The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is a broad-based, distributed community of data and information technology practitioners who come together to collaborate on coordinated interoperability efforts across Earth science communities. Participation in the ESIP Federation allows members to expose, gather and enhance their own in-house capabilities in support of an organization’s own mandates. Ultimately, these collaborations enhance the success of data interoperability efforts. The ESIP Federation has a 13-year track record of working on Earth science interoperability solutions that connect distributed and heterogeneous communities through the application of broad community technical expertise.