Author Archives: Ruth Ann

About Ruth Ann

Founder and Curator of EarthSayers.tv, voices of Sustainability, the only specialized search engine to curated video content in the service of Sustainability.

Qualities of Sustainability Leaders: The Short List

A short list of five qualities I have found in sustainability leaders and now “findable” in abundance at EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability.

Now that I live and work in a community where there is much more support for sustainability I don’t have to spend as much time doing missionary work on the relevancy of it, but I do talk more about leaders and why sustainability leaders need to ban together and become much more visible, not just on EarthSayers.tv, but, locally in their communities.

At the same time I have been listening to leadership experts who generally don’t reference sustainability (more missionary work needed here), but who have been talking about the qualities of leadership that are lacking and, as Bill George of Harvard and a member of the Board of Exxon Mobile and Goldman Sachs observes; it is a”failure of leadership” that has put our country at risk. Of course it’s not just our country is it? Back to Professor George in a minute.

Based on what two leadership experts are talking about and my own experience reviewing hundreds of speeches and interviews, here is a short list of the qualities I have found in sustainability leaders:

(1) Givers not takers.

Sustainability leaders don’t fit the old model of leadership as detailed in a speech to the Google folks by leadership expert Bill George of Harvard University. On what basis have we been choosing our leaders? “More for charisma, than character, more for style than substance, more for their image than their integrity. Not very authentic people, smart, but not committed, takers rather than givers.” Just give a listen to B Corporation members, there are over 200 of them, as the “B” is “for benefit.” Here are three on EarthSayers, including the cofounder of B Corps, Jay Gilbert.

Jay Coen Gilbert, B Corporation; Jeffrey Hollender, Seventh Generation; Miranda Magagnini, IceStone.

(2) Motivators

Again from Bill George: “Economists told us for many years that people only interested in money. Not motivating people. Today we want to find meaning and significance in our work.

Over 90% of the voices on EarthSayers.tv have motivated me to continue with my work and many in different ways emphasize the significance of taking the first step. I don’ think anyone says this better and more simply than Kip Ward, owner of a completely recycled motel in the beach community of Lincoln City, Oregon. Give a listen to what Kip has to say and my thanks to both Kip and filmmaker, producer Barry Heidt of Lincoln City, Oregon who understand the significance of Earthsayers.tv and produced this for EarthSayers.

(3) Different and Humble

According to Blair Sheppard, dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, company recruiters are saying they need a “different kind of person. (They) need a person who is more of a leader, but humble.” I think the collection of leaders on EarthSayers demonstrates how different the sustainability leadership is, you can hear and see it for yourself. Experts and leaders such as the head of Common Cause, Bob Edgar, all say the same thing: “We are all called to be leaders.”

(4) Multi-cultured

Here’s Dean Sheppard. “If you think about the structure of the problems businesses are grappling with today, more and more of it requires that people work effectively with other people, often times from different civilizations from their own. “ It’s not just businesses is it?

Organizations such as the Ecotrust recognize the most innovative indigenous leaders for their efforts to improve conditions in their communities through award programs and public events. There is Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund For Women and then there is the The Goldman Environmental Prize, world’s largest award for grassroots environmentalists.

That’s my short list for now. It will grow as we add more and more sustainability leaders to EarthSayers.tv. Oh wait, I forgot the last one.

(5) Visible.

With the help of Chelsea Peil, community developer, and Barry Heitd we are establishing local offshoots of EarthSayers starting with the Portland Sustainability Leadership Channel and the SeaStar Sustainability Leadership Channel, an ecotourism-focused channel for Lincoln City, Oregon. This is a simple, easy- to- put- into- action model for bringing a focus on the leaders in local communities using YouTube channels and, internationally, through connection to the EarthSayers network. Robert Seireeni in his book, The Gort Cloud, references “The Invisible Force powering today’s most visible Green Brands.” Well, it’s time to get visible.

An Electric Charge and a Blast of the Past

Lincoln City, Oregon

Thanks to my colleague and film producer, Barry Heidt, I had the opportunity this week to attend the dedication of an electric car charging station in the beautiful beach town of Lincoln City, Oregon – my first look, believe it or not, at a charging station. Mayor Lori Hollingsworth and the City Manager, David Hawker cut the ribbon (jute these greener days) and took one step ahead in fighting global warming. The mayor in her remarks pointed out that “IF we want electric cars, you’ve got to put the infrastructure ahead of the cars. It is a chicken or the egg thing.” And electric cars are coming. Nissan is expecting delivery of 1000 electric vehicles to various Oregon dealers in the next year and as Jonathan Brinckman of The Oregonian reported last July, “while there are only about 400 all-electric vehicles registered in Oregon, the state estimates that within a decade, plug-in cars could account for about 20 percent of new vehicles sold in Oregon.” Go Green, Go Lincoln City and by visiting this beach town, you help support the leaders and citizens of the town who are acting responsibly in investing in eco-tourism and sustainable development. The Mayor recognizes what many sustainability advocates know: “The cumulative impact of many actions will make a difference in combating global warming.”

