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March 14, 2007
A Regional Canyonlands Park System
From The San Diego Union Tribune
3/14/2007
by Richard Louv
On the first page of “Canyonlands: The Creation of a San Diego Regional Canyonlands Park” appears a curious juxtaposition of two graphic images.
One is a depiction of a set of human lungs, with stem branches, lobes, trachea and bronchi. Directly below this image is a satellite view of Mission Valley, revealing the bronchi and branches of San Diego's urban canyons lacing outward through the region's vast watershed.
“Our canyons bring us nourishment, maintain our health and ventilate our lives. They are our lungs and bronchial tubes,” according to the report produced by San Diego Civic Solutions, a collection of business and grass-roots leaders. The white paper will be presented at tomorrow's “Greening the City” symposium, sponsored by the local chapter of Partners for Livable Places.
Comparing our canyons to lungs is no exaggeration, not to anyone who understands their natural role in cleaning our air and preventing flooding and providing a natural water filtration system that would cost billions to replicate; they offer breathing room for wildlife and people; they connect our neighborhoods, towns and cities; they nurture the region's spirit. No other city in the world can claim such a unique topology.
“The idea (is to create) a visionary open space park ... a framework for our region ... a green infrastructure for the future – a necessity, not a luxury,” according to the proposal, which recommends that most canyons would be open to the public, while the most ecologically sensitive canyons would become plant and wildlife preserves.
“This is the time to create the Canyonlands Park,” the authors write. “We will not have another opportunity to create a coherent open space framework for the region.”
This proposal (to be posted at www.sdcivicsolutions.com) summarizes several years of work, including two public charettes and dozens of meetings by Civic Solutions, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3, the San Diego Design Council, Partners for Livable Communities – and Friends of the Canyons groups, sponsored by the Sierra Club, which adopt canyons in their own neighborhoods, haul out trash, remove invasive species, and, in the absence of city maintenance and security personnel, patrol the canyons.
The challenges are considerable. Aerial and satellite photos reveal hundreds of miles of canyons; ownership is sometimes unclear and the canyonland classification is vague.
Among the threats: channelization of creeks; expansion of water, sewer and power lines; utility roads and bridges; languished funding for open space maintenance; encroachment by new housing and businesses; and a school district that would rather grade, say, the 32nd Street canyon into a flat playing field than use it for teaching – though studies show outdoor classrooms improve test scores in science and math.
Thus the necessity of creating one entity, the San Diego Regional Canyonlands Park, which would send this message: If you hurt one canyon, you hurt them all.
The canyonlands proposal for a public/private partnership calls for a variety of funding mechanisms, including grant writing to nonprofit groups and federal and state government agencies, private capital campaigns, alongwith fees and assessment districts.
“For canyons not already in the public realm, incentives could be offered such as tax relief for property owners that provide conservation and public access easements,” according to the report. (Not incidentally, property values adjacent to parks are usually enhanced.) In addition, the application of Transfer Development Rights could help divert development away from canyons to “more agreeable areas.”
The ongoing benefits of saving the canyons would be enormous: natural drainage and protection of the bay from runoff pollution; visual, psychological and physical relief; educational opportunities; habitat preservation; ecotourism (birding is now big business); more pedestrian links; and the enhanced character of surrounding neighborhoods.
Does San Diego have the political will to create such a park in the current era of civic retrenchment? Maybe. Historically, big city mayors and other officeholders hope to leave some sign of their passage more visible, decades into the future, than a balanced budget. Today, expensive brick and mortar won't do.
But our canyons already exist. As hawks circle above and the scent of sage drifts into our neighborhoods, these trachea and bronchi already breathe for us. To survive, they need signage, observation platforms and people power.
In 1868, San Diego civic leaders set aside 1,400 acres for Balboa Park. Today we have the chance to create a regional park every bit as important.
A San Diego Regional Canyonlands Park would be one of the longest-lasting gifts we could give to future generations. The most important thing to do now is to declare it so, and the future will come.
November 28, 2006
Project Seeks to Raise Green for the Environment
From The San Diego Union Tribune
11/28/2006
By Mike Lee
11/28/2006
By Mike Lee
Former Microsoft executive Aaron Contorer settled in San Diego two years ago, aiming to start a software company. He found that his heart just wasn't in it.
