Tools to Save Our Home Planet A Changemaker's Guidebook
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Nick Mucha is the Environmental Capacity Building Director at Patagonia. In this role, Nick leads Patagonia’s efforts to focus and deliver strategic grantmaking support to Patagonia’s grantee organizations while enhancing the effectiveness and durability of nonprofit partners. His work is born out of a deep appreciation for the vitally important role that nonprofit organizations play in tackling our most vexing environmental, social, and economic issues. Nick has 15 years’ experience leading conservation and community development programs throughout the world. His interest in this work was born while he and his wife served as Peace Corps volunteers in Honduras from 2004-2006. From that experience Nick founded his own organization supporting coastal communities that were grappling with booming surf tourism in southern Nicaragua. After running that organization for seven years, Nick served as Director of Programs for Save The Waves Coalition with a focus on protecting surf ecosystems worldwide. Nick holds a B.A.in political science from UC Santa Barbara. Outside of work, Nick is usually serving up dad jokes to his three kids or scheming to get in a quick surf, trail run, or weekend adventure off-grid. Patrick Thomas is a Minnesota-based marketing leader, editor, and consultant. Over 20 years of publishing work he’s edited New York Times bestsellers, served as managing director of Milkweed Editions, ran theSan Francisco Chroniclebook review, and developed innovative branching narrative gaming scripts. He’s been fortunate to work with numerous award-winning writers, scientists, adventurers, and poets, and believes in the powerful role stories have to play in saving the planet. Jessica Flinthas worked as an editor at such publications asVanity Fair, Bloomberg Businessweek,andDepartures, and was a content strategist at Apple. She has written about mountain climbing in Africa forOutside, hiking with her father through Chilean Patagonia forDepartures, and trends in sustainable travel forNational Geographic, among other publications. She lives in Minnesota.Tools to Save Our Home Planet A Changemaker's Guidebook
<p>"<i>Tools to Save Our Home Planet</i> is an eco-activism guidebook that bursts with salient strategies for rising up and fighting the powers that threaten the natural world." -- <b><i>Foreword </i>Magazine</b></p><p><br /></p><p>"A wonderful place to start is the book <i>Tools to Save Our Home Planet: A Changemaker’s Guidebook</i>, which comes out in paperback on April 22. It includes contributions from 40+ inspirational folks who help both new advocates and seasoned activists clearly articulate their cause, shore up the internal logistics of their organizing efforts, and ultimately mobilize through policy, partnerships, legal avenues, and more." --<i><b>Food Tank</b></i><br /></p><p><i><b><br /></b></i></p><p>"Through curated essays, case studies, and how-to’s from dozens of contributors, the environmentally conscious apparel brand (which also admits it’s impossible for any company to be truly sustainable) wants to inspire readers to 'double down on your passion'—and tackle our greatest crises." -- <i><b>Civil Eats</b></i><i><b><br /><br /></b></i></p><p>"Less about lofty ideals and more about practical steps: how to organise within your community, influence policy, and spark sustainable movements that last."<b> -- <b><i>The Ethicalist</i></b><i><b><br /></b></i></b></p><i><b>
</b></i>
"An eco-activism guidebook that bursts with salient strategies for rising up and fighting the powers that threaten the natural world." -- Foreword Magazine
In 1994, Patagonia invited representatives from 75 grassroots nonprofit organizations to gather and learn from active experts how to be more effective at what they do. Through this ongoing conference as well as years of funding these organizations, Patagonia has helped thousands of activists make the changes they envision for the world.
In 2016, Patagonia publishedTools for Grassroots Activists, a compilation of presentations from the Tools conferences, accompanied by case studies and inspiring essays from environmental leaders.
The world since then has changed in profound ways, and so a new set of tools is required for the world we now occupy. Tools to Save Our Home Planet: A Changemaker’s Guidebook captures the wisdom and best advice from activists in the field, creating a resource for any organization hoping to hone core skills.The lessons and examples it shares are as current, diverse, and global as the changemakers working around the world.
