Agreements for Good: How Docusign is Investing in Social and Environmental Impact

Today’s most ambitious social and environmental challenges cannot be solved in isolation. Research opens in a new tab shows that large-scale and lasting social and environmental change requires broad, cross-sector coordination. 

This requires trust. And it requires agreement.

Docusign has always been focused on the power of agreements. Our products serve as a system of action, turning agreements into tools for organizational growth and efficiency. Our grantmaking, however, takes our mission–to redefine how the world comes together and agrees–and applies it to solving some of the world’s biggest challenges.

The Docusign Foundation’s Agreements for Good program, launched in early 2026, was born from a bold bet: if we actively fund the difficult but necessary work of trust-building and agreements, we can help to mobilize more scalable and lasting societal and environmental change.

Agreements for Good: The groups working toward change

In our first year operating this program, we reviewed more than 500 applications, which gave us an inspiring look at the current state of collaborative practice. We were struck by the deeply multi-sector structures of these groups, the thoughtful methods used to center the communities closest to the issues, and the remarkable breadth of topics being tackled. 

Agreements for Good granted $1 million to these 10 inspiring grantees driving critical work at a local and global scale. Here is a look at our inaugural grantee partners:

Agreements for Regenerative Cities (ARC) 

Over 300,000 post-industrial brownfields sit idle in Europe due to fragmented governance and a lack of standardized methods for verifying ecological impact. ARC opens in a new tab is developing an agreement package for a pilot in Witten, Germany, that links financial and environmental return-on-investment metrics to the transformation of contaminated land into community assets.

Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance

In the northern Peruvian Amazon, territorial governance agreements among Indigenous nations are critical to conservation efforts. Indigenous territories experience lower deforestation rates when boundaries are clear. By strengthening these agreements, the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance opens in a new tab reinforces rainforest stewardship and protects a globally significant ecosystem.

Blue Forest

Sierra Nevada forests are vital for California's water supply, but restoration efforts require broad collaboration among utilities, agencies, and Tribes. Unclear data ownership and use protocols slow decision-making. Blue Forest opens in a new tab is co-developing a Tribal Data Sovereignty agreement with the Colfax/Koy’o Tribe to establish clear data protocols and enable durable, multi-party collaboration.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

FSC opens in a new tab and the World Resources Institute are establishing a trusted methodology for turning forest integrity claims into verifiable data. Currently, evidence of forest integrity lacks reliable ways to prevent digital tampering, and transparency efforts can inadvertently expose sensitive Indigenous cultural sites. This agreement ensures data is trustworthy and auditable without creating new risks for local communities.

Ocean Agentics 

Ocean Agentics is a technology NGO that brings together legal experts, technologists and conservationists to support the implementation of the High Seas Treaty. The treaty, which came into force in January 2026, covers about two-thirds of the ocean. Much of it depends on shared digital systems for exchanging ocean data and tracking marine genetic resources, and most of those systems are still being designed. Ocean Agentics opens in a new tab facilitates collaborative workshops to co-design the workflows that can turn the treaty's commitments into practice.

Northwest Michigan Watersheds Coalition

Northwest Michigan's globally significant freshwater resources face degradation from rapid growth and aging infrastructure, but responsibility is fragmented across many entities. The Northwest Michigan Watersheds Coalition opens in a new tab brings together over 100 members to create a shared regional framework for water quality standards, monitoring practices, and proactive intervention, collectively protecting the vast freshwater systems that anchor the regional economy.

Tarkam

India's ecological commons sustain millions of people, but the data required for restoration is fragmented and often collected without providing ownership back to communities. Tarkam opens in a new tab is building design and governance agreements for a federated, open repository of ecological commons data, enabling over 80 grassroots organizations to share information while retaining community control.

Trees, Water & People

The East Jemez Mountains supply drinking water to over a million people in New Mexico, but overlapping jurisdictions have slowed restoration after severe wildfires. This shared stewardship agreement, facilitated by Trees, Water & People opens in a new tab, defines clear roles and long-term commitments among partners to strengthen forest and water resilience.

UK Grain Lab

The resilience of the UK food system depends on farmers’ access to diverse seed varieties, but ownership is concentrated among a few proprietary varieties. The UK Grain Lab opens in a new tab is creating a Seeds Commons agreement, providing a legally grounded framework that allows practitioners across the UK grain system to share and steward climate-resilient seeds.

Yes SF

Meeting San Francisco's ambitious Climate Action Plan targets requires unprecedented coordination. Public agencies, corporations, and neighborhood groups historically operate in silos. Yes SF opens in a new tab brings these sectors together to pilot deep local collaboration, starting with the San Francisco Transit Pledge, a commitment framework designed to reduce transportation emissions and create a replicable model for urban climate action.

Joining forces for lasting impact

The breadth of challenges these collaboratives are taking on is extraordinary, but they all share a common thread: they recognize that lasting change cannot be achieved alone. By investing in the mechanics of trust-building, we aim to accelerate positive impact for our communities and our planet, proving that agreements truly have the power to transform our world for the better.

If you are leading a collaboration in Environment & Sustainability, Data Privacy & Security, or Future of Work, we invite you to explore possible alignment by completing our self-serve alignment check.

Learn more about the Docusign Foundation.