2008 :  grants, interns, organizational updates

We are pleased to announce our 2008 Grantees!

It was a challenging grant cycle, with worthy requests exceeding the funds available to grant (you can help us out with this problem in the future:  donate today!).  We are very excited about the 9 projects we are able to fund this year.

2008 Grant Recipient Project Summaries

Environmental Education Association of Washington

SBLF contributed $1,000 in sponsorship of the King County Environmental Education Planning Summit and follow-up activities.  This regional summit, held on June 19th 2008, brought together local businesses, agriculture, tribes, schools, NGOs, the media, community organizations, zoos, museums, aquariums and other key stakeholders to participate in development of a comprehensive strategy for environmental and sustainability education.  EEAW is the coordinator of the E3 Washington effort that combines sustainability education, the environment and the economy into one plan of action.  E3 Washington will deliver one statewide and 18 regional plans to define and coordinate actions, resources and commitments in December 2008.
http://www.eeaw.org/
http://www.e3washington.org/

2People

A $20,000 grant from SBLF is supporting 2People and the Greater Seattle Climate Dialogues project.  This project will include dialogue circles and action labs to engage citizens in climate advocacy.  2People and the Climate Dialogues will also work with both nonprofit and business partners to build collaboration and a shared network of resources.  2People’s website and online resources are actively providing the means by which concerned citizens can participate in climate change issues to make a difference.
http://www.2people.org/

Climate Solutions

SBLF made a grant of $20,000 to Climate Solutions to support the “Energy Nexus: Green Buildings to Smart Grid” project.  The Energy Nexus concept seeks to build collaborative understandings and interconnections among Green Technology sectors that are independently experiencing significant growth.  Specifically, this project will result in a report that links green buildings, smart grid technology and electrified transportation to provide comprehensive research analysis and synthesis focusing on the Northwest.  This publication and its recommendations will be designed as a means to leverage future collaboration and support from community partners as well as political advocacy efforts. The report will be used to educate policymakers, opinion leaders, people working in these technology areas and the general public.
http://www.climatesolutions.org/

Port Townsend Marine Science Center

A grant of $10,000 from SBLF is supporting the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s Northern Hood Canal/Puget Sound Docks Monitoring Project, a science literacy program for 8th graders.  In partnership with local school districts, this pilot program will monitor water quality, plankton and invasive marine invertebrates at local marinas.  Students will gain knowledge about Pacific Northwest marine waters and near-shore habitat while developing an awareness of Puget Sound issues to promote environmental stewardship.

Reef Environmental Education Foundation

With a $5,000 grant awarded from SBLF, and an anonymous $5,000 match from an SBLF donor, a $10,000 grant to REEF will support its work to involve citizens in marine life data collection in Puget Sound through a Volunteer Survey Project training program.  A centralized online database facilitates management of survey data and helps coordinate the transfer of information to other agencies, scientists and the general public.  

Sightline Institute

SBLF made a grant of $20,000 to the Sightline Institute to support research, consultation, and communication regarding climate pricing policies.  Sightline is developing policy recommendations for how Washington State should implement climate pricing as a part of the Western Climate Initiative.  Climate pricing is public policy that makes the price of emitting greenhouse gases equal to its environmental and social costs.  This is a key principle of ecological economics, as it internalizes the external cost of environmental impact.  This project will encourage citizens to engage with climate pricing ideas and use Sightline resources in their own work.  In collaboration with nonprofit, public and private partners, Sightline is working to advance climate policy solutions that are effective, efficient and fair.  
http://www.sightline.org/

Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation

A grant of $15,000 from SBLF is supporting WCRC’s Pharmaceuticals in the Environment project, which targets upstream pharmaceutical waste prevention and ecotoxicity reduction.  Through journal publications, industry presentations and online public resource development, WCRC is actively working to prevent pharmaceutical waste.  Continuing this year, the Medicine Return Pilot Program will collect an additional 5,000 pounds of unwanted medicines, promoting return and environmentally safe disposal of surplus medicine.   