At a high level, the book’s structure echoes an activist’s journey. It begins with self-reflection, essays prompting readers to identify their purpose and clarify their cause. The focus shifts to the inner workings of an organization or campaign—how to create a communications strategy; organize people, and fundraise—before taking an outward look at creating momentum through mobilizing and events, using political tools, collaborating with other people and organizations, and taking legal action. The book culminates with a chapter all about movements: How combining purpose, effective organizations, and momentum can create a tidal wave that can change the world.
A go-to resource for driving change, offering anyone who is passionate about environmental and social justice a timely and relevant resource to support their mission-aligned work, this book is intended for both those who are new to taking action and seasoned activists and community organizers who want to learn how others are finding success.The hope is that it will become dog-eared and scribbled in -- a reassuring and resourceful companion to the environmental and environmental justice movements.
Foreword: Why a Tools Conference? by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia
Foreword: Why a Tools Book? by Ryan Gellart, CEO of Patagonia
Introduction by Nick Mucha, Patagonia Environmental Capacity Building Director
Part One: The Activist Life
Chapter One: The Ongoing Evolution of a Changemaker
Essay: Activism as a Lifelong Journey: Passing the Baton by Annie Leonard
Case Study: Undamming the Klamath River by Amy Cordalis
Essay: Intersectional Environmentalism: A New Frame for Today and the Future by Leah Thomas, The Intersectional Environmentalist
Case Study: Sixteen Brave Montana Youth Win Their Climate Rights in Court by Our Children's Trust
Part Two: The Tools
Chapter Two: Clarifying Your Cause
How to: Create Your Vision, Mission, and Strategic Plan by Jamie Henn, Fossil Free Media
How to: Develop Strategies and Tactics by Dr. Chad Nelson, Surfrider Foundation
Essay: Listening to History by Jade Begay, NDN Collective
Case Study: Energy Garden by Agamemnon Otero, Energy Gardens (UK)
Essay: Beginnings by Elizabeth Yeampierre, UPROSE
Chapter Three: Your Story
How To: Communicate Effectively, by Kristen Grimm, Spitfire Strategies
Essay: Media Momentum by Anne Rolfes, Louisiana Bucket Brigade
How to: Use the Power of Photography
How To: Reject Dominant Narratives, by Tsering Yangzom Lama, Greenpeace
Case Study: Rewilding Argentina by Martina Sasso, Fundacion Rewilding Argentina
Essay: Creating Change with Your Story by Julian Mocine-McQueen, Million Person Project
Chapter Four: Working Together
How to: Work Effectively with Board, Staff, and Volunteers, by Mallory Erickson
Essay: The Value of Organizational Diversity by Andrés Jimenez, Green 2.0
Case Study: Idaho's Boulder and White Cloud Mountains, by Rick Johnson
Essay: Finding Purpose in a Broken World, by Kevin J. Patel, OneUpAction International
Case Study: The Bronx Is Blooming With Volunteers by Jennifer Beaugrand, The Bronx Is Blooming
Chapter Five: Fundraising
How To: Raise Money for Your Organization, by Kimberly O’Donnell and Janet Cobb, Network for Good
How To: Write Grants that Win, by Meredith Noble
How To: Fundraise to Sustain Your Organization, by Megan Seibel, Capacity Refresh
Case Study: Mi Familia Vota by Carlos Duarte, Mi Familia Vota
Chapter Six: Lobbying and Voting
How To: Win with Legislations, by Kai Anderson, Cassidy and Associates
Essay: Lessons from Lobbying by Jenny Weber, Bob Brown Foundation
Case Study: Native Organizers Alliance Red Road to DC by Judith Le Blanc, Native Organizers Alliance
Essay: Engaging Youth in Politics by Momoko Nojo, (Japan)
Case Study: NY Renews by Leslie Cagan, NY Renews
Chapter Seven: Legal Action
How To: Take Legal Action, by Abigail Dillen, Earthjustice
Essay: When to Sue for Change, by Hollie Kerwin, Environmental Justice
Case Study: Communities for a Better Environment, by Jennifer Ganata and Idalmis Vaquero, Communities for a Better Environment
Essay: Defending Your Right to Speak Out, by Deepa Padmanabha, Greenpeace
Essay: Non Violent Direct Action by Saif Rahman
Chapter Eight: Economics
How To: Use Economics to Win, by Julien Vincent, Market Forces
Essay: Pricing the Priceless, by Nik Strong-Cvetich, Save the Waves Coalition
Case Study: The Kilmanjaro Porters Assistance Program, by Jessica Flint
Chapter Nine: Join with Others
How to: Collaborate, by Dianne J. Russel, Institute for Conservation Leadership
Case Study: Japan's Four Years to Go by Takayoshi Yokoyama, 350.org (Japan)
Essay: Lessons Learned from Bristol Bay, by Shoren Brown, The Conservation Alliance
Chapter Ten: Movements
How to: Build Movements by Dr. Hahrie Han, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute
How To: Create Inclusive Events, by Nyiesha Mallett, UPROSE
Essay: Building the Big Shift by Bill McKibben, Third Act, founder of 350.org
Case Study: Fight for the Bight by Jess Lerch, Wilderness Society Australia
Chapter Eleven: Taking Care and Sticking with It
Essay: Persistence by Jungim Kim, Korea
Essay: Resilience and Renewal by Beth Kanter, BethKantor.org
Essay: "Sometimes You Need a F**king Boat," by Aaron Hill
Foreword: Why a Tools Conference?
