In a our new Non-Profit Spotlight feature, WEN will choose a non-profit organization who is helping engage the Bay Area community on environmental issues.  Nominate your favorite non-profit organization for our Non-Profit Spotlight by emailing 

Current Spotlight:

Ecocity Builders

Founded in 1992, Ecocity Builders is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reshaping cities for the long-term health of human and natural systems. We develop and implement policy, design and educational tools and strategies to help build healthy and thriving urban centers and reverse patterns of sprawl and excessive consumption.

We regularly collaborate with an international network of associates plus a number of close advisors, cultivated over the course of more than forty years of consistent work by our founder, Richard Register. Building on our backgrounds, abilities and experiences, Ecocity Builders is able to influence and participate in a wide variety of conversations and projects related to the ecocity approach worldwide. We can speak to nonprofits, government leaders, scientists, educators, artists, local activists, businesses, institutions and the general public. Our strength lies in basic ecocity principles that hold up under the test of time and scrutiny, along with our considerable personal commitment to the work.

Our founder, Richard Register, defined and developed the term ‘ecocity’ many years ago— long before ‘green building’ and ‘sustainability’ were even in the urban design and lifestyle vocabularies. We have been the keepers of the longest running conference series on the subject— the International Ecocity Conference Series— begun in 1990 in Berkeley and since held in Australia, Senegal, Brazil, China, India, San Francisco and Turkey. We initiate projects locally and internationally, and have been consultants locally and globally. Over the years we’ve advised in many countries, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey, nine countries in Europe, Korea, and Australia. We have built a network of thinkers and practitioners in a wide variety of disciplines, including transportation, energy, architecture, design, natural restoration, development, planning, and advocacy. We regularly provide slideshows and lectures on the ecocity approach, as well as workshops and classes on the topic, in addition to the books written by Richard Register, our monthly newsletters and our articles for various media outlets.

One of our top priorities this year is our Berkeley Center Street Plaza project which recently took a major step forward when the Berkeley City Council voted 8-1 to endorse the project and seek funding to complete the final design work and implement. The project provides a multi-functional urban model emphasizing place-making, pedestrianism, transit use, and "low-impact design" (LID) stormwater interventions. The final design strategies, of more than thirty initial schemes, reintroduce Strawberry Creek while accommodating planning and code requirements, such as access for emergency and delivery vehicles. A pedestrian plaza with porous pavers will weave through the water features, over an underground stormwater storage cistern. The Center Street project is one example of how Ecocity Builders works with community partners and professionals to build ecocity demonstration projects: pieces of the ecocity.

Ecocity Builders nurtures great visions for healthier cities - for people and nature alike - and provides practical tools for building them. We are a nonprofit organization, and donations are tax-deductible. Join us and help rebuild cities in balance with nature. Ecocity Builders:  http://www.ecocitybuilders.org

Past Spotlights:

City CarShare

What is the mission of your organization? 

City CarShare’s mission is to improve the environment and quality of life in our communities by promoting innovative, socially responsible transportation options.  By providing car sharing, and linking it to other mobility options, City CarShare reduces automobile dependence and has a measurable impact in the way our communities live, breathe, work, and play.

What is the history of the organization?

City CarShare (CCS) was started by two women.  Launched in 2001 by Elizabeth Sullivan and Kate White (in partnership with many supporters), City CarShare was one of the first car share organizations in the USA.  Today, City CarShare is the largest nonprofit provider in the country.  Members share many types of fuel-efficient cars located at hundreds of locations, throughout San Francisco and the East Bay.  Collectively CCS members drive 40,000 fewer miles on Bay Area roads everyday, saving 55 million pounds of CO2 per year.  These members also save thousands of dollars over the cost of owning and operating their own car.

What is the current top priority for your organization?

City CarShare is expanding access to car sharing to low-income residents, youth educators, small local businesses and individuals who care about greening their lives.  Keeping the cost of mobility affordable for residents is a high priority.

City CarShare continually strives to make its service so convenient, so reliable, and so affordable, that people will prefer using a CCS car to owning a vehicle.  In doing so, CCS members are helping to reduce traffic, parking problems, and dependence on oil-while promoting cleaner air, quieter streets, and more open space.

What is one unknown fact about your organization?

Save the Bay

What is the mission of your organization? 

