Founder of Group That Composts Human Remains Wins Nonprofit Award

When Katrina Spade entered her 30s, mortality loomed in her thoughts.

As she researched what would happen to her body after she died, she realized that standard burial and cremation processes were hurting the environment.

Ms. Spade, who was studying for a master’s degree in architecture, decided to channel her concerns about both death and the environment into her graduate thesis project. She designed a facility where city dwellers could take the bodies of loved ones who had died to have their remains composted, so they could become part of the building blocks of soil.

She then took her work a step further and created the Urban Death Project, a nonprofit that promotes a more environmentally friendly alternative to burials and cremations.

Now, that idea helped her win her a fellowship from Echoing Green, a charity in New York that provides start-up support to promising nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs. As a result, Ms. Spade will be able to devote herself full-time to the Urban Death Project.

Emerging Talent

The boldness of Ms. Spade’s idea is what won her the fellowship, says Cheryl Dorsey, chief executive of Echoing Green.

“She may be way out ahead of the rest of society and we may all be not ready to hear her,” she says. “We think it’s worth the investment to have her try.”

The fellowships are among the most coveted awards available to young leaders, in part because Echoing Green has developed a strong reputation for spotting nonprofit talent.

Previous award winners include founders of some of the fastest-growing and most-praised organizations in the nonprofit world, including Citizen Schools, City Year, College Summit, One Acre Fund, and SKS Microfinance.

In this year’s round, 55 people from 33 countries won up to $90,000 over two years. In addition to the money, the fellowships provide each nonprofit leader with mentoring and networking opportunities.

Ms. Dorsey says that for the first time, the group made an effort to seek out nonprofit leaders working on climate-change issues. That’s what prompted the group’s interest in people like Ms. Spade. Other winners include:

• Sarah Kearney, founder of PRIME Coalition, a membership-based nonprofit that connects philanthropists and family offices to investment opportunities that reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Yscaira Jimenez, chief executive of Plexx, a company that helps young adults without college degrees train and apply for jobs through their mobile phones.
• Tanyella Evans, co-founder and chief operating officer of Library for All, a nonprofit that delivers e-books to tablets, mobile phones, and computers in developing countries.

‘A Scary Idea’

While Echoing Green likes to take on risky projects, Ms. Dorsey says that even by the group’s standards, the Urban Death Project is a radical idea. Ms. Spade is courageous to challenge the funeral industry and spark difficult conversations about how to handle the remains of the dead, she says.

Such conversations are important, Ms. Spade says, because urban areas are getting so crowded and real estate for housing and farming is so sparse nationwide that it is hard to justify the use of land for cemeteries.

What’s more, she says, the expense of burials is too burdensome for the poor. She hopes to make the services of the Urban Death Project accessible for all people, regardless of their ability to pay.

Ms. Spade’s next step will be working with an engineering firm to figure out the procedures required in composting human remains.

She envisions the creation of neighborhood branches of facilities, similar to libraries, for receiving the dead. Her design includes a four-story “core,” a receptacle in which bodies would be placed and mixed with wood chips and sawdust. Over three months, the mixture would turn into compost, which she hopes could be used for community gardens and local farms.

“I started thinking about the process of decomposition, which we are afraid of as a society because it means we’re breaking down,” she says. “It’s a scary idea, but it’s the basis of life on earth.

Some people may bristle at Ms. Spade’s plans, and macabre though it may seem, Ms. Spade says her idea enables the dead to be put to noble use.

“I might be crazy, but I have faith that people are ready to embrace that.”

About Echoing Green Fellowships

Who is eligible: Social entrepreneurs who lead organizations less than two years old

What fellows receive: Up to $80,000 for individuals or $90,000 for two-person partnerships, for a period of two years; stipends for health insurance and professional development; free management advice, mentoring, and other help needed to expand a nonprofit’s efforts

For more information: echoinggreen.org/fellowship/apply