Yvon Chouinard
Over the years, I’ve been influenced by many nature writers like Henry David
Thoreau, Rachel Carson, and Edward Abbey. I pretty much got to know what the
problems were but it was lost on me what I, as one person, could do to fix them.
The first time I came to realize the power of an individual to effect major change
was in the early seventies. A group of us went to our local theater to watch a surf
movie. At the end, a young surfer asked the audience to attend a city council
meeting to speak out against the city’s plan to channel and develop the mouth
of the Ventura River, one of the best surf points in the area and only five hundred
yards from Patagonia’s office.
Several of us went to the meeting to protest the possible disruption of our surf
break. We knew vaguely that the Ventura River had once been a major spawning
creek for steelhead and chinook salmon. In fact, in the 1940s, the river had an annual
run of four to five thousand sea-run rainbows. Then two dams were built and the
water was diverted, killing the fish run and causing the bars at the mouth of the
river to be starved of sand. Except for winter rains, the only water left in the river
flowed from the one-stage sewage treatment plant. At the city council meeting,
several city-paid experts testified that the river was dead and that channeling would
have no effect on the birds and other wildlife at the estuary or on the surf break.
Then Mark Capelli, a young graduate student, gave a slide show of photos
he had taken along the river, of the birds that lived in the willows, the muskrats,
water snakes, and eels that spawned in the estuary. When he showed the slides of
steelhead smolt, everyone stood up and cheered. Yes, several dozen steelhead
still came to spawn in our “dead” river.
The development plan was defeated. We gave Mark office space, a mailbox,
and small contributions to help fight for the river. As more development
plans cropped up, the Friends of the Ventura River worked to defeat them and to
clean up the water and increase its flow. A second stage was added to the sewage
plant and then a third. Wildlife increased and a few more steelhead began to spawn.
Mark taught us three important lessons:
1) grassroots efforts can make a difference
2) degraded habitat can, with effort, be restored
3) the grassroots movement needs sustained and deep support to prevail
Inspired by his work, we began to make regular donations to small groups working to save or restore natural habitat, rather than give the money to large, nongovernmental organizations with big staff and overhead and corporate connections. I didn’t have the courage to be on the front lines, but I’d learned the power of activism and I wanted to support it. We held our first Tools Conference in 1994 at Chico Hot Springs, Montana. We knew we’d hit pay dirt when the local newspaper ran a front-page story about how we “greenies” asked the hotel we were staying in not to change the sheets every day to save water, a revolutionary idea at the time.
While I am often embarrassed to admit to being a businessman—I’ve been known to call them sleazeballs—I realize that many activists could benefit from the skills that businesspeople possess. When I told that first group of activists that they were businesspeople, there was some snickering in the group. They all thought business was the enemy. I told them that their organizations had budgets and expenses, had to summon leadership under crises, had to be creative and innovative or die - they had all the problems of business. I thought I would bring leaders from the organizations we fund through our grantmaking programs together with world-class trainers and thought leaders to help advance their work.