Save The Bay is the largest regional organization working to protect, restore and celebrate San Francisco Bay. As its leading champion since 1961, Save The Bay protects the Bay from pollution and inappropriate shoreline development, making it cleaner and healthier for people and wildlife. We restore habitat and secure strong policies to re-establish 100,000 acres of wetlands that are essential for a healthy Bay. We engage more than 25,000 supporters, advocates and volunteers to protect the Bay, and inspire the next generation of environmental leaders by educating thousands of students annually. http://www.saveSFbay.org. 

What is the history of the organization?

Save The Bay was founded in 1961 by three East Bay women who were watching the Bay disappear before their eyes. Kay Kerr, Sylvia McLaughlin and Esther Gulick set out to stop the City of Berkeley’s plan to double in size by filling in the shallow Bay off-shore. They mobilized thousands of members to stop the project, and their resounding victory was repeated to prevent Bay fill projects around the region. This first modern grassroots environmental movement in the Bay Area won a revolutionary change - tens of thousands of Save The Bay members forced the State of California to acknowledge that the Bay belonged to the public. Save The Bay won a legislative moratorium against placing fill in the Bay in 1965, the McAteer-Petris Act. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) was established by the State to plan protection of the Bay, regulate shoreline development, and ensure public access, which at the time was almost non- existent.

What is the current top priority for your organization?

Save The Bay’s current priority is stopping the biggest development threat to the Bay – Cargill’s plan to build a city on more than 1400 acres of restorable salt ponds in Redwood City. Learn more: http://www.saveSFbay.org/stop-cargill

What is one unknown fact about your organization?

As the first “Save The Bay” in the country, our founders also inspired similar organizations in Chesapeake Bay, the Hudson River, Puget Sound, and Long Island Sound.

Contra Costa County Climate Leaders (4CL) Program

What is the mission of your organization? 

Generation Green educates and inspires Contra Costa County to:  Reduce Our Impact on the Earth, Reuse Our Materials, Respect Our Planet, and Empower Citizens to Act Sustainable and Reduce their Carbon Footprint.

What is the history of the organization?

Since 1990, Generation Green (a 501c3 nonprofit organization) has sought to inform and encourage environmental action in Contra Costa County (CCC). Generation Green has hosted dozens of workshops and attended countless events. Our efforts have reached all segments of the community.  From local arts and crafts classes to attendance at City Council meetings--our goal is to educate all residents in the county about environmental issues. Generation Green is currently the fiscal sponsor for four environmentally -conscious education programs in Contra Costa County: 

• Dumpster Diversion Project (DDP): Discover the process of creative reuse through arts & crafts with the Dumpster Diversion Project. We promote the principles of conservation, recycling and reuse. Children and adults of all ages can enjoy using ordinary discarded materials to create unique works of art! Dumpster Diversion discusses the ways of constructing arts/crafts pieces and facilitates and inspires construction of others. Participants quickly learn that it is important to thinkbefore you toss anything away!  Learn more by visiting the website: http://www.generationgreen.com/text/art_ workshops.html. 

• Green Rheem: Monthly Green Rheem film nights are a chance to socialize with friends at the historical Rheem Theatre in Moraga, CA. Participants enjoy local wine and appetizers before the film and then watch an educational environmental documentary. Organized by a collection of Lamorinda community organizations (Sustainable Moraga, Sustainable Lafayette, and Parents for a Safer Environment) attendees learn about key issues facing the health of our community. Find out about the upcoming events at http://www.sustainablelafayette.net/events/green-rheem.html.

• Contra Costa County Climate Leaders (4CL) Program:Local Governments are taking the lead to create sustainable communities and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Contra Costa County (CCC). To facilitate, track and measure regional action, 4CL monitors activities, provides free resources and tools and provides a multimedia communications strategy that ensures best practices are shared and implemented. Elected officials and staff receive a monthly newsletter, attend workshops and share successes on line.  Learn more at www.cccclimateleaders.org

• Sustainable Contra Costa (SCOCO) : Sustainable Contra Costa (SCOCO) provides education, inspiration and tools to   individuals and organizations that help them to live and operate in a way that sustains the health and wellbeing of our society, environment, and economy.  The Annual Sustainable Contra Costa Awards recognize local commitments to sustainability.   Learn more at www.sustainablecoco.org. 

What is the current top priority for your organization?