Professor Plug In

This is a good time to reference another filmmaker friend of mine, Paul Steinbroner who is producing a documentary (or two) on the electric car and has been following the inventor of the plug-in vehicle, Professor Plug In, aka Andrew Frank, Ph.D. for years. Read Paul’s blog and follow him on Twitter by visiting his site, Energyrush.tv.

Also newly discovered as they are following me on Twitter, @earthsayer, are the EVcast guys, Bo Bennett and Ryan Levesque host this very informative podcast about electric cars. You can follow them on Twitter as well @EVcast.

P.S. I had the good luck of spending the evening at The Historical Anchor Inn, one of four leadership designated lodgings of the Sea Star program in Lincoln City. What a place.

Kip Ward and his wife have created a magical environment by bringing back to life the past, our past, and word is if you don’t recycle you are not invited back. Give a listen to Kip address sustainability on EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability.

Emissions Reduction Currency System – Austrailian Style

Portland, Oregon, December 30, 2009

A small group of us had the opportunity this past week to meet with Sam Nelson visiting Portland from Australia thanks to the folks at Transition PDX. Sam is the co-founder of the Maia Maia Project, an innovative community based Emissions Reduction Currency System. He is also an owner of Greenbase, a business in Australia that provides emissions accounting services for over half the mining industry there, and is the past Director of a sustainable biofuels company based in London and India.

The Maia Maia project, the focus of his discussion, is a community based greenhouse gas emissions reduction currency system being trialed in Western Australia. Their local currency based on these reductions is called a ‘Booya’ after rock trading tokens used by the Native Nyungar people of this country.

The idea of using a local currency system to engage citizens in changing their behavior to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, household by household, person by person, comes from Sam’s view that as bad as the news is there is OPPORTUNITY in this crisis. This is a theme pursued in presentations about innovation and the world crisis by sustainability leaders such as Australian Dan Atkins and is a point of view driving results through action and innovation from both the top down and the bottom up, in this case in a community-based program.

For Sam opportunity has four qualities:

(1) Actions to do something are democratically available by changing things we do everyday;

(2) These changes are measurable- we can measure our effectiveness at reducing greenhouse gas emissions;

(3) There are economic benefits and real value in reducing greenhouse gases;

(4) Making changes is a “nice thing to do” meaning it is both personally rewarding as well as altruistic – our actions as individuals impact the community and our neighbors in a positive way.

The Maia Maia project logo with the three hands represents the involvement of community organizations (schools for example), the family, and businesses, all necessary participants in making the project work to significantly reduce the greenhouse footprint of the community.

On Climate Sustainability

From a member of the Responsible Initiative of Pakistan as part of a discussion on the need for “models who have lived or are living their lives in a sustainable manner” at a dialogue organised by the Climate Sustainability Platform at the University of Copenhagen, Centre for Africa Studies.

‘If:

Governments become pro-people

Mega-companies become ethical

Politicians become honest to their vocation

Scientist become conscious of their integrity

Funders become open to traditional wisdom

NGOs become free from ‘tyranny of the project’

Youth become aware of their future challenges

You and I become fair to ourselves…

Then perhaps climate sustainability is possible’

– Dr. Faiz Shah of Responsible Business Initiative, Pakistan.

The source for this information is Malaysiakini as part of their coverage of the Copenhagen conference.

Bad for consumerism, good for sustainability?

From an article in the Center For Media Research, Wednesday, November 18, 2009 entitled, Recession’s Lasting Effects on Consumers.

The recession has caused a profound, deep-rooted change in consumers’ spending habits in favor a more restrained approach. This is the “new normal.”

Referencing the study, entitled “Marketing to the Post-Recession Consumers,” by Decitica, the new normal is particularly relevant in developing “positioning” as Dr. Val Srinivas, Principal at Decitica, notes, “This research… decisively shows that marketers need a fresh lens through which to view consumers in the post-recession world…”

The new normal, however, may be just what is needed for sustainability to be more “marketable” and I use the term advisably. Both men and women 40 years or older, irrespective of income, are significantly more confident about restraining spending with 40+ women with greater disposable income are the most confident about resisting the temptation to spend now and worry later, indicating they are more long-term focused.

The article notes: This finding is not good news for marketers whose traditional audience are mainly boomer women.