Now, almost thirty years later, the Tools Conference has really come into its own. Every two years we gather 100 activists at Stanford Sierra Camp on Fallen Leaf Lake near South Lake Tahoe and let them build community together, share best practices, and interact with some of the best trainers on a wide spectrum of topics, from grassroots organizing, lobbying, planning strategy and communications, to being more inclusive organizers and organizational leaders, shifting power in their communities, fundraising, and working with business. While our trainers consistently lead incredible sessions, some of the greatest wisdom and insight comes from the participants themselves.
We now have over 50 years’ experience supporting the grassroots environmental movement. And while we are proud of how far we’ve come as a funder, collaborator, and co-conspirator for these scrappy and focused organizations, we understand that the world has changed in untold ways since we started this journey.
As business educator and coach Marshall Goldsmith said, “What got you here, won’t get you there.” We know that the strategies and leaders that got us to this point are not the ones who will lead us through our current, unfolding crises. Heck, that goes for me, too! The world we now occupy thinks, acts, and looks vastly different than it did 40, 20, or even 10 years ago. The pace of change is so dizzying – how could we expect to use the same playbook to solve the problems of tomorrow? We need to double down on the successful strategies of the past while also building in new approaches.
We also know that this is hard and often thankless work. If you’ve picked up this book you are already motivated and inspired to affect change. That is great, but it isn’t nearly enough. The crises before us demand that we take this work dead seriously.
The contributors to this book are working tirelessly for a wide variety of causes, from banning open net pen fish farms to protecting our right to vote. They are successful because they do the work, day in and day out, that needs to be done, like any business. They write (and rewrite) vision and mission statements, create campaigns, raise funds, and take legal action. They celebrate their successes and recalibrate after a setback. They keep at it, day after day, knowing that one day they will succeed, maybe not how they originally envisioned but in some way.
In these pages, you’ll find the best practices and tricks of the trade from those who are on the frontlines, fighting for the planet and for thriving communities. Learning from and being inspired by them is the best way I know to gain momentum in this fight for our lives.
Thank you and good luck.
Foreword: Why a Tools Book?
Ryan Gellert, CEO Patagonia
The news about climate is bad, with devastating effects throughout the world. Hurricanes and flooding, droughts and forest fires, ongoing extinctions and much more threaten sustainable life on this planet.
There is no disputing that this climate crisis is human caused, amplified by our dependence on fossil fuels and our emphasis on continual economic expansion. We created this climate and ecological crisis, an existential threat to all humans and everything we value, and we need to solve it.
As many of us learned at home and teach our children, if you make a mess, it is your responsibility to clean it up. That means that each of us must take action to combat climate chaos and its myriad detrimental effects, both environmental and social.
Yes, it can be overwhelming and depressing, easy to feel that one person can never do enough.
But, as our founder Yvon Chouinard often says, the antidote to depression is action.
This book was created for those who hear these words and commit to change and justice for all. It is meant to be a companion to your own activism journey. No matter where you are on that quest, we hope you find yourself and your aspirations in the essays from many contributors. These people are in the trenches making a difference. They are doing the difficult and taxing work that activism requires and experiencing the setbacks – and the wins --that the work entails. In these pages you will find inspirational moments and stories of success, but also more dense tactical essays. Our movement needs both. We hope that you will read both with seriousness and reflection and refer to them as often as your work requires.
For most of our 50-year history, Patagonia has supported grassroots groups working to find solutions to the environmental crisis. We have funded environmental organizations directly, never through aggregate organizations, and in the last few years we’ve expanded to environmental justice organizations as well. For many years we donated 1 percent of sales to these nonprofits, often contributing over $10 million a year.
In 2022, we restructured Patagonia so that going forward all of our company profits are donated to a collection of non-profits, The HoldFast Collective, that will disseminate the funds to groups that are working to protect the planet and mitigate climate change. The Holdfast Collective will use every dollar received to fight the environmental crisis, protect nature and biodiversity, and support thriving communities, as quickly as possible. As Yvon Chouinard says, “Earth is now our only shareholder.”