Contra Costa Climate Leaders (4CL) program is this year’s top priority. Working to educate local elected officials and city staff on policies and  ordinances that reduce GHG emissions in Contra Costa County! 

What is one unknown fact about your organization?

That we have been around since 1990! A lot of folks know about our recent efforts ie. After I served as the mayor of Moraga, that’s when we started the climate leaders program, http://www.cagreens.org/greenfocus/spring_09/deschambault.html. But the Dumpster Diva and our recycle art workshops and trashy fashion shows have been around since 1990! 

The Environmental Forum of Marin 

What is the mission of your organization?
The Environmental Forum of Marin promotes a sustainable world through environmental education. EFM is dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the environment by educating its members and the Marin citizenry about environmental issues. In furtherance of its
mission, EFM annually conducts two educational programs, Sustainable Earth Forum and Sustainable Communities Seminar, and provides continuing education for its members and the public at large.

Sustainable Communities Seminar, consisting of eight Saturday morning workshops, is the introductory program. It provides a public forum to explore the main aspects of sustainability and how sustainable practices can be incorporated at the individual, city, and county level.  The more advanced Sustainable Earth Forum is geared for those with a passion for environmentalism and sustainability. It consists of eighteen one-day-a-week classes and field trips throughout Marin County focusing on the natural world and Marin ecosystems, human impact on the environment, resource management, individual and community action, and sustainability practices. Students are trained in advocacy and complete projects designed to impact county sustainability indicators. More than 100 people contribute their services to provide this comprehensive and highly regarded environmental education program.

What is the history of The Environmental Forum of Marin?
The Environmental Forum was founded in 1972 by five directors of Audubon Canyon Ranch,
including Dr. Marty Griffin, to train a cadre of volunteers to be effective and influential workers
and speakers in the field of environmental planning and quality. It was the first experiment of
its kind in the United States, which in time became an independent entity.

What is the current top priority of The Environmental Forum of Marin?
From its early concerns with land use and planning, the Environmental Forum has expanded to
address issues relating to water, waste reduction, transportation, energy, land use,
environmental ethics, sustainable practices and the economics of sustainability through
discussions lead by experts and practitioners in each area. It’s focus today is to provide the
passion, skills and opportunities for its students to be activist advocates in one or more of these
areas.

What is one unknown fact about your organization?
One unknown fact about the Environmental Forum is how many of the environmental advocates active in the county today have passed through its program.

Local Clean Energy Alliance

What is the mission of your organization?
The mission of the Local Clean Energy Alliance is enact policy and programs that advance renewable energy, demand reduction, and clean energy jobs in the Bay Area. 

What is the history of the organization?
The Local Clean Energy Alliance was founded in 2007 by Bay Localize, Pacific Environment, and the SF Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club to promote Community Choice Energy in the East Bay.  In May 2008, the alliance broadened it priorities to include clean energy financing and energy efficiency programs.  The alliance now has regional focus, advocating for strong climate action, clean energy financing, community choice energy, and stopping power plants in the Bay Area.    

What is the current top priority for your organization?
In the short term, our top priority is solidifying the regional reach of the alliance and defeating Proposition 16, the PG&E Power Grab, which goes to to the voters in June 2010.  Our top long term priority is creating thousands of clean energy jobs in the Bay Area through strong, equitable, and sustainable climate action and local clean energy generation.                                         

What is one unknown fact about your organization?
We developed the method for setting municipal science-based GHG emission targets that was adopted when the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to set a preliminary target of 36% below 2005 levels by 2020.  

EarthTeam

What is the mission of EarthTeam?
To create a new generation of environmental stewards and leaders by introducing into the
classroom and the community environmental experiences that inspire dedication to a
healthy environment.

EarthTeam provides middle and high school students and teachers in the San Francisco
East Bay area with environmental science activities in the classroom and in the field.
Students learn about environmental restoration, asthma and air quality, global warming,
waste reduction, and environmental multimedia skills. EarthTeam’s highly qualified
educators conduct a variety of in-class and after school programs that provide leadership
opportunities for teens. The organization provides opportunities for teachers to showcase
their students' work in the web-based Green Newsletter and on Green Screen TV, which
airs on 11 Bay Area stations. EarthTeam's primary outreach is to the East Bay’s lowincome
communities.