Contorer, 39, soon discovered what he really wanted to do: Jumpstart the region's mostly cash-strapped environmental movement. He and others say it largely lacks the sophisticated management and well-heeled backers befitting a county of some 3 million people, many of whom enjoy nature as they swim, hike and surf.
So, along with other philanthropists, Contorer aims to raise $1 million by year's end for groups that do things like fight for clean water and better beaches. They will announce their campaign today – to take advantage of year-end giving by companies and major donors – after having provided $400,000 in seed money.
Their project, known as the Environment Accelerator Fund, is the latest in a string of recent efforts to boost the profile of conservation causes in San Diego County. For example, a leading foundation is trying to build a $25 million endowment for environmental work. Elsewhere, new alliances have been formed for canyons, sustainable development and global warming.
“San Diego's environmental nonprofits are poised to grow to the next level to help bring vision, science, and intelligence” to regional issues, said Paul Eichen, chairman of the Rokenbok Toy Co. in Solana Beach and a charter donor for the new fund.
The region is widely recognized as a biological gem and it's home to one of the nation's largest collections of threatened and endangered species. But the county's environmental corps still hasn't reached the big leagues.
“Historically in San Diego, the environment has been woefully undersupported and underfunded,” said Bruce Reznik, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper. “It's sort of an odd dynamic considering that people come to San Diego for the coast, for the environment, for the water.”
Reznik joined what was then called Baykeeper seven years ago. Despite having only two employees at the time, it was the region's largest nonprofit group dealing with coastal issues, he said. Today, the regionally prominent organization has seven staff members but often struggles to meet budget.
“I have a little bigger vision than my ability to raise funds,” Reznik said.
Scrappy movement
The reputation of a small and scrappy environmental movement in the county is largely supported by a new report from the University of San Diego.
Researchers there counted 257 locally based groups dealing with animals and the environment. Because of how the IRS keeps its data, the category goes far beyond what generally is considered environmental activism. For instance, it includes dozens of pet welfare and garden groups.
The organizations reported combined revenues of nearly $240 million in 2004. The total is far larger than in Orange County or the Silicon Valley but far smaller than the Bay Area, which is home to the Sierra Club's national headquarters and about 750 other environmental and animal outfits.
Much of the local income is raised by one organization – the Zoological Society of San Diego, which runs the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park and a research center. Tax records from 2004 show that its revenues topped $160 million, about two-thirds of the regional total.
More than 60 percent of the county's environmental groups collect less than $25,000 per year. That means they can't support a professional staff, a typical prerequisite for generating more income and improving the quality of their programs.
Nonetheless, thousands of volunteers, new alliances and a few major court victories have helped environmentalists gain influence beyond what their balance sheets might suggest.
“(Environmentalists) seem to be doing a lot with a little,“ said Laura Deitrick, co-author of the USD report.
She does see a potential problem.
“They have been busy doing their daily work and have not spent as much time thinking forward in terms of growing their assets,” Deitrick said.
Less 'old money'
San Diego County's environmental sector remains modest because of several reasons, nonprofit experts say. One is that the region's growth spurt is relatively recent, so there's less “old money” than in places such as San Francisco and Boston.
The limited number of major corporate headquarters also plays a role. Such offices often employ big donors who become board members for nonprofit groups.
“We are just now starting to see the generational continuity and the embracing of place” that long has been common in Northern California and other parts of the country, said Bill Kuni, a local entrepreneur and philanthropist.
When Kuni arrived in San Diego 24 years ago, he looked for groups helping to protect the landscape that he found so attractive.
“It was almost totally individual champions who did not have a major organization behind them,” Kuni said.
In 2000, he helped start the Environment Working Group at The San Diego Foundation in an effort to buoy conservationists trying to contain fast-growing development.
The Environment Working Group proved to be an important mechanism for spreading cash and convening experts in ecology. It has distributed about $3.35 million since its inception. The money often is awarded in chunks of $15,000 to $50,000.
Last year, the foundation kicked off a $25 million endowment campaign to support environmental work. There is $1 million in the pot.
Many of the county's well-known environmental groups owe part of their growth to the foundation. They include the San Diego River Park Foundation, the Environmental Health Coalition, the local Sierra Club chapter and the Escondido Creek Conservancy.
The Escondido conservancy started in 1991, but didn't have the money for an executive director until last year. Unlike most environmental leaders in the region, the conservancy's executive director, Geoffrey Smith, has a master's degree in nonprofit leadership.
