Cool Green Job: Communications Manager Womens Enviro Group

Communications Manager, Rachel's Network Rachel's Network is a non-profit organization for women environmental funders. Looking for someone to help the world know that women's voices are loud and clear as it relates to stewardship of our beautiful planet.

NRDC: Get Paid to Defend the Environment

NRDC: Working at NRDC Since I'm on this green job roll, I want to share one of my favorite environmental organizations, The Natural Resources Defense Council. Wow! What a concept, earning a living to defend God's earth. (We are supposed to do this without get paid, but that's another story). This organization was founded in the 70's and has offices in D.C., China, San Francisco, New York and Chicago. I would love to work there and/or for my son to work there, given his area of interest and Chicago location. Anyway, it was named as one of the top 50 non-profits to work for, has a huge budget (important if you work for a non-profit) and offers internships, externships and volunteer opportunities.

Earth Day Action Opportunity

Happy Earth Day! Being the mom of a high school senior, hasn't allowed me much time to have much of an Earth Day celebration, so my contribution was joining the National Resource Defense Council and signing up to become an advocate of our environment and our health. Please show your support by reading this link and taking action. Raising awareness of and expanding my knowledge about the potentially cancerous effects of unsafe chemicals is what led me to blogging about environmental health some three years ago. NRDC: Protecting People from Unsafe Chemicals

Did You Know Funding is Available for Gardeners and Community Gardens?

Did You Know Funding is Available for Gardeners and Community Gardens? Get some green to green up and clean up the health of your community.

Earth Day Again, Already?

Man, Thursday will be the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, and I have no exciting earthy green events planned. Bummer. I will be driving to Columbus, Ohio to attend a conference of school business officials. Next year, I must remember to take this day off. The conference won't be so bad, as a member of our local USGBC Green Schools Action Circle, I can check out the green vendor booths (there will be several) and ask the school treasurers about their energy efficiency plans. I will also enjoy seeing some of my clients from Northeast Ohio out of their offices for a change. In Ohio, all new public school buildings must be LEED certified, but there is a need for information about green curriculum and financing sources, so I will ask them about their plans in those areas. Anyway, back to Earth Day. Other than eat some raw food and develop some questions for my upcoming green biz panel at the Women's Summit, I think, I might have to sit this Earth Day out. Saturday is taken as I will be attending an African American Philanthropy Summit and Sunday is gone as, I will be attending my initiation into Jack and Jill of America. So I will have to live vicariously through your Earth Day experiences. What are your plans?

Timberland/Yele Launches Bootwear Collection To Benefit Haiti Environment

Strap on your Tims and give Haiti a helping hand. In November, Timberland and Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti launched a partnership as part of Earthkeepers 2009. Timberland introduced a collection of t-shirts and 16 eco-conscious boots, made from recycled and organic materials. Two dollars will be donated to Yele for the purpose of rebuilding Haiti's de-forested environment. Deforestation was becoming a problem in Haiti, as poor citizens were using the trees to make charcoal for fuel. Deforestation causes many latent environmental problems, including, increase in carbon emissions, erosion of soil, loss of wildlife and the balance it brings, increased temperatures and vulnerability to hurricanes. So this was a huge need in November, you can imagine the depth and breadth of the need in the wake of the earthquake, which is why funds are being reallocated towards the relief efforts. Click here to view photos from the launch party.

A Word From Haitian National Coalition For The Environment

If  you are like me, you are still in shock and pain over the devastation Haitians are facing in the wake of the horrific earthquake. I think that African Americans will be following this story for many months as it appears that many portions of the country will need to be reconstructed. There are many charities that are accepting donations and hopefully you have given. (Text "yele" at 501501 or "haiti" at 90999, to donate $5 or $10 via your cellphone). I found this assessment of Haiti's strengths, weaknesses, challenges, opportunities and needs from a Haitian environmental organization. I think reading this assessment will give you a good foundation for understanding this country.

An affiliated organization, Konbit Pou Ayiti (Working Together for Haiti), is providing regular updates on the earthquake situation via its website. Click here to learn more.

More Environmental Grants From The EPA

Are you looking to fund an enviromental education and awareness initiative? You have until December 15th, 2010 to apply for up to 100 grants from the EPA to finance your education project. Grants may be as large as $200,000, but will be more in the range of $25,000. Pass this on to a teacher or school administrator, if you are not directly seeking funding. One will find tips on applying for grants and a list of other EPA grant programs. Goodness knows, we could all benefit by learning more of the need for stewardship of this good earth.

EPA Showcases Communities Promoting Enviromental Justice

The EPA has decided to highlight and profile enviromental justice initiatives in 10 communities across the nation. If you are seeking to launch an environmental justice effort in your neighborhood, you may want to model yourselves after those in this report.