What is the history of EarthTeam?
EarthTeam was formed in 2000 by a coalition of educational, environmental, and
governmental representatives who saw a need to provide community-based, curriculum
connected environmental programs for overwhelmed high school and middle school
teachers who lacked the time or resources to create such programs. Many secondary
school students and teachers felt disconnected from others of similar interest and
discouraged by the lack of interest in environmental issues among the general student
body. EarthTeam was created to support these teachers and students in connecting with
each other, increasing knowledge of pressing environmental issues, and participating in
hands-on educational projects. While EarthTeam’s mission has remained the same since
its formation, new projects have been developed over the years as the need has arisen.

What is the current top priority for EarthTeam?
To engage youth, particularly the disenfranchised, to develop their knowledge and
leadership skills for improving the environmental health of their communities.

What is one unknown fact about EarthTeam?
Chickens, possums, mice, and all kinds of insects often visit our office garden in
Berkeley.

In Defense of Animals

What is the mission of your organization?
The mission of In Defense of Animals is to end animal exploitation, cruelty, and abuse by protecting, and advocating for, the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals, as well as to raise their status beyond mere property, commodities, objects, or things.

What is the history of the organization?
In 1983, veterinarian Elliot M. Katz created Californians for Responsible Research (CFRR), to end egregious animal negligence and cruelty in laboratories on the University of California, Berkeley campus. CFRR filed a lawsuit against the USDA, forcing the agency to issue a cease and desist order, fining the university $12,000. CFRR became In Defense of Animals (IDA), whose mission expanded to ending the exploitation and cruelty of animals wherever it might exist, including puppy mills, our nation’s shelters and laboratories,  the fur and food industries, circuses, zoos and governmental agencies.

In addition to advocacy work, IDA has three rescue centers: Project Hope in rural Mississippi, where over 100 abused and abandoned dogs, cats, horses, pigs, and emus find safety; The Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center deep in the forests of Cameroon, Africa, where orphans of the chimpanzee bushmeat trade find sanctuary; and IDA India, with ambulances and veterinary clinics to care for, treat and spay and neuter thousands of street and “working” animals in Mumbai, India.

With the world focused on climate change, IDA has taken a leading role in the animal protection movement by partnering with the Veg Climate Alliance to illuminate the harmful effects of animal agriculture on the environment. Meat and dairy production is responsible for 51% of the human-caused greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Prominent scientists and environmental advisers to the World Bank have called for a worldwide shift to a plant-based diet, stating that it would have a more powerful impact on climate change than the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. IDA is a leader in education concerning the benefits of a plant-based diet to the environment, global warming and climate change.

To quote Jeffrey Masson, author of When Elephants Weep, and Dogs Never Lie About Love: "IDA has set the standard for integrity and results in animal advocacy. In a world in which too many look away, IDA has been on the cutting edge of front-line activism to end abuse and exploitation. No organization has done more to uphold the principles of justice for our animal friends."

What is the top priority for your organization?
We have multiple top priorities, all encompassed by this one goal: to make the world a more just and compassionate place for all our fellow beings.

What is one unknown fact about your organization?
The number of women who hold prominent positions within the organization, including our Grassroots Campaigns Director; Director of Project Hope; Director of IDA Africa, Director of IDA India, and the directors of most of our campaigns. Two of our four Board members are women.
 

Amazon Wakani

What is the Mission of your Organization?
Amazon Wakani sustains and protects the customs, traditions, people and  rainforest lands of the Achual, natives of the Peruvian Amazon.The Achual Community is located in the lower Peruvian Amazon and is working to protect their five thousand acres of native rainforest territories from an increasing encroachment of western culture, timber, and tourist industries. Amazon Wakani (www.amazonwakani.org) has three focus areas: Forest and Farming: Rainforest Protection—Achual Sustainable Harvests Project; Medicinal Plants and Tradition: Achual Healing Arts and Customs; Art and Handcraft: Achual Sustainable Arts Collective.