Washington Toxics Coalition

SBLF is providing a $15,000 grant to support the WTC Earliest Exposures project.  This project focuses on exposures during fetal development, one of the most vulnerable periods for insult from toxic chemicals.  This research will supplement limited
existing data to learn about how toxics accumulate.  Before the study is initiated, an Institutional Review Board will review
 the proposed protocol for sampling and testing.  The study population will represent diverse backgrounds and residences.  Findings from the study will be communicated to the media and the public via web resources, press conferences, fact sheets and interviews. Results may also be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.  As with their last projects, such as Toxics in Toys, Pollution in People, and Toxic Flame Retardants, this project is part of WTC's collaboration with a multi-year, national campaign. Our hope is that it will result in a national or multi-state study and help pass state and federal legislations to protect children from toxics.
http://www.watoxics.org/

Washington Environmental Council

An SBLF grant of $5,000 to WEC supported education regarding the Local Farms – Healthy Kids project, which was approved by the State legislature this winter.  As part of the WEC’s 2008 Priorities for a Healthy Washington, this collaboration seeks to promote more sustainable food production, healthier kids and a systematic shift in the food purchasing decisions made by local schools around the state.  

We are excited about all of the projects that we were able to fund this year.  Unfortunately, the requests for funding always outweigh the funds we have available.  For this reason, we were unable to fund many worthy proposals.  One project in particular that we wish we had been able to support was the Homewaters Project, which gets 5th graders from Seattle Public Schools involved in the science and experience of the Thornton Creek Watershed.  In their work of serving students, Homewaters also has some volunteer activities for adults.  If you would like to learn more about the Homewaters Project, please visit their website at http://www.homewatersproject.org/index.html

We were also not able to fully fund 100% of any of our grantee’s requests.  Many of our grantees continue to look for funding to support their worthy programs. Please contact SBLF or the grantee directly if you would like to make a donation to support their projects.   

Grants Committee Volunteers

Our 2008 Grants would not have been possible without the help of our dedicated grants committee volunteers:  Joanne Amundson, Michelle Chow, David Cosman, Lowell Ericsson, Richard Gayle, Kay Humm, Kyoko Maruyama, Arvia Morris, Carol Olson, Linda Park, Kate Plant, Patty Ryan, Jennifer Slack, and Janis Wignall.  Thank you!

Wrapping up our 2007 Grant cycle with a look at a few highlights…

One of our 2007 Grantees (whom we refunded in 2008) is the organization 2People, who lead Climate Action Labs around Seattle.  Last week, the Seattle PI featured an Op-Ed, “We need a viable alternative to driving” (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/370011_climate09.html), which was co-written by Phil Mitchell of 2People.  The Climate Action Labs that will be taking place this summer and fall will be specifically focusing on transportation issues.  
http://climatedialogues.org/

Another 2007 Grantee that we have refunded in 2008 is Washington Toxics Coalition.  Their 2007 grant focused on the toxics found in toys.  They produced an informative brochure, “Not so squeaky clean:  A study of phthalates in toys”, and also created an online database of healthy toys .  As a result of Washington Toxics study, Governor Christine Gregoire adopted the Children Safe Product Act in April.  For more information:  http://www.watoxics.org/

Last summer, SBLF made a small grant to the Girls on Ice program, which provided an opportunity for nine young women (aged 15 – 18 years old) to have a science and wilderness expedition on Mount Baker.  The girls did experiments on snowmelt and glacial flow, had instruction on field sketches, surveyed alpine and sub-alpine ecology and learned about paleoclimatology, glacial anatomy, ice flows, and climate change.  

Quote from a participant:  “All people, not just women, need the opportunity to connect the water in their water bottles, the meat in their Big Macs, the milk in their fridge, and the emptiness in their hearts to the separation and manipulation of the wilderness.  We all know of the slow changes that are affecting our natural world but this program wakes us up and turns the wheels of awareness, appreciation and responsibility in our brains.”

The 2008 summer expedition will begin at the end of July.  Good luck, ladies!
For more information:  http://www.ncascades.org/programs/youth/girls_on_ice/

2008 Seminar Series Recap

In April we concluded the fifth annual “Our Health, Our Environment: Making the Link” seminar series. As in 2007, the 2008 series focused on “Seeking Solutions” with an added theme of ecological economics, aiming to connect economics with health and the environment.  If you missed any of these lectures, you can still access slides from the presentations on the SBLF website:  http://www.sblfoundation.org/seminar-series

The seminar series included:
•    Principles of Ecological Economics: Robert Costanza, PhD, professor and director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont.
•    The Future of the Puget Sound Region: David Batker, MS, founder and director of Earth Economics; and Kate Davies, DPhil, director and faculty member of the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle.
•    The Future of Energy: Cutler Cleveland, PhD, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Boston University; and KC Golden, policy director at Climate Solutions.
•    Economics for the 21st Century: Joshua Farley, PhD, professor of Community
Development and Applied Economics at the Gund Institute at the University of Vermont; and David Korten, PhD, cofounder of Positive Futures Network and author of When Corporations Rule the World and The Great Turning.