We also go beyond cash and dedicate resources to expanding the capacity of environmental organizations through our Capacity Building programs and by connecting them with our wider community via Patagonia Action Works. Created in 2018, Action Works is a resource for anyone inspired to get involved but not sure the best way to start. Local grassroots organizations are looking for your voice, your talents and—most importantly—your passion.
What is your passion? Author and Patagonia board member Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson describes the sweet spot of activism, which sits at the intersection of three things:
What does the world need?
What am I good at?
What makes me happy and brings me joy?
Carefully consider the answers to these three questions for yourself. This is the area where you’re uniquely qualified to contribute, where you can thrive in giving back and protecting our home planet and the people who live on it.
We’re all dependent on the same living planet, and we need to unify to accelerate change now. As is often said, if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. We have far to go, and we don’t have time to go slowly, so we need as many people as possible leveraging their strengths and passions. We hope that this book will be a guide and a companion on whatever journey you and/or your organization are on.
<p>"<i>Tools to Save Our Home Planet</i> is an eco-activism guidebook that bursts with salient strategies for rising up and fighting the powers that threaten the natural world." -- <b><i>Foreword </i>Magazine</b></p><p><br /></p><p>"A wonderful place to start is the book <i>Tools to Save Our Home Planet: A Changemaker’s Guidebook</i>, which comes out in paperback on April 22. It includes contributions from 40+ inspirational folks who help both new advocates and seasoned activists clearly articulate their cause, shore up the internal logistics of their organizing efforts, and ultimately mobilize through policy, partnerships, legal avenues, and more." --<i><b>Food Tank</b></i><br /></p><p><i><b><br /></b></i></p><p>"Through curated essays, case studies, and how-to’s from dozens of contributors, the environmentally conscious apparel brand (which also admits it’s impossible for any company to be truly sustainable) wants to inspire readers to 'double down on your passion'—and tackle our greatest crises." -- <i><b>Civil Eats</b></i><i><b><br /><br /></b></i></p><p>"Less about lofty ideals and more about practical steps: how to organise within your community, influence policy, and spark sustainable movements that last."<b> -- <b><i>The Ethicalist</i></b><i><b><br /></b></i></b></p><i><b>
</b></i>
"An eco-activism guidebook that bursts with salient strategies for rising up and fighting the powers that threaten the natural world." -- Foreword Magazine
In 1994, Patagonia invited representatives from 75 grassroots nonprofit organizations to gather and learn from active experts how to be more effective at what they do. Through this ongoing conference as well as years of funding these organizations, Patagonia has helped thousands of activists make the changes they envision for the world.
In 2016, Patagonia publishedTools for Grassroots Activists, a compilation of presentations from the Tools conferences, accompanied by case studies and inspiring essays from environmental leaders.
The world since then has changed in profound ways, and so a new set of tools is required for the world we now occupy. Tools to Save Our Home Planet: A Changemaker’s Guidebook captures the wisdom and best advice from activists in the field, creating a resource for any organization hoping to hone core skills.The lessons and examples it shares are as current, diverse, and global as the changemakers working around the world.
At a high level, the book’s structure echoes an activist’s journey. It begins with self-reflection, essays prompting readers to identify their purpose and clarify their cause. The focus shifts to the inner workings of an organization or campaign—how to create a communications strategy; organize people, and fundraise—before taking an outward look at creating momentum through mobilizing and events, using political tools, collaborating with other people and organizations, and taking legal action. The book culminates with a chapter all about movements: How combining purpose, effective organizations, and momentum can create a tidal wave that can change the world.
A go-to resource for driving change, offering anyone who is passionate about environmental and social justice a timely and relevant resource to support their mission-aligned work, this book is intended for both those who are new to taking action and seasoned activists and community organizers who want to learn how others are finding success.The hope is that it will become dog-eared and scribbled in -- a reassuring and resourceful companion to the environmental and environmental justice movements.