What is the history of the organization?
Amazon, Wakani, formerly known as Achual Healing Arts, has been in existence since 1995.  A fluke took, Bea Agins, founder of Amazon Wakani, to the Achual Village in Peru over 14 years ago.  Bea, then, working as a volunteer and staying at neighboring lodge, became stranded.  A Shaman, living at that time in the remote Achual village, helped her. They became friends.  Soon there after the Achual Healing Arts was established to sustain the traditional healing practices of these people, to ensure that the wisdom of her friend,the Shaman was not lost. She lived off and on, in the Rainforest for several years.  Almost by accident, while cataloguing the native plants she learned their magic and curative powers. Being a Management Consultant, she was not looking to learn from plants.  However, the rainforest had its way, and  for a period she practiced healing arts and brought students to learn from the forest and the shaman.  But her dedication to the 120 inhabitants of the village made her revert to her managerial self: She decided to do what she could to revitalize the village that was losing its economic health and traditional lore to an invasion of corporate loggers and tourism.  Bea became the founder-director of Amazon Wakani, a non profit organization collaborating with the Achual and Redpal Peru to raise tropical plants for export and trees to replant 5,000 acres of dwindling rainforest. The income from the tropical fruits provide the economic means to stabilize the community.

What is the current top priority for your organization?
Our priority is the empowerment of the Achual Women. The Achual Sustainable Arts Collective will provide a means for village women to earn money by making and selling their basketry and jewelry. The Achual women are working to improve the education and medical care of their children while sustaining their cultural traditions. This project is a alliance among partners:  Global Connections, Laura Hoover and Patricia Restaino, microenterprise professional with experience in women’s microfinance projects and with the distribution of tribal art from around the globe; Redpal Peru, a local Peruvian NGO with expertise in Amazon Rainforest projects, and the Achual Women’s Council.  We are currently focused on fundraising, just seven thousand dollars shy to initiate. 
         
What is one unknown fact about your organization?
Amazon Wakani is totally on a volunteer basis.

Strategic Energy Innovations

What is Strategic Energy Innovation’s Mission?
Strategic Energy Innovation’s (SEI) mission is to assist under-served markets such as schools, universities, small businesses, local governments, affordable housing agencies, and rural/agricultural communities embrace a sustainable future by assembling resources and assistance to meet their needs. We strive to help communities reduce pollution and save money through energy and resource efficiency. To do this, our staff unites people from key organizations and businesses, creating a forum for sharing issues, experiences, and solutions. Working with the issues clients raise, SEI facilitates the development and design of real-world solutions to address their needs. We like to see ourselves as a bridge to sustainability. In short, we work with the particulars of client circumstances and create programs to help them reduce energy usage, increase environmental awareness and education, save money, create jobs, and embrace a sustainable future!

What is the history of the organization?
Strategic Energy Innovations is a nonprofit organization established in 1997 out of San Rafael, CA. We are a Marin County-certified green business, and a minority, women-owned business.  Over the past 12 years, we have been helping others define their needs and assemble the resources and assistance they need to embrace a future that is more energy, water, and recourse efficient; contributing to better air quality and quality of life. We have developed and co-developed a variety of noteworthy projects for the Bay Area and beyond that have strengthened our presence in the community as pioneers in sustainability and efficiency efforts. Our award winning Awareness for Communities about the Environment (ACE) program is an initiative that connects at-risk youth with college interns, local businesses, elders and community leaders; providing hands-on service learning experience and training for students to become tomorrow’s environmental leaders and energy professionals. SEI also functioned as lead consultant to the Marin Community Foundation on their Strategic Climate Change Initiative, providing new approaches and recommendations to address climate change within Marin’s current energy and water programs. The Housing Energy Program, is an initiative in which SEI works with Southern California Edison to aggregate small affordable housing properties into larger “buyer groups” to obtain better pricing on energy efficiency services.   Over the past 10 years, SEI has also been an integral player in the curriculum development, training for, and procurement of green jobs for under-represented populations through programs like our Youth at Work internships, Green Collar Jobs Training within California’s Community Colleges program, Clean Energy Training for One-stop Counselors seminar, and our Green Campus programs.

What is the current top priority for Strategic Energy Innovations?
Our top priorities remain the same as when we started: finding solutions for environmental change with existing affordable housing, k-12 schools, colleges/ universities, small municipalities, and green workforce initiatives (a coalescence of all other sectors). It is critical that we continue to pioneer innovative program approaches to help underserved populations who would otherwise remain unassisted. We take pride in developing program models, fine-tuning them until they are successful and work well, and sharing them with others to replicate. We call this method the Train the Trainer/Teacher approach and use it to ensure that our programs themselves are sustainable so clients/partners can employ them at future dates without the attendance of SEI staff. Currently, we maintain several successful program models, and we’re working hard to share them around the country.
 

One unknown fact about Strategic Energy Innovations:
SEI publishes its own in-house cookbook at the end of each year, filled with staff recipes from our monthly potlucks! 

