a tree, we ask a simple question: Will you keep it in a pot, or do you plan to plant it in the ground? The answers matter. Of the 251 fruit trees distributed in Fiscal Year 2025, one-third of participants identified themselves as having plantable space and expressed interest in a future shade tree. This is a significant discovery. Identifying willing residents and viable planting sites is one of the biggest challenges in expanding urban canopy. Through this program, that work happens naturally, relationally, and efficiently. 

In this way, the Fruit Tree Adoption Program is doing more than distributing trees. It is building pathways that can expand our community of stewards while expanding our tree canopy. When people are invited to care for something living, they don’t just grow trees. They grow roots in community, and hope for what comes next.

Distribution of Canopy fruit trees across East Palo Alto from November 2024 to June 2026.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum | Young Tree Care Community Tree Plantings | Regional Forestry Symposium | Community Forestry School Teen Urban Foresters | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons | 2025 Financials The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

Planting Hope

Building a Regional Forestry Movement

Trees grow across city boundaries and so should the expansive community that tends them. That conviction drove Canopy to spearhead Planting Hope, a first-of-its-kind regional tree symposium co-presented with Stanford University's Office of Community Engagement in the fall of 2025. More than 140 participants, representing urban forestry professionals, government agencies, academics, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations from 30 cities and counties across the Bay Area gathered for a day of shared learning, honest conversation, and collective visioning.

Forestry professionals and Stanford University's Chris Field present at the Planting Hope Symposium.

For an organization rooted in local action, stepping back to convene regionally was a deliberate and necessary move. The Bay Area's tree canopy doesn't respect municipal boundaries, and neither do the forces shaping it, climate change, inequity, housing pressure, and local and state policies all operate at a scale that no single city can address alone. By creating space for cross-jurisdictional and community dialogue, Canopy helped participants see their local work as part of something larger: a regional ecosystem of practice that is stronger, smarter, and more resilient when connected. Attendees split into four collaborative workgroups; climate resilience, equity, academic partnerships, and community engagement, to co-create strategies for urban forestry management across the region. The results were generative. Resources were shared. New relationships formed. Solutions began to take shape. But the impact went beyond any single outcome. Participants described the symposium as arriving at a moment when it was needed most. At a time when community-based work and civic engagement face growing headwinds, the act of gathering and of being physically present with professional and community colleagues who share our values carried its own quiet power. As one recurring theme in participant feedback put it: connection itself is a strategy.

"At a time when community engagement and community-based work are increasingly under threat," attendees noted, "the opportunity to gather with like-minded peers felt especially meaningful."

Planting Hope is more than a name. It is a practice and a reminder that the work of urban forestry is also the work of building trust, shared purpose, and collective will. Canopy is grateful for the space and change to commit to nurturing what took root that day.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum | Young Tree Care Community Tree Plantings | Fruit Tree Adoptions | Community Forestry School Teen Urban Foresters | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons | 2025 Financials The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

Planting Power

Community Forestry School

Canopy's Community Forestry School (CFS) draws people from every corner of the community, retired scientists, working farmers, classroom teachers, civic advocates–all united by a shared belief that trees belong to everyone. Since 2019, roughly 150 students have completed the free nine-week program, completing the program equipped with the knowledge, skills, and community to make urban forests more equitable. The work then continues not just within Canopy's reach, but across the broader region. Fall 2025’s cohort made history on two fronts: they were the first to complete a UC Climate Stewards certified curriculum, and Canopy became the first organization in California to offer a bilingual Spanish-English UC Climate Stewards program. Together, this year's students contributed more than 412 volunteer hours to tree plantings, fruit tree adoption, and residential tree care across the region.

2025 CFS students join Canopy staff to perform tree care in Palo Alto.

CFS has always been as much about building Canopy's capacity as it is about education. Graduates return as volunteer planting and pruning leaders serving as the backbone of Canopy's community-centered approach. Some, like GreenSpaces MV co-leader Peying Lee and retired geophysicist Rob O'Connor, have joined Canopy's Board of Directors. Others, like Youth Leadership Program Manager Carmen Bregoli, have joined the staff. The program doesn't just train community members; it grows the people who help Canopy and our region’s canopy grow. The ripple effect extends well beyond Canopy's footprint. CFS has become a regional training ground, seeding new organizations and strengthening existing ones. CFS graduates founded Urban Forest Friends, bringing the mission of closing the green gap to Newark and Fremont. Seven Air Quality Leaders from Latinos United for a New America (LUNA) in San Jose joined the cohort with a clear goal: building their community's capacity to improve air quality through tree planting.