Foreword: Why a Tools Conference? by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia
Foreword: Why a Tools Book? by Ryan Gellart, CEO of Patagonia
Introduction by Nick Mucha, Patagonia Environmental Capacity Building Director
Part One: The Activist Life
Chapter One: The Ongoing Evolution of a Changemaker
Essay: Activism as a Lifelong Journey: Passing the Baton by Annie Leonard
Case Study: Undamming the Klamath River by Amy Cordalis
Essay: Intersectional Environmentalism: A New Frame for Today and the Future by Leah Thomas, The Intersectional Environmentalist
Case Study: Sixteen Brave Montana Youth Win Their Climate Rights in Court by Our Children's Trust
Part Two: The Tools
Chapter Two: Clarifying Your Cause
How to: Create Your Vision, Mission, and Strategic Plan by Jamie Henn, Fossil Free Media
How to: Develop Strategies and Tactics by Dr. Chad Nelson, Surfrider Foundation
Essay: Listening to History by Jade Begay, NDN Collective
Case Study: Energy Garden by Agamemnon Otero, Energy Gardens (UK)
Essay: Beginnings by Elizabeth Yeampierre, UPROSE
Chapter Three: Your Story
How To: Communicate Effectively, by Kristen Grimm, Spitfire Strategies
Essay: Media Momentum by Anne Rolfes, Louisiana Bucket Brigade
How to: Use the Power of Photography
How To: Reject Dominant Narratives, by Tsering Yangzom Lama, Greenpeace
Case Study: Rewilding Argentina by Martina Sasso, Fundacion Rewilding Argentina
Essay: Creating Change with Your Story by Julian Mocine-McQueen, Million Person Project
Chapter Four: Working Together
How to: Work Effectively with Board, Staff, and Volunteers, by Mallory Erickson
Essay: The Value of Organizational Diversity by Andrés Jimenez, Green 2.0
Case Study: Idaho's Boulder and White Cloud Mountains, by Rick Johnson
Essay: Finding Purpose in a Broken World, by Kevin J. Patel, OneUpAction International
Case Study: The Bronx Is Blooming With Volunteers by Jennifer Beaugrand, The Bronx Is Blooming
Chapter Five: Fundraising
How To: Raise Money for Your Organization, by Kimberly O’Donnell and Janet Cobb, Network for Good
How To: Write Grants that Win, by Meredith Noble
How To: Fundraise to Sustain Your Organization, by Megan Seibel, Capacity Refresh
Case Study: Mi Familia Vota by Carlos Duarte, Mi Familia Vota
Chapter Six: Lobbying and Voting
How To: Win with Legislations, by Kai Anderson, Cassidy and Associates
Essay: Lessons from Lobbying by Jenny Weber, Bob Brown Foundation
Case Study: Native Organizers Alliance Red Road to DC by Judith Le Blanc, Native Organizers Alliance
Essay: Engaging Youth in Politics by Momoko Nojo, (Japan)
Case Study: NY Renews by Leslie Cagan, NY Renews
Chapter Seven: Legal Action
How To: Take Legal Action, by Abigail Dillen, Earthjustice
Essay: When to Sue for Change, by Hollie Kerwin, Environmental Justice
Case Study: Communities for a Better Environment, by Jennifer Ganata and Idalmis Vaquero, Communities for a Better Environment
Essay: Defending Your Right to Speak Out, by Deepa Padmanabha, Greenpeace
Essay: Non Violent Direct Action by Saif Rahman
Chapter Eight: Economics
How To: Use Economics to Win, by Julien Vincent, Market Forces
Essay: Pricing the Priceless, by Nik Strong-Cvetich, Save the Waves Coalition
Case Study: The Kilmanjaro Porters Assistance Program, by Jessica Flint
Chapter Nine: Join with Others
How to: Collaborate, by Dianne J. Russel, Institute for Conservation Leadership
Case Study: Japan's Four Years to Go by Takayoshi Yokoyama, 350.org (Japan)
Essay: Lessons Learned from Bristol Bay, by Shoren Brown, The Conservation Alliance
Chapter Ten: Movements
How to: Build Movements by Dr. Hahrie Han, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute
How To: Create Inclusive Events, by Nyiesha Mallett, UPROSE
Essay: Building the Big Shift by Bill McKibben, Third Act, founder of 350.org
Case Study: Fight for the Bight by Jess Lerch, Wilderness Society Australia
Chapter Eleven: Taking Care and Sticking with It
Essay: Persistence by Jungim Kim, Korea
Essay: Resilience and Renewal by Beth Kanter, BethKantor.org
Essay: "Sometimes You Need a F**king Boat," by Aaron Hill
Foreword: Why a Tools Conference?
