Our Sustainability Project
Our Sustainability Project is a three-year empowerment grant that includes funding and expertise designed to ensure that the selected non-profit is not simply given a fish but taught how to fish. Funding is granted incrementally over the three-year period, with the largest amount in the first year, half of that in the second and half of the two-year amount in the third.
We are partnering with California State University Monterey Bay School of Business, which provides teams of soon-to-be graduates who develop Strategic Plans for our Sustainability Initiative recipients to use to guide both their general decision-making and how to use our funding. |
Testimonial from past recipients, the Kitchen Sisters, about the Sustainability Initiative and Susie Franklin's team's contribution to their success.
|
Sustainability Initiative Recipient 2020
MEarth programs nurture a sense of wonder in the natural world, emphasizing a sense of belonging and building a foundation for a lifelong love of the outdoors. It teaches stewardship for the planet through nature study that underscores an ethical responsibility and reverence for the preservation of biodiversity.
Sustainability Initiative Recipient 2017
![]() The Restorative Justice Partners
Restorative Justice Partners Inc. (RJP), our second Sustainability Recipient (Jan. 2017), brings victims, offenders, families and other key stakeholders together in a process to help offenders understand the implications of their actions and provide the victim a voice in the restitution. In a restorative justice process, the person who has done harm takes responsibility for their actions and the person who has been harmed can take a central role in the process. Restorative justice is a philosophy in which there is a shift in how we deal with conflict. Instead of focusing on who did what wrong and how that person will be punished, restorative justice looks at what happened, who was affected and aims to create expectations and agreements so that it does not happen again. Restorative justice processes show the highest rates of victim satisfaction, true accountability by the offender, and reduced recidivism. Based in Marina, RJP has produced remarkable results, with a recidivism rate of 13 percent, the lowest of any such program in Monterey County. Restorative Justice Partners Website Capstone Team |
|
Sustainability Initiative Recipient 2014
![]() The Kitchen Sisters
Our inaugural grantee (Feb. 2014) is The Kitchen Sisters Productions, a nonprofit media organization that produces and distributes audio stories for air on public radio stations, including NPR, and related platforms. Its founders and principle producers, Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, established their organization with the mission to create "...public radio and media that chronicle peoples’ lives and little known stories of culture, ritual and tradition…and to build community through storytelling.” Their work plays an important part in securing our cultural legacy. Kitchen Sisters Website |
Testimonial from the Kitchen Sisters About The Sustainability Initiative and Susie Franklin's
contribution to their success. |