CFS students and LUNA members perform tree care at San Francisquito Creek.

Tree by tree, cohort by cohort, CFS is growing a new generation of stewards, and through them, a greener and more equitable region.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum | Young Tree Care Community Tree Plantings | Fruit Tree Adoptions | Regional Forestry Symposium Teen Urban Foresters | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons | 2025 Financials The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

Planting Opportunity

Nurturing Trees and the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders

When Cristian first heard about Canopy's Teen Urban Forester (TUF) program, his expectations were focused on one thing. "I thought it was gonna just be planting trees," he says. Emma thought the same thing. They were both right—and completely wrong. In 2025, the TUFs logged more than 5,800 hours in the field, digging into the soil of neighborhoods across the Peninsula to grow a greener, more resilient region. But what Cristian and Emma quickly discovered is that the program is about something much larger than arboriculture. It's a first job and an entry to a supportive and empowering space where environmental justice, civic engagement, and personal power intersect. 

TUFs stake the young trees they planted in East Palo Alto

For both Emma and Cristian the TUF program was their first job. "It's still an internship for high schoolers, so obviously we still have to learn things," Emma reflected. "But I got so much more from the program because it wasn't just tree planting." Some days were fieldwork. Some were classroom learning. Some were enrichment. The blend, it turned out, was the power of the program. That "more" is deeply intentional. TUFs learn and build those critical first job skills: communicating with your manager, reliability, professionalism and accountability. They learn how to canvas a neighborhood, facilitate a community planting event, and answer the hard questions about why trees matter in communities that have historically been left out of green investment. TUFs develop the confidence to lead at a planting and wherever life takes them. Ask a TUF about their proudest moment and you might expect to hear about the number of trees they've planted. But the answer is often something different. As TUF Sofia puts it: her proudest moment is "when I get to be a Planting Leader and I get to guide and teach people about how to plant trees and WHY the work is so important." The capital letters are hers. The conviction is earned. In 2025, Cristian and Emma both stepped up to become TUF Leads, a more senior role that comes with real responsibility: running weekly meetings, mentoring newer TUFs, taking on behind-the-scenes tasks that most participants never see. "The expectations from me are higher," Cristian says. "But I always felt like I was leading. Now I have the authority to lead."

TUF Leads Cristian (left in green vest) and Emma (right in green vest) teach volunteers how to plant a tree.

That growth extends well beyond Canopy. Cristian has carried his TUF confidence into a second job, where he's on track to become a supervisor. "Public speaking and other skills have helped me gain confidence," he says. "I wasn't as confident before Canopy—especially when talking to a crowd." Emma is heading to UC Riverside to study political science and international relations, with plans to work on global issues. She cites her TUF experience—learning to work with others, communicating across differences, staying open to the unexpected—as preparation not just for college, but for the kind of leader she intends to be. Neither of them came in expecting this. Cristian joined because a mentor told him it was a good opportunity, and because his friends were involved. Emma joined because she was already passionate about environmental justice and wanted to go deeper. What they found was a program that met them exactly where they were and then pushed them further. That's what Canopy's TUF program plants each TUF session: not just trees, but young people equipped with the skills, the confidence, and the conviction to grow into something beyond anything they imagined when they first picked up a shovel.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum | Young Tree Care Community Tree Plantings | Fruit Tree Adoptions | Regional Forestry Symposium Community Forestry School | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons | 2025 Financials The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

Planting Curiosity

Igniting a Lifelong Connection to Nature

In a Canopy classroom lesson, we don’t just teach about trees; we plant curiosity directly into young minds, turning a lesson into an exciting lifelong love for nature. In 2025, Canopy’s Education Team reached more than 2,000 students through 109 lessons, cultivating a new wave of environmental literacy and sparking young student’s wonder, pride, and sense of belonging to our natural world. Students learned how trees breathe, cool the planet, protect our health, and make our communities more resilient. 