Yvon Chouinard
Over the years, I’ve been influenced by many nature writers like Henry David
Thoreau, Rachel Carson, and Edward Abbey. I pretty much got to know what the
problems were but it was lost on me what I, as one person, could do to fix them.
The first time I came to realize the power of an individual to effect major change
was in the early seventies. A group of us went to our local theater to watch a surf
movie. At the end, a young surfer asked the audience to attend a city council
meeting to speak out against the city’s plan to channel and develop the mouth
of the Ventura River, one of the best surf points in the area and only five hundred
yards from Patagonia’s office.
Several of us went to the meeting to protest the possible disruption of our surf
break. We knew vaguely that the Ventura River had once been a major spawning
creek for steelhead and chinook salmon. In fact, in the 1940s, the river had an annual
run of four to five thousand sea-run rainbows. Then two dams were built and the
water was diverted, killing the fish run and causing the bars at the mouth of the
river to be starved of sand. Except for winter rains, the only water left in the river
flowed from the one-stage sewage treatment plant. At the city council meeting,
several city-paid experts testified that the river was dead and that channeling would
have no effect on the birds and other wildlife at the estuary or on the surf break.
Then Mark Capelli, a young graduate student, gave a slide show of photos
he had taken along the river, of the birds that lived in the willows, the muskrats,
water snakes, and eels that spawned in the estuary. When he showed the slides of
steelhead smolt, everyone stood up and cheered. Yes, several dozen steelhead
still came to spawn in our “dead” river.
The development plan was defeated. We gave Mark office space, a mailbox,
and small contributions to help fight for the river. As more development
plans cropped up, the Friends of the Ventura River worked to defeat them and to
clean up the water and increase its flow. A second stage was added to the sewage
plant and then a third. Wildlife increased and a few more steelhead began to spawn.
Mark taught us three important lessons:
1) grassroots efforts can make a difference
2) degraded habitat can, with effort, be restored
3) the grassroots movement needs sustained and deep support to prevail
Inspired by his work, we began to make regular donations to small groups working to save or restore natural habitat, rather than give the money to large, nongovernmental organizations with big staff and overhead and corporate connections. I didn’t have the courage to be on the front lines, but I’d learned the power of activism and I wanted to support it. We held our first Tools Conference in 1994 at Chico Hot Springs, Montana. We knew we’d hit pay dirt when the local newspaper ran a front-page story about how we “greenies” asked the hotel we were staying in not to change the sheets every day to save water, a revolutionary idea at the time.
While I am often embarrassed to admit to being a businessman—I’ve been known to call them sleazeballs—I realize that many activists could benefit from the skills that businesspeople possess. When I told that first group of activists that they were businesspeople, there was some snickering in the group. They all thought business was the enemy. I told them that their organizations had budgets and expenses, had to summon leadership under crises, had to be creative and innovative or die - they had all the problems of business. I thought I would bring leaders from the organizations we fund through our grantmaking programs together with world-class trainers and thought leaders to help advance their work.
Now, almost thirty years later, the Tools Conference has really come into its own. Every two years we gather 100 activists at Stanford Sierra Camp on Fallen Leaf Lake near South Lake Tahoe and let them build community together, share best practices, and interact with some of the best trainers on a wide spectrum of topics, from grassroots organizing, lobbying, planning strategy and communications, to being more inclusive organizers and organizational leaders, shifting power in their communities, fundraising, and working with business. While our trainers consistently lead incredible sessions, some of the greatest wisdom and insight comes from the participants themselves.
We now have over 50 years’ experience supporting the grassroots environmental movement. And while we are proud of how far we’ve come as a funder, collaborator, and co-conspirator for these scrappy and focused organizations, we understand that the world has changed in untold ways since we started this journey.