Enviromental Justice Grants for Non-Profits

The EPA anticipates awarding 40 grants of $25,000 each to non-profit agencies offering solutions to addressing enviromental justice and education issues in 2010. Click here for details.

Ground Breaking For New Green Arts Center In Cleveland

The Rainey Institute has been providing an arts education for children in Cleveland, Ohio for 105 years - in the same house. I had the fortune of participating in the ground breaking ceremony for its new green building, to be constructed by next summer. This was a great day as it was 14 years in the making and many people were instrumental in seeing that children of all backgrounds have an opportunity to be exposed to the beauty and experience of various art forms. Rainey works withkids in all age ranges, from the cutest pre-schoolers to the most charming teens. Art, music, dance and leadership skills are taught and sometimes, the teachers are the best role models some of the children have in their lives. I'm proud to be a donor (very small) and part of history. Donations are still being accepted, click here to learn more about Rainey and donor opportunities.

Socially Responsible Investing Part 2 of 3

Okay, I know I was supposed to post this yesterday, but I was too geeked up about helping my friend with his green building project. So today, we will highlight trends in Socially Responsible Investing.

Trends

A rapidly growing number of investors are factoring a company's environmental, safety and corporate governance (ESG) practices into their investment decisions. Some for social reasons, others fear the risks associated with violations, regulation, competition and public relations when companies don't have strong ESG performance. ESG is especially important given the growth of "emerging market" funds. These are funds of businesses operating in high growth developing countries, including China, Brazil, parts of Africa and India There is growing evidence of a positive correlation to financial performance and sensitivity to the triple bottom line over time. Currently there is a push among blocks of investors, for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require its member companies to provide ESG reporting. The most recent data suggests that SRI dollars account for 11 percent of all dollars invested, this represents a growth of 18% from 2005 to 2007. Typical institutional investors include governments, universities, hospitals, foundations and religious organizations that want to align their mission and values with dollars invested. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)represents 300 faith based institutional investors and has over $100 billion in capital in the SRI market.

Financial Performance or "Show Me The Money"

Recent studies have demonstrated the superior performance of SRI funds over non-SRI funds and indexes. According to Social Investment Forum, the oldest SRI index, The Domini 400 earned 8.43% from 1990-2008, compared to the S&P 500, which returned 7.78% over the same period. I am considering investing in The Appleseed Fund, given its 35.21% year to date performance and 12.42% one year return. Another one I'm considering is the Pax World High Yield Bond Fund with year to date returns of 27.42%. There are several other indexes which have outperformed comparable non-SRI indexes in the past decade. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index World is one of these. Wow! So it sounds like you really can have your conscious cake and eat too! All investments have some inherent risks, so be sure to do your homework, understand your comfort level with assuming risk versus return, your time horizon for needing your cash, your goals and review with a certified financial advisor (they should ask you for this information -if they don't- walk away).

Act Now

If you are a member of a credit union or union, donor to or board member of a non-profit or foundation, employee of a large corporation or member of a religious entity you can now ask if your institution has included ESG or SRI requirements into its investment policy (a written internal document that outlines rules, regulations and guidelines for investments) and if not, suggest that they do. If you are an individual investor, you can purchase shares of SRI funds and indexes for as little as $500 (save up monthly until you accumulate this amount or use your tax refund, gift money, etc) or part of a company's stock through Sharebuilder for an even smaller initial investment. There are many investment firms and advisers that specialize in this type of investing, we will touch on these in my final post of this series on socially responsible investing.

For a more detailed report on this topic, click here, there is a lot of good information about guiding your organization's dollars in this direction, in addition to general information on SRI.

Environmental Health News And Green Tidbits

Be sure to check out the Above The Fold daily environmental health news from around the world, featured in Black and Into Green. This weekend's highlights, I found to be particularly relevant:

• Pesticides found at dangerous to human levels in water system (use a water filter)
• Makers of BPA, found in plastic and canned food/formula, to lead an overt and covert tobacco industry like attack to protect its tarnished reputation (cancer, heart disease, reproductive disorders). Yeah. I will take mine in glass, stainless steel or ceramic please.
• Swine flue vaccine contains mercury and squalene - tied to lupus, multiple sclerosis
• Landfill garbage located in low income Wilmington area, may topple into Delaware River
• Green alternatives being developed to replace toxic pesticides. Scotts Lawn Co to be one of first to test in products. Yay! (Vinegar makes a great spot weedkiller)
• Great Lakes fish linked to diabetes via pesticide DDE
• Rainforests being cleared at an alarming rate to raise soybeans, primarily to feed cows in an attempt to meat the growing global demand for meat
• Ingredient to watch - palm oil. Forests being cleared unsustainably to grow palm plants. Found in food products and soap.