 

350.org

What is 350.org's Mission?  
350.org's mission is to organize an International Day of Climate Action this October 24, 2009. Over 1,200 events are already planned at iconic places around the world, from the Taj Mahal to the Pyramids to the Golden Gate Bridge. Each event is linked with a simple message: 350. 350 parts per million is the safe level of Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere according to the latest science, and it's the target world leaders should commit to when they sign a new international climate treaty in December. 350 is quickly becoming a global symbol for climate action -- register or join an event in your community at http://350.org. 

What is the history of the organization?
350.org launched in 2008 as a small band of online organizers and environmental writer Bill McKibben.  It's now expanded to become a coalition of hundreds of organizations across the planet and has staff on every continent. 

What is the current top priority for 350.org?
Building a global movement that can work for an international climate treaty that does what science says is necessary, reducing CO2 to 350 parts per million.
 

One unknown fact about 350.org:
We're a small team! With only 7 core staff (one for each continent) and 20 field organizers scattered across the planet we rely on our supporters, you, to lead this movement by taking action in their own community.

International Rivers

What is International Rivers’ Mission?
International Rivers' mission is to protect rivers and defend the rights of communities that depend on them. We oppose destructive dams and the development model they advance, and encourage better ways of meeting people’s needs for water, energy and protection from damaging floods. To achieve this mission, we collaborate with a global network of local communities, social movements, non-governmental organizations and other partners. Through research, education and advocacy, International Rivers works to halt destructive river infrastructure projects, address the legacies of existing projects, improve development policies and practices, and promote water and energy solutions for a just and sustainable world. The primary focus of our work is in the global South.

What is the history of the organization?
Seeking to protect the world’s rivers from destructive dams and amplify the voices of dam-affected communities, a small group of volunteers formed International Rivers Network in 1985. Their vision was simple and yet remarkably ambitious: to develop a worldwide network of people working to protect rivers and promote just and sustainable water and energy development. 
 
Today, almost everywhere that a big dam is being planned or built there is organized local opposition. In communities where existing dams have created severe problems, dam-affected people are demanding reparations. International Rivers stands with these people, providing advice, training and technical assistance, and advocating on their behalf with governments, banks, companies and international agencies. The rate of large dam construction has fallen by half since our founding along with a dramatic increase in worldwide understanding of the need for better options.

What is the current top priority for International Rivers? 
We are involved in campaigns to stop the building of large environmentally destructive dams in the Amazon, Chilean Patagonia, and the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. Scientific research has also revealed that river-wrecking dams are major greenhouse gas emitters – in some cases producing more greenhouse gases than even coal fired power plants. We’ve also worked to stop the spread of fake carbon offset credits and our work was instrumental in removing 122 million tons of fake carbon credits from the market ,forcing polluters to actually cut their emissions instead of trading those fake credits. That’s the equivalent of all of California’s vehicle emissions for a year.

One unknown fact about International Rivers:
We throw some really fun events: lunches, receptions, and of course, film screenings like the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival. Visit www.internationalrivers.org/events
 


 

Rainforest Action Network

What is Rainforest Action Network's Mission?
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants, and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct action.  Dubbed 'some of the most savvy environmental agitators in the business' by the Wall Street Journal, RAN uses hard-hitting markets campaigns  to align the policies of multinational corporations with widespread public support for environmental protection.  We believe that logging ancient forests for copy paper or destroying an endangered ecosystem for a week's worth of oil is not just destructive, but outdated and unnecessary.

What is the history of the organization?
Since it was founded in 1985, RAN has been working to protect rainforests and the human rights of those living in and around these forests.  From the beginning, RAN has played a key role in strengthening the worldwide rainforest conservation movement through supporting activists in rainforest countries as well as organizing and mobilizing consumers and community action groups throughout the United States.
In our first direct-action campaign, we led a nationwide boycott of Burger King.  Burger Kind was importing cheap beef from tropical countries where rainforests are denuded to provide pasture for cattle.  After sales dropped 12% during the boycott in 1987, Burger King cancelled $35 million worth of beef contracts in Central America and announced that they had stopped importing rainforest beef.
Almost 25 years later, RAN is more effective than ever.  We work with environmental and human rights groups in 60 countries, sharing information and coordinating powerful campaigns to protect endangered rainforests, to stand in solidarity with forest inhabitants and to turn the climate crisis into a clean energy future.