“I am so grateful that we have been able to partner with Canopy for the past few years. The curriculum is fantastic, striking the right balance between scientific content and whimsical fun for the students.” - Teacher from Gabriela Mistral Elementary

Tania, Canopy’s Bilingual Environmental Educator for San Mateo County, comes in during the science period to teach. Canopy’s pre-K-5th grade lessons align with Next Generation Science Standards and California’s required climate curriculum, meaning these lessons aren’t just add-ons for the students. They're helping local teachers meet their curriculum requirements for the academic year. And with a commitment to bilingual education, the lessons also provide an opportunity for young students to deepen their scientific knowledge and literacy in English and Spanish.

Bilingual indoor and outdoor classroom lessons at Los Robles-Ronald McNair Academy and All Five Preschool.

Teaching across 11 school sites and 6 districts, Canopy’s curriculum is always evolving and expanding. In 2025, Tania thoughtfully developed and taught a new 1st grade lesson “Trees and Me!” and a new TK lesson “Those are the parts of trees!” The 1st grade lesson asks students to identify the similarities between humans and trees in how we adapt to weather and prompts them to create a nature self-portrait using natural materials from their campus. The TK lesson teaches students the “Roots, Trunks, Branches, Leaves” song in English and Spanish to teach them about the different parts of trees.

Students make a craft to identify the parts of a tree

Designed to be immersive and hands-on, these lessons go beyond the walls of the classroom. Whether it’s in the Los Robles-Ronald McNair Outdoor Science and Learning Area or the outdoor play area at Izzi Fair Oaks, students have the opportunity to explore the natural world right at their fingertips. “Seeing the students' excitement as they explored the details of the trees up close was invaluable. This hands-on approach not only made learning fun but also deepened their understanding and appreciation of nature," said a teacher from Belle Haven Elementary When Tania returns for follow-up lessons, the students not only remember Tania but what they learned in their previous lesson. Students will run up to her excitedly to sing the “Roots, Trunks, Branches, Leaves” song or to let her know that their family planted a tree at home. It’s these beyond-the-classroom connections and curiosity about our natural world that students will keep with them years after their Canopy classroom lessons.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum | Young Tree Care Community Tree Plantings | Fruit Tree Adoptions | Regional Forestry Symposium Community Forestry School | Teen Urban Foresters | 2025 Financials The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

FY25 Canopy Audited Financials

Income and Expenses

For fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025) Canopy had total revenues of $2,567,537 and operating expenses of $2,146,181, yielding a net surplus of roughly $400,000. This surplus was the result of higher contributed revenue than was budgeted, including a generous bequest, as well as a delay in hiring resulting in lower than budgeted personnel costs. The Board continues to strategically invest in Canopy and build the foundation for organizational growth and long-term financial sustainability. Some of the FY25 surplus is being used to shore up the organization’s operating reserve, while a portion is being invested in FY26-27 to support much-needed staff capacity. Two years of organizational growth also pushed Canopy across the $2 million threshold, a milestone that brought with it our first official independent audit.

Click the photo to enlarge the pie charts

Net Assets

Net assets total $1,063,241. Of this, 50% constitutes a board-designated operating reserve, 32% is donor restricted, and 18% is unrestricted.

Value of Volunteer Work

Canopy is deeply grateful for our many dedicated volunteers who make our tree planting, tree care, education, and advocacy programs possible. Although not reflected in the pie charts above, the total value of their work (over 5,800 hours) is estimated to be more than $243,000. As with the extensive environmental and social benefits provided by trees, however, the contribution of our extended Canopy community is beyond measure.

A Personal Message | 2025 by the Numbers | Roots & Stars Arboretum | Young Tree Care Community Tree Plantings | Fruit Tree Adoptions | Regional Forestry Symposium Community Forestry School | Teen Urban Foresters | Pre-K-5th Grade Lessons The Community That Makes It Possible | Looking Ahead

The Community That Makes It Possible

We are profoundly grateful to the volunteers, donors, partners, youth, leaders, and residents below who help plant impact across our communities!

Left photo courtesy of Larry Calloway

Looking Ahead

As we look toward our 30th anniversary, we are filled with gratitude for everyone who has helped build this movement. The stories you’ve read tell the story of a remarkable year, and they also tell the story of something greater: With every tree planted and every person engaged, Canopy is creating opportunities for neighbors to connect—for young people to lead and for communities to shape a more greener, healthier and more resilient future—while growing a stronger, more connected, and ambitious community forestry movement. As we look toward the next thirty years, we invite you to plant impact with us.