“A lot of . . . (environmental groups) really lack the business skills of understanding what their mission is and how to build a program around their mission and stick to it,” Smith said.
A 2003 study of land conservancies in the county found they were twice as likely to have done a formal planning process for on-the-ground work as they were to have a strategy for the organization.
The lack of management expertise is especially apparent at the board level, Smith and others said. Currently, the boards commonly consist of friends and activists without much regard for specific skills such as public relations and fundraising.
That's where Contorer and Eichen come in. They are seeding the new fund with $200,000 each as they court other contributors.
They also expect to get donors involved on boards and demand measurable results from groups receiving money from them. Their fund is managed by San Diego Social Venture Partners, a grant-making group that donates its services.
“We're trying to grow the (environment) sector. That means supporting the research to understand the problems and what it takes to fix them and then impact a society,” said Contorer, a full-time philanthropist.
The effort comes as national environmental groups are struggling to connect with the American public. Contorer thinks there is a large and untapped segment of donors who don't consider themselves traditional environmentalists but want San Diego to not become “a second-rate Los Angeles” because of overdevelopment.
“It's not about banning cars and hugging trees. It's about having a wonderful way of life now and not ruining it” for future generations, Contorer said.
September 1, 2006
Youth Empowerment Services (YES)
Lead Partner: Sue Sanderson
Imagine leaving home with no money, no education and a young child. More than 50% of the pregnant and parenting foster teen girls who emancipate from the foster care system at 18 face these obstacles. YES for Haven provides assistance – a twenty-bed group home and training facility known as The Salvation Army’s Door of Hope Haven Program. By providing shelter, job skills training and career guidance to these teenage mothers, we significantly reduce human tragedy by helping them become self-sufficient. YES for Haven’s goal is to help these young women find a career path and life skills that allow them to support themselves and their children long-term.
SDSVP’s three-year grant to YES for Haven has provided work readiness training, career exploration and the development of a life plan for these girls, in addition to one-on-one career guidance. In the last two years, the program assisted over 44 girls. Over 61% of them have completed an internship in an area of career interest, attended vocational school or secured a job.
“Our collaboration with SDSVP and the Door of Hope is exciting and productive. These YES for Haven young women and their children need all of the help and support we can give them.”
Marilyn Stewart, Director, YES Transition Network
“With the help of SDSVP, we have set up a Career Resource Board composed of business and community leaders. This Board will provide us with valuable employment opportunities and connections as we move forward.”
Lynn Sharpe-Underwood, Administrator, Door of Hope
Imagine leaving home with no money, no education and a young child. More than 50% of the pregnant and parenting foster teen girls who emancipate from the foster care system at 18 face these obstacles. YES for Haven provides assistance – a twenty-bed group home and training facility known as The Salvation Army’s Door of Hope Haven Program. By providing shelter, job skills training and career guidance to these teenage mothers, we significantly reduce human tragedy by helping them become self-sufficient. YES for Haven’s goal is to help these young women find a career path and life skills that allow them to support themselves and their children long-term.
SDSVP’s three-year grant to YES for Haven has provided work readiness training, career exploration and the development of a life plan for these girls, in addition to one-on-one career guidance. In the last two years, the program assisted over 44 girls. Over 61% of them have completed an internship in an area of career interest, attended vocational school or secured a job.
“Our collaboration with SDSVP and the Door of Hope is exciting and productive. These YES for Haven young women and their children need all of the help and support we can give them.”
Marilyn Stewart, Director, YES Transition Network
“With the help of SDSVP, we have set up a Career Resource Board composed of business and community leaders. This Board will provide us with valuable employment opportunities and connections as we move forward.”
Lynn Sharpe-Underwood, Administrator, Door of Hope
Sierra Club Canyons Campaign
Lead Partner: Mike Kole
The Sierra Club’s Canyons Campaign’s mission is to foster awareness, appreciation and ongoing community involvement in the protection and stewardship of the unique habitats found in San Diego’s canyons. The strategy is to establish and support localized “friends groups” for individual neighborhood canyons throughout San Diego County. Over the last six years, 34 new groups have been built.
This year, the program established five new Canyon Friend Groups, bolstered membership in seven others and led 584 children and adults on 21 educational tours.
