Today, the world is facing unprecedented environmental challenges and we need social entrepreneurs to bring new ideas to light (and to scale) before it’s too late. Women are poised to offer solutions, but they aren’t getting the support they need to take their concepts to the next level. We aim to shift this disparity.
Imagine an economy fueled daily by the sun’s energy. Jobs are opening up in sustainable companies that previously struggled to survive in a fossil fuel dependent world. Imagine that this robust, creative economy is no longer undermined by the political power of the fossil fuel industry, that energy markets are driven by consumers rather than by political manipulation and industry leverage. Progressive philanthropy can help turn this vision into reality. Doing so will require divesting from fossil fuels and investing in preferred alternatives: in infrastructure and local efficiencies; in clean energy and technology; and in sustainable agriculture and consumer products.
While doing field work in the Bahamas for her master’s degree in marine conservation, Martha Davis experienced firsthand the alarming decline of the islands’ queen conch population, a species of edible mollusk. Her nonprofit, Community Conch, conducts conch population surveys and advocates for conservation efforts to preserve this vital species. “With the support of the Department of Marine Resources and the Bahamas National Trust, we are using the information we collected at stakeholders meetings to reform regulations. It has been very rewarding to present our data at conferences and have scientists from the Bahamas and other Caribbean countries thank us for our work,” Martha says.
“All children should be exposed to the arts, celebrating humans’ greatest creative achievements,” says Sarah duPont, founder of CIAMO, one of Africa’s first tuition-free schools to offer art and music classes. The project was inspired by Sarah’s work in the U.S. developing curriculum for the humanities and environmental education, areas that are known to impact creative thinking. Bringing her idea for CIAMO to fruition, however, required six years of dedicated planning before the first students walked through the school’s door.
How do we encourage governments, companies, and an economy obsessed with measuring and growing GNP to shift to maximizing total well-being? For example, a divorcing cancer patient who gets in a car wreck has added to the GNP through payments for services from lawyers, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, tow trucks, and repair shops. Is she any better off? Clearly not. On the other hand, if you stay home to care for your children, volunteer at a home for wounded warriors, care for troubled youth after school, or clean up streams on the weekend, you add nothing to the GNP, but have contributed significantly to a healthier society.
I recently left my job as a naturalist and environmental educator in order to teach environmental education in underserved neighborhoods in Milwaukee. I did this because I know that soon, the next generation of children will be making the personal and public policy decisions that will profoundly affect the planet. This generation of children has had the least exposure to nature of any generation in human history. Many inner-city neighborhoods lack safe, attractive outdoor spaces for wandering, experimenting, building, observing, and exploring. Without a positive personal relationship to the land as children, they will not be compelled to preserve it as adults.