Other green tidbits:

• Use lemongrass oil or eucalyptus oil instead of DEET to ward off bugs
• WaterSense labeled plumbing fixtures are most efficient
• Cuisinart GreenGourmet nonstick cookware is eco-friendly and safe to use
• Search for cool back to school accessories like jewelry, purses and belts at thrift/vintage stores
• 30% increase in colleges going green (a whole new enlightened generation being formed)
• Green stimulus dollars are hitting your local governments and nonprofits, stay on top of the opportunities through your government rep and http://www.recovery.org/
• Eco-Mondays at Twitter are days to show some love to your fav green tweeples

That's all folks!

Grants Available To Provide Green Job Training for Women

Found this information while looking for some graduate school dollars. The Business and Professional Women's Foundation, with support from Wal-Mart, is looking to award $60,000 in grant money to four organizations to expand capacity to provide green job training. Click here for details. The foundation is also looking for green employers.

Fund Your Green Venture: Profit or Non-Profit

You know I'm always on the prowl for green funding opportunities. Check out this list of green funders for your for profit or not for profit green or socially responsible idea, provided by Black Enterprise Magazine.

Something to CROW About: Versatile, Organic Fashion Line Launches

Another sister has launched into the green economy. Damali Ayo, a fellow green blogger, and a constant source of inspiration to live greener and to blog green, has launched CROW clothing line and a comprehensive complementary web cafe (includes social network) to support it. You can even check out "real" people sporting the fashions on the site. Features of the clothing line:

• Uses and reuses a variety of eco-friendly sustainable fabrics
• Stylish and versatile
• Locally assembled
• Variable pricing to accommodate a variety of incomes
• Cold water washable
• Shipped in 100% post-consumer packaging
• Company offsets carbon emissions
• Donates 1% of sales to Now Art Grants (artists promoting social change)
• Crow actually represents something positive

CROW launched in May, 2008 with no debt, and is currently seeking investors. If you are looking to become a socially conscious green business owner, opportunity is knocking, will you answer?

Non-Profit Green Chat July 1, 2008

Is your non-profit thinking about going green? Need help? Join the Chronicle of Philanthropy on July 1, 2008 at noon for a green chat to help your non-profit go green. The panel will include Cynthia L. Bailie, director of the Foundation Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Sarah S. Brophy, a consultant who specializes in museums and historic houses and Kimberly Austin of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, which provides green grants to metro area non-profits.

If you miss this discussion, transcripts are available on the website.

More Green Educational Grants

Check out these two sites for environmental education grants:

• National Environment Education Foundation
• Environmental Protection Agency

Pass it on!

Show Me The Money! Green Dollars for Non-Profits

Since the post last week on green funding for non-profits, I have become aware of two organizations that have gotten grant money for environmental programming. Only one of these organizations has an environmental mission and it is the smaller and less established of the two. I hope to share more about it in a future post. If you are an environmental artist, a teacher, a youth worker, a gardener/landscaper/farmer, a healthcare worker, a contractor or if you possess some other skill that can be used to promote sustainability, there might be an opportunity for you to partner with a non-profit to generate green dollars. Through my attendance at a few meetings and symposiums recently, I'm finding that cities and states are looking to invest significantly in sustainability initiatives to drive economic development and energy cost reductions. I'm telling you, funders, both public and private, are looking for green funding opportunities. Please don't just sit by this door of opportunity waiting to be invited in, kick it wide open!

As my grandma used to say when I was younger "Don't be too poor to pay attention".

Non-Profit Funding Opportunities Go Green

Non-profit organizations are facing tight times. The number of clients needing services are rising, individual donations and corporate sponsorships have fallen off, operating costs are skyrocketing and competition between other non-profits is as tough as the Obama/Clinton race for the Democratic nomination. If you are a non-profit manager, fundraiser or board member you might want to consider going green as a way to generate more funding and reducing expenses. There are an increasing number of funding sources from foundations and corporations to government agencies that are awarding grants to organizations that green up their missions and operations.

Opportunities exist to apply for green grants in the following areas:

• Job training in green collar fields- ie., construction, alternative energy and landscaping
• Veterans green collar job training
• Urban planning - sustainable low and moderate income housing
• Education - programming to teach and promote sustainable living to children
• Energy conservation - investments in upgrades to improve energy efficiency
• Construction, renovation and building operations - sustainable building practices (LEED)

For a listing of possible funders for green initiatives, review this article from the Foundation Center that highlights grant opportunities for museums. Though the article is two years old, its content is even more relevant in today's environment.

A Green Collar Jobs Fact Sheet is provided by Wider Opportunities for Women to give you an idea of the types of funding that is available for job training and economic development in the green economy.

So, with that folks, we have a new twist on the 1851 quote that encouraged young men to head west in their search for opportunity, "Go Green, Non-Profit, Go Green".