Over 1,125 people have attended a seminar since the series began five years ago.

The 2008 Seminar Series was funded in part by the support of co-sponsors Antioch University and The Russell Family Foundation. SBLF has heartfelt appreciation for the tireless work of the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health in organizing the series.  We’d also like to thank our many 2008 series volunteers including all of the speakers and volunteers who helped with the planning and implementation processes.  

Our 2009 Seminar Series is currently being planned.   If you would like to get involved in the planning process, please let us know at SBLF@SBLFoundation.org.

Summer Interns

Karyn McKelvey is working with SBLF for a summer internship.  She is looking forward to participating in program evaluation, organizational strategy and communications.  Evaluation projects may include a review of organizational history, grantee final reports and procedure and review of grant making processes.  Karyn is currently a graduate student at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.  As a candidate for a Masters of Public Administration, she is focusing her studies on nonprofit management and philanthropy.  Karyn's work experience includes fundraising and development, volunteer management and direct human service provision.  Her career has taken her through homeless advocacy, the arts and environmental organizations, and she is now focusing her interests on the philanthropic side of the nonprofit community. She studied in Paris, France for one year during undergraduate studies and enjoys speaking French and learning about language and culture. Karyn was excited to return home to the Northwest in 2005 after spending four years working in Boston.  She enjoys travel, reading and being outdoors for camping and hiking.

Todd Little is also working with SBLF this summer as an intern. Todd is looking forward to participating in rebranding, website design, and educating the wider community about ecological economics. Todd is currently a senior at University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. As a Natural Sciences major, his focus has turned to finding solutions to the decreased interest in farming. Todd’s work experience ranges from documenting a Students for a Free Tibet chapter and organizing a Mercy Corps summer project on HPV awareness.  As a Seattle native, Todd has frequently come home in the past three years from UPS, but is happy to return this summer to learn more cooking skills. He eagerly anticipates traveling and researching farming in Mongolia, China, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India. He enjoys adventures, gardening, and playing mentally challenging video games.  

We’re changing our name…

…stay tuned!  We have decided SBLF has outgrown its name.  In January the board decided to hire a consultant to help us explore options for a name that might better reflect our vision and mission.  We worked with consultants Lynn Parker and Peggy Brown of Parker LePla to first decide whether we should change our name, and then to come up with a new name.  It has been a fun and interesting process.  There’s still a lot of work with trademark legal review and logo design before the big “unveiling” in the fall. We are excited about moving ahead with establishing ourselves as 501(c)3, independent of The Seattle Foundation. We have ambitious plans for the future of SBLF.  It seems fitting to have a new name to mark this milestone.

Sustainable organization…

Sustainability is key to SBLF’s mission, and as we become an independent 501(c)3 organization we want to ensure that the foundation is also sustainable.  One big change as we move out from under the wing of The Seattle Foundation will be managing our funds and investing our endowment.  We have formed an investment committee, including Linda Park, June Eisenman, Abbe Rubin, and Nora Burton, who are working with Aron Thompson to develop an investment plan as the first step in this process.  We would like our investments to be aligned with our mission and will explore mission-related investing, values-based investing, and socially responsible investing strategies.  We feel this is a great opportunity for interested donors to be involved in how their money is working.  If you are interested in working with the investment committee to explore investment options, let us know: SBLF@SBLFoundation.org.

Another very important aspect of SBLF organizational sustainability is fundraising.  Our strategy is to use our wisely invested endowment to support our operational expenses, allowing all of the funds raised from our annual appeals to go to mission-based programs.  Our fundraising committee, chaired by Tim Dickenson, includes board members June Eisenman, Linda Park, Nan McKay, and volunteer Diane Wah.  We will be working in the coming months to develop a plan to grow both our endowment and program funds to support all the ambitious projects we are developing. 

Thank you to all our donors that have helped us get where we are today!