The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation

Mitchell Innovation LabThe Mitchell Innovation Lab seeks to identify and research the next most-pressing and future sustainability issues, beyond the programs we already fund. Topics like the energy transition and other up-and-coming sustainability questions are areas of focus, with projects like the Permian Energy Development Lab.

Clean EnergyThe Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation is committed to clean energy in the state of Texas and supports strategic efforts that ensure that the state's growing demand for power is both minimized and met with the cleanest and water-leanest sources of electricity possible. Our clean energy program has three areas of focus: enhancing Distributed Energy Resources (DERs); catalyzing community-scale energy projects; and reducing Industrial emissions.

Shale (Sub-Surface Energy)The foundation focuses on improving the governance of subsurface energy development in addition to supporting efforts to reduce the negative environmental and community impacts of shale gas development. The Subsurface Energy Program supports a number of solution-driven strategies, including 1) examination of the interplay between federal, state, and local governance around shale development and protocol development to guide industry-community interactions; 2) comprehensive analysis of the risks associated with shale resource development, especially with respect to ground and surface water; and 3) support for collaborative and inclusive efforts to modernize the regulatory scheme for oil and gas operations in the state of Texas, which the foundation believes is needed because regulations may not have kept pace with the use of advanced drilling technologies.