What is the current top priority for RAN?
RAN is focusing on some of the key issues of our time: protecting the world's last remaining tropical forests; eliminating the worst driver's of climate change - coal, oil and rainforest destruction; and promoting human rights.

One unknown fact about RAN:
We throw great parties; check out this year's REVE: in October at www.ran.org.  Hint: the staff does a wicked dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Center for Resource Solutions

What is the Center for Resource Solutions' Mission?
Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) creates policy and market solutions to advance sustainable energy.  The main focus of CRS is increasing the supply and adoption of renewable energy in the US.  It does this chiefly through market mechanisms that allow consumers and businesses the ability to buy renewable energy with confidence, as well as through policy development at the state, regionally, and national levels to create incentives and remove the barriers to building clean energy nationally.

What is the history of the organization?
CRS was founded in 1997 under the leadership of renewable energy expert Jan Hamrin to guide the industry in the design and implementation of programs to increase the demand and use of renewable energy around the world.  Dr. Hamrin and others involved in the creation of CRS believed that one of CRS's primary roles would be as a networking organization that would act as a catalyst for the development of new programs and the implementation of new policies in the rapidly changing energy sector.
In the late nineties, as California and several northeastern states began to restructure their electricity markets, many companies moved to market and sell renewable energy to a newly opened consumer base.  Yet there were no standards or definitions for renewable energy in place to ensure quality, or reliable and responsible renewable energy production and sales.  CRS, in its growing role as a leader in the renewable energy marketplace, coordinated the communication between stakeholders to identify what the industry could do to address this problem.  Out of this communication, the Green-e Energy certification program was born.  Green-e has since become one of CRS's most important and largest programs, and has become a powerful, influential and important tool for consumer and environmental protection in the national renewable energy market.  Today, Green-e Energy certifies over two-thirds of the voluntary renewable energy market, and has launched two other certification and verification programs under the Green-e brand: Green-e Climate, a certification for retail carbon offsets sold on the voluntary market, and Green-e Marketplace, which licenses the Green-e logo to organizations that purchase certified renewable energy and services to those organizations that want to reduce the environmental impact of their activities. 
CRS's policy work currently focuses on working intimately with governments and non-governmental organizations across the globe to provide expert assistance and to promote renewable energy through policy development, education and market building.

What is the current top priority for Center for Resource Solutions?
Over the last several years, renewable energy facilities in the US have been built at an unprecedented pace, as governments, businesses, and individuals have voiced their demand for clean energy.  Currently, nearly 30 states have a goal to increase the amount of renewables in their energy portfolios, and businesses and consumers in 47 states have the option to purchase green power from their utilities or power suppliers.  In 2007, this group of individuals and organizations was responsible for purchasing about 18 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy, an increase of more than 50% over the previous year.  But current state and federal legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gases from the energy generation, transportation, and manufacturing sectors may have the perverse result of negating the environmental impact of renewable energy purchases by allowing greenhouse gas emitters to emit more as clean energy generation increases.  CRS is working hard at this crucial moment, when the rules are being written for the most ambitious plans in our history to reduce our carbon footprint, to ensure that clean energy continues to be a part of the solution.

One unknown fact about Center for Resource Solutions:
Besides being ardent environmentalists, CRS staff members are mean karaoke competitors.

Connect the Dots

What is the mission of Connect the Dots?
Connect the Dots is a nonprofit effort dedicated exclusively to helping nonprofit organizations lower their environmental footprint.  Our Green Start program helps nonprofit organizations realize immediate reductions in water usage, energy consumption and waste production.  Our clients save on operating costs, which in turn encourages them to investigate and pursue other greening projects beyond Green Start.

What is the history of the organization?
The idea of reducing the environmental impact of nonprofits arose as we volunteered for community relieve programs around San Francisco and consistently found their green practices lacking.  We noticed that while individuals within nonprofits set up recycling programs or commit to buying fair trade coffee, these efforts are often piecemeal and undertaken in spare time as opposed to being a part of systemic organizational change.  As a result, actions remain isolated and unable to affect formal, cultural change across the organization.  We developed and test piloted the Green Start program at Hamilton Family Center, a San Francisco-based organization promoting independent living in low-income families.  The compelling results from this pilot launched Connect the Dots to move the nonprofit community more efficiently and expediently along the path towards environmental sustainability.

