Working at the Intersection of Environmental Protection, Economic Opportunity, Social Justice, and Democracy

If you are committed to a just, green future—where a clean, renewable, opportunity-rich economy supports vibrant, healthy, democratic communities—we invite you to be part of the Tides ECO Initiative.

Mission and Goals

The Tides ECO Initiative will strengthen organizing, advocacy, and leadership at the intersection of environmental protection, economic opportunity, social and racial justice, and democracy.

Working with committed donors, thinkers and activists, this new Tides Initiative will work to:

• Build collaborative leadership (both organizational and individual) working strategically at the intersection of environmental protection, economic opportunity, social and racial justice, and democracy;
• Shape the national conversation on public policy, economic trends, community development, and organizational and societal behavior around these issues;
• Directly address how race and racism informs this work, both in the work being done in these arenas, the constituencies served and how that work is accomplished; and
• Support infrastructure for collaboration, common action, and increased collective impact to move beyond traditional boundaries.

The Values of ECO

Tides believes that a powerful, effective progressive movement is essential to protect nature, restore the environment, and provide opportunity and prosperity for all communities. To achieve its full power to transform society, the progressive movement must be rooted in values of economic justice/opportunity, civil rights, social and racial justice, participatory democracy, and environmental protection and balance.

Coordination is key.  Supporting fruitful and effective connections between traditionally separate issue areas, or micro-movements, will increase our impact in this work. Given the urgency of environmental, social, economic and civil society issues confronting the nation and the world, moving beyond fragmentation and toward a shared vision is imperative.

History of the ECO Initiative

ECO builds on a 30 year history at Tides of philanthropic leadership from donors who have consistently and generously supported environmental activism.  It also builds on our history of building bridges between issues.  Our partners have shown a deep commitment for decades to the social, economic, and environmental justice communities. ECO marks an institutional commitment to this cross-movement vision.  Over the next three years, ECO will support bold action on the climate crisis, including jump starting a just green economy in which all people thrive and nature flourishes.

ECO emerged from an in-depth planning, field research, and scoping process for a new sustainability initiative that Tides conducted in late 2006 through 2007. Tides conducted a series of scoping interviews with 36 thought leaders and activists -- "connectors" selected because their work is rooted in the connections between environmental protection, social justice, democratic participation, and economic opportunity. Interviewees were asked to share their ideas for building a powerful progressive movement for positive social change and one able to lead local, national and even global efforts to restore and protect the earth and the connections between human beings and the planet. The interviews revealed an opportunity to create a new field emphasizing cross-movement work, new partnerships, and collaboration.

In October 2007, Tides convened 21 leaders to explore opportunities to identify and support work at the intersection of environmental protection, economic opportunity, social justice, and democracy. Global climate change, a renewable energy economy, and green jobs were identified as areas ripe for this intersectional, cross-movement work. Participants came from every sector of the progressive movement: community development, conservation, economic justice, environment, environmental justice, labor, media, organizational development, philanthropy, publishing, racial justice, reproductive justice, and sustainability.

In October 2008, ECO convened Building an Inclusive, Powerful Climate Community, a three day retreat for two dozen progressive leaders from a cross section of the progressive movement.  The goal was to find common values and purpose around a climate change agenda rooted in equity and democracy.

Description

The ECO Initiative includes three intertwined components:

A. The ECO Fund
The ECO grantmaking program will support organizations whose work focuses on the intersection of environmental protection, economic opportunity, social and racial justice, and democracy at all levels from local to international. In its first three years of grantmaking, the ECO Fund will support the entrance of new voices and constituencies into the national conversation about climate change and a renewable energy economy.  

B. The ECO Learning Community
ECO Fund grantees and an extended network of organizations and leaders will support shared learning and social network building through convenings, leadership development, communications, program evaluation and technical assistance focused on dismantling structural racism.  The community will also work to develop resources and strategies around social benefit entrepreneurs or "the Fourth Sector."

An early example of this commitment was the catalytic funding that ECO provided to The Story of Stuff.  This internet video phenomenon has become the nucleus of a truly global sustainability movement—an estimated four million people across the globe have already viewed the film at www.StoryofStuff.com.  Story of Stuff is now a project at the Tides Center, directed by Annie Leonard.

C. The ECO Bay Area Climate Change Funders Community and Tides Network Climate Change Program
As a Tides Initiative, ECO will leverage the full resources of Tides (440 Foundation funds and clients and 3000 grantees; 240 sponsored projects of Tides Center, two major green multi-tenant nonprofit centers in San Francisco and New York, and the California Community Clinics Initiatives, which is currently "greening" community clinics across the state).  We can address climate change at every level, from the personal, to the institutional, to the global. ECO is building a community of funders, nonprofit leaders, government officials, private sector leaders and others to advance a green jobs/green economy agenda in the state of California.