The boomer women are heavy influencers, not only buyers and this bodes well for companies emphasizing the long term effects of chemical use on our citizens and the environment and for the sustainability movement in general.

20 U.S. Companies on 2009 Most Sustainable List

Twenty U.S. Companies made the 2009 list of Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. Here they are and if you want to see the entire list, download their PR release. Fifteen countries are included with the United States leading the way followed by the United Kingdom. The U.S. went up by four companies this year, the UK went down to 19 from twenty-four in 2008. Here are the twenty U.S. companies:

Advanced Micro Devices	Computers/Electronics
Alcoa Inc	Extractives
Amazon.com Inc	Retail
Baxter International Inc	Health Care
Coca Cola Company	Consumer Goods
Dell Inc	Computers/Electronics
Eastman Kodak Company	Consumer Goods
FPL Group Inc	Utilities
Genzyme Corp.	Health Care
Goldman Sachs Group Inc	Diversified Financials
Hewlett-Packard Company	Computers/Electronics
Intel Corp.	Computers/Electronics
Nike Inc	Consumer Goods
PG & E Corp.	Utilities
Pinnacle West Capital Corp.	Utilities
Procter & Gamble Company	Consumer Goods
Prologis	Real Estate
State Street Corp.	Diversified Financials
The Walt Disney Company	Media
United Technologies Corp.	Transportation

Sustainability and Higher Education

The Greening of Educational Institutions

When we began to build the collection of EarthSayers.tv, we reviewed many videos featuring professors and students from colleges around the world, mostly addressing issues of how to make their living, learning, and working spaces more sustainable. It was how I became aware of the growing movement of “greening” campus operations and endowment practices. The Sustainable Endowments Institute publishes The College Sustainability Report Card and is the only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability activities at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The rationale behind investing in this report card is the same reason many companies are touting their green initiatives: “Colleges are now taking pride in greener campuses and sustainability-savvy investments—increasingly important concerns for parents and students in choosing a school…They can find the first comprehensive college sustainability selection tool at GreenReportCard.org.”

Sustainability Research and Curriculum

At the same time, I was seeing on EarthSayers.tv many colleges addressing the academic side of sustainability with courses and programs such as Harvard’s Program in Sustainability and Environmental Management and Portland State University’s (PSU) Graduate Certificate in Sustainability, an integrated series of post-baccalaureate courses that comprise a multidisciplinary study of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability.

This interdisciplinary approach is called out in a recently enacted Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HR 4137) which included the University Sustainability Program (USP). Under this Act, individual institutions are eligible for funding to “integrate sustainability curriculum in all programs of instruction, particularly in business, architecture, technology, manufacturing, engineering, and science programs.” At the original intended authorization level of $50 million, USP will annually support between 25 and 200 sustainability projects as reported by the Campaign for Environmental Literacy.

This growth of the academic side of Sustainability is tracked by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). AASHE is an association of colleges and universities working to create a sustainable future. The AASHE notes “from the creation of 70+ sustainability-focused academic programs compared to 27 in the Digest in 2007 and the hiring of 57 new sustainability faculty, to the opening of 13 sustainability-themed research centers and nearly triple that number in the planning stages, it is clear that curricular transformation is underway in the academy.” They expect a big boost in numbers and activities given funding of the University Sustainability Program at the Department of Education.

Now that I have relocated EarthSayers.tv and myself to Portland, Oregon from San Francisco, I am taking the opportunity to become more involved in the education side of sustainability. While having worked for the last twenty plus years for corporations, including my own for the last fifteen years, a high tech direct marketing agency, I wanted my understanding and experience with sustainability to be more integrated encompassing education and government as well as business.

So for grounding purposes and to help in any way I can with marketing and communications, I have begun working with the Social Sustainability Network at PSU. The Network is a funded project by the Miller Foundation to develop an infrastructure to support and extend social sustainability work and make a tangible and critical difference in the world. “The focus is on truly integrating the academy and the community; and theory, research, and practice” says Network organizer, Marion Sharp. Of particular interest to me is a colloquium series co-sponsored by the Center of Professional Integrity & Accountability. Jesse Dillard is the Center’s Director and Retzlaff Chair, Accounting, and a professor of accounting who introduced me to the Network and has been very helpful in introducing me to faculty and staff members.

In upcoming posts I will be reporting back the work of the Network, the Center, and other sustainability-related programs at Portland State University. This week the School of Business Administration and the Center for Global Leadership in Sustainability is sponsoring the 3rd Annual International Conference on Business and Sustainability, November 5 and 6, 2009. The theme of this year’s conference is regenerate. We hope to include some of the content in EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability.