As business educator and coach Marshall Goldsmith said, “What got you here, won’t get you there.” We know that the strategies and leaders that got us to this point are not the ones who will lead us through our current, unfolding crises. Heck, that goes for me, too! The world we now occupy thinks, acts, and looks vastly different than it did 40, 20, or even 10 years ago. The pace of change is so dizzying – how could we expect to use the same playbook to solve the problems of tomorrow? We need to double down on the successful strategies of the past while also building in new approaches.
We also know that this is hard and often thankless work. If you’ve picked up this book you are already motivated and inspired to affect change. That is great, but it isn’t nearly enough. The crises before us demand that we take this work dead seriously.
The contributors to this book are working tirelessly for a wide variety of causes, from banning open net pen fish farms to protecting our right to vote. They are successful because they do the work, day in and day out, that needs to be done, like any business. They write (and rewrite) vision and mission statements, create campaigns, raise funds, and take legal action. They celebrate their successes and recalibrate after a setback. They keep at it, day after day, knowing that one day they will succeed, maybe not how they originally envisioned but in some way.
In these pages, you’ll find the best practices and tricks of the trade from those who are on the frontlines, fighting for the planet and for thriving communities. Learning from and being inspired by them is the best way I know to gain momentum in this fight for our lives.
Thank you and good luck.
Foreword: Why a Tools Book?
Ryan Gellert, CEO Patagonia
The news about climate is bad, with devastating effects throughout the world. Hurricanes and flooding, droughts and forest fires, ongoing extinctions and much more threaten sustainable life on this planet.
There is no disputing that this climate crisis is human caused, amplified by our dependence on fossil fuels and our emphasis on continual economic expansion. We created this climate and ecological crisis, an existential threat to all humans and everything we value, and we need to solve it.
As many of us learned at home and teach our children, if you make a mess, it is your responsibility to clean it up. That means that each of us must take action to combat climate chaos and its myriad detrimental effects, both environmental and social.
Yes, it can be overwhelming and depressing, easy to feel that one person can never do enough.
But, as our founder Yvon Chouinard often says, the antidote to depression is action.
This book was created for those who hear these words and commit to change and justice for all. It is meant to be a companion to your own activism journey. No matter where you are on that quest, we hope you find yourself and your aspirations in the essays from many contributors. These people are in the trenches making a difference. They are doing the difficult and taxing work that activism requires and experiencing the setbacks – and the wins --that the work entails. In these pages you will find inspirational moments and stories of success, but also more dense tactical essays. Our movement needs both. We hope that you will read both with seriousness and reflection and refer to them as often as your work requires.
For most of our 50-year history, Patagonia has supported grassroots groups working to find solutions to the environmental crisis. We have funded environmental organizations directly, never through aggregate organizations, and in the last few years we’ve expanded to environmental justice organizations as well. For many years we donated 1 percent of sales to these nonprofits, often contributing over $10 million a year.
In 2022, we restructured Patagonia so that going forward all of our company profits are donated to a collection of non-profits, The HoldFast Collective, that will disseminate the funds to groups that are working to protect the planet and mitigate climate change. The Holdfast Collective will use every dollar received to fight the environmental crisis, protect nature and biodiversity, and support thriving communities, as quickly as possible. As Yvon Chouinard says, “Earth is now our only shareholder.”
We also go beyond cash and dedicate resources to expanding the capacity of environmental organizations through our Capacity Building programs and by connecting them with our wider community via Patagonia Action Works. Created in 2018, Action Works is a resource for anyone inspired to get involved but not sure the best way to start. Local grassroots organizations are looking for your voice, your talents and—most importantly—your passion.
What is your passion? Author and Patagonia board member Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson describes the sweet spot of activism, which sits at the intersection of three things:
What does the world need?
What am I good at?
What makes me happy and brings me joy?
Carefully consider the answers to these three questions for yourself. This is the area where you’re uniquely qualified to contribute, where you can thrive in giving back and protecting our home planet and the people who live on it.
We’re all dependent on the same living planet, and we need to unify to accelerate change now. As is often said, if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. We have far to go, and we don’t have time to go slowly, so we need as many people as possible leveraging their strengths and passions. We hope that this book will be a guide and a companion on whatever journey you and/or your organization are on.