What is the current top priority for Connect the Dots?
Especially during these tough economic times, we are stepping up our services to help more nonprofits save money and diminish their ecological footprint.  We are specifically focused on:
     -  Reaching out to nonprofit organizations managing their own facilities, especially those serving vulnerable population, to let them know about Green Start;
     -  Engaging philanthropic sponsors (foundations, businesses, or individuals) to fund our Green Start implementation at a nonprofit facility.  It's a gift that truly keeps on giving as the recurring savings, environmental and financial, continue to benefit the nonprofit organization years after Green Start completes.

One unknown fact about Connect the Dots:
We're tickled to be one of 20+ authors from around the world to contribute to a global handbook sharing practical information on how nonprofit organizations can become more green.  This book is set to publish later this year by John Wiley and Sons.
 

San Francisco Green Drinks

What is the mission of SF Green Drinks?
SF Green Drinks is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization that actively promotes green networking, education, and volunteer events in the SF Bay Area.  SF Green Drinks's mission is to be the eco-conscious hub, both on and offline, for local individuals, organizations, and businesses that aim to strengthen and support the local environmental and green community.

What is the history of the organization?
SF Green Drinks was founded in 2003 with the simple desire to provide a networking opportunity for environmental professionals.  From entry-level job seekers to upper-level professionals, a diverse mixture of intelligent locals became the core attendees of SF Green Drinks.  Average attendence has grown dramatically from 20 people in the early years to well over 300; we are now one of the largest monthly gatherings of green professionals in the country.  This naturally evolving social phenomenon demonstrates the thirst for connection, knowledge, and opportunity that exists across the Green Drinks network.

What is the current top priority for SF Green Drinks?
To better serve the exploding green community in the bay area, SF Green Drinks is working on these three top priorities for Summer 2009:
        -   Breaking in our new venue at 111 Minna on the first Tuesday of every month. 
            Check out the debut event
        -   Launching our website www.sfgreendrinks.org
        -   Expanding our community by promoting volunteer and knowledge exchange opportunities

One unknown fact about SF Green Drinks?
We are only one of 494 cities in the world to host a Green Drinks!

Community Clinics Initiative 
Joint Project of Tides and The California Endowment

What is the Mission of Tri-Valley CAREs?
Tri-Valley CAREs' overarching mission is to promote peace, justice and a healthy environment by pursuing the following five interrelated goals:

1. Convert Livermore Lab from nuclear weapons development and testing to socially beneficial, environmentally sound research.

2. End all nuclear weapons development and testing in the United States.

3. Abolish nuclear weapons worldwide, and achieve an equitable, successful non-proliferation regime.

4. Promote forthright communication and democratic decision-making to public policy on nuclear weapons and related environmental issues, locally, nationally, globally.

5. Clean up the radioactive and toxic pollution emanating from the Livermore Lab and reduce the Lab's environmental and health hazards.

What is the history of Tri-Valley CAREs?
Since its inception in 1983, Tri-Valley CAREs has strengthened global security by preventing the further development of nuclear weapons and working tirelessly for their elimination. The group was founded by concerned neighbors living around the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of two locations where all U.S. nuclear weapons are designed. Past examples of success are:

- We led a successful campaign to shut down the Lab's existing waste incinerator.
- We stopped Livermore Lab from building a massive new toxic and radioactive waste incinerator.
- We won improvements in the Lab's program to clean up contaminated groundwater and soil.
- We played a key role in convincing Congress to stop the funding for two new nuclear bombs that were under development at Livermore Lab.

What is the current top priority of Tri-Valley CAREs?
In 2008-2009, our top two priorities are:

1) Terminating activities at Livermore Lab involving highly radioactive plutonium. This has the dual purpose of protecting the Bay Area's health and environment as well as stopping nuclear weapons work at the lab.

2) Preventing Livermore Lab from operating a new bio-warfare agent research facility. This will protect our health and environment while fully supporting the international Biological Weapons Convention, which is the treaty aimed at preventing the development and spread of bio-weapons.

What is one unknown fact about Tri-Valley CAREs?
We have the best, most dedicated, most well-motivated and all-around coolest volunteers in the entire universe. Many of our community members and volunteers have been active with Tri-Valley CAREs since the 1980s, while others are brand new with the group.  Their contributions make a difference. Kudos to them all!