November 5th and 6th, 2009

College Sustainability Leaders

College Sustainability Report Card 2010 released!

GreenReportCard.org is the first website to provide in-depth sustainability profiles for hundreds of colleges in all 50 states and Canada

Overall College Sustainability Leaders

Amherst College
Arizona State University
Brown University
University of California–San Diego
Carleton College
College of the Atlantic
University of Colorado
Dickinson College
Harvard University
Luther College
Macalester College
Middlebury College
University of Minnesota
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Oberlin College
Pacific Lutheran University
University of Pennsylvania
Pomona College
Smith College
Stanford University
University of Vermont
University of Washington
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University

A Business Agenda to Write Home About

What would be on your agenda if you were to meet with the President? Here is what was on Jeffrey Hollender’s agenda when he met with the President’s transition team last January. Jeffrey is President of Seventh Generation and a strong sustainability advocate.

Mandatory, GRI-based Corporate Responsibility reporting
Eliminate tax incentives that support environmentally damaging industry (i.e. Exxon)
Reform the metrics we use to evaluate the health of our society & our economy. Replace the GNP with the Gross National Happiness Index.
Develop a road map to transition to full-cost accounting (which will prevent companies from externalizing costs) and level the playing field for responsible businesses

I’m with him on this. He also thinks this is “the chance of a lifetime to revolutionize the role that business plays in society” and like him, I am cautiously optimistic.

Here are the other topics he will cover in his follow-up memo to the administration:

National health care that’s not linked to employment
Publicly financed elections
Incentivize employee ownership through additional tax benefits and ESOP financing
Complete the Attorney General’s new environmental marketing guidelines and then ensure compliance
Prevent shareholders who haven’t held stock in a company for at least one year from voting their proxy.
Dramatically increasing short-term capital gains rates.
Limit senior management salaries to 50 times that of the average employee in the company
Encourage multi-stakeholder coalitions that bring together business, labor, NGOs, community groups, and religious organizations, and insist they resolve critical issues (i.e., sustainable palm oil, cocoa)
Teach systems thinking in public schools
Invest in education and place economic value in the caring professions: teaching, nursing, homemaking, elder care.

Good topics for conversation at work, in your home, at school and at play.

Social Sustainability

On Friday I attended a kick off meeting at Portland State University (PSU) addressing social sustainability. It is a PSU Collaborative Focused on Improving Community Health and Well Being and it took place in the School of Social Work. What is meant by social sustainability? The definition for social responsibility refers “to both the processes that create, and the institutions that facilitate, social health and well-being both now and in the future, recognizing that attaining social sustainability requires achieving both economic and environmental sustainability.”

When we created EarthSayers.tv to highlight the voices of sustainability, the first thing we ran into was the lack of a taxonomy for the term so we created one. Actually, Dr. Joanne O’Brien-Levy is the author. The taxonomy, called a content map, is used by us to classify videos as we add them to the EarthSayers collection. We have also found it useful in helping organizations focus on what they are going to do (action) given the length and depth of the concept and the inefficiency of doing a little of this and some of that. Organizations need to put all their wood behind one arrow.

The content map identifies four major elements of sustainability – Systemic Change, Planet, People, Prosperity – with twenty-three categories under these four elements. All keywords and phrases roll up to one of the elements e.g. consumerism (keyword) to culture and consciousness (category) to people (element).

So, social sustainability I see as part of the element of People and in the category of cities and communities, with the keyword being social. It also crosses with the category health and well-being which suggests two strong aspects of their work. I wonder if the group sees it this way. The Social Sustainability Colloquium is going to be discussing the Ethic of Accountability in an Era of Scarcity: Acting in the Public Interest by Jesse Dillard of the PSU School of Business (People:Governance:public interest), Community Resilience by Kristen Magis of the Leadership Institute, social sustainability funding and social sustainability and social work. There is also a call for papers for an edited book, Building Social Sustainability in an Era of Scarcity, featuring the work of the PSU Social Sustainability Network.

What I came away with is there is a very committed group of people, mostly in the school of social work, who have been active over the years in building the concept of social sustainability. They are seeking to include community groups in their projects through a network which supports their emphasis on community wellbeing and, to a lesser degree, health and wellness.

Given our economic collapse and deteriating planet there is sense that it is no longer business as usual and this is reflected in their upcomig programs. Now if only I can convince the group to become EarthSayers and use video and audio to get their story out there, I will feel I have made a contribution. The academic community is heavily book laden in their communication, but maybe since it isn’t business as usual, they may be open to using the Web more effectively to support people networks (more inclusive) and communicate sustainability principles and practices using audio and video.

I’ll work on it.

Sustainability Advocate

Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv, Voices of Sustainability