SDSVP Partners Michael Kole, Eric Busboom and Susie Hayes have joined the Canyons Campaign Steering Committee and assisted in developing a capacity-building Strategic Plan. The Campaign has now leveraged SDSVP’s funding to double the budget and plans to triple the staff as it begins its second year of support.
“SDSVP’s steady support has enabled us to achieve broader campaign goals such as enrollment of students and youth groups into canyon restoration projects and promotion of a concept to establish a San Diego Regional Canyonlands Park.“
Eric Bowlby,
Campaign Coordinator
The Sierra Club’s Canyons Campaign’s mission is to foster awareness, appreciation and ongoing community involvement in the protection and stewardship of the unique habitats found in San Diego’s canyons. The strategy is to establish and support localized “friends groups” for individual neighborhood canyons throughout San Diego County. Over the last six years, 34 new groups have been built.
This year, the program established five new Canyon Friend Groups, bolstered membership in seven others and led 584 children and adults on 21 educational tours.
SDSVP Partners Michael Kole, Eric Busboom and Susie Hayes have joined the Canyons Campaign Steering Committee and assisted in developing a capacity-building Strategic Plan. The Campaign has now leveraged SDSVP’s funding to double the budget and plans to triple the staff as it begins its second year of support.
“SDSVP’s steady support has enabled us to achieve broader campaign goals such as enrollment of students and youth groups into canyon restoration projects and promotion of a concept to establish a San Diego Regional Canyonlands Park.“
Eric Bowlby,
Campaign Coordinator
Second Chance
Lead Partner: Diane Rosenberg
Ben & Jerry’s Second Chance PartnerShop has completed its second year of providing paid work experience and customer service skills for STRIVE graduates and at-risk youth in San Diego.
SDSVP helped Second Chance improve the efficiency of this social enterprise, create new marketing strategies and identify other options for expanding revenue. SDSVP’s work with Second Chance enabled the PartnerShop to nearly break-even, develop a profitable catering business and achieve the second highest sales per transaction of all PartnerShops in the country.
The PartnerShop gives Second Chance clients the opportunity to build personal confidence, create résumé credibility and reinforce the critical standards of behavior needed for becoming self-sufficient, contributing members of the community. Laura Bermudez, a STRIVE graduate, has overcome the “Rocky Road” of incarceration and “scooped” up success, learning valuable employment skills at the Ben & Jerry’s PartnerShop, then transitioning to a full-time job at Urban Corps. SDSVP is proud of its collaboration with Second Chance to take a “scoop” out of chronic unemployment, reincarceration and homelessness.
“The SDSVP Partners expertise in finance, marketing and operations helped us build a stronger social enterprise, which creates more job opportunities for STRIVE graduates. Their time, talent and treasury have been invaluable.”
Scott Silverman,
Executive Director
Ben & Jerry’s Second Chance PartnerShop has completed its second year of providing paid work experience and customer service skills for STRIVE graduates and at-risk youth in San Diego.
SDSVP helped Second Chance improve the efficiency of this social enterprise, create new marketing strategies and identify other options for expanding revenue. SDSVP’s work with Second Chance enabled the PartnerShop to nearly break-even, develop a profitable catering business and achieve the second highest sales per transaction of all PartnerShops in the country.
The PartnerShop gives Second Chance clients the opportunity to build personal confidence, create résumé credibility and reinforce the critical standards of behavior needed for becoming self-sufficient, contributing members of the community. Laura Bermudez, a STRIVE graduate, has overcome the “Rocky Road” of incarceration and “scooped” up success, learning valuable employment skills at the Ben & Jerry’s PartnerShop, then transitioning to a full-time job at Urban Corps. SDSVP is proud of its collaboration with Second Chance to take a “scoop” out of chronic unemployment, reincarceration and homelessness.
“The SDSVP Partners expertise in finance, marketing and operations helped us build a stronger social enterprise, which creates more job opportunities for STRIVE graduates. Their time, talent and treasury have been invaluable.”
Scott Silverman,
Executive Director
San Diego Coastkeeper
Lead Partners: Sondra Kiss and Scott Lininger
In 2005, San Diego Coastkeeper celebrated an important milestone - ten years of successfully fighting the pollution of San Diego’s waterways. They took the time to reflect on their victories and look forward to addressing the challenges that face them in the coming decade.
To accurately reflect the organization’s evolution, San Diego Baykeeper became San Diego Coastkeeper - a new name for a growing organization whose mission now encompasses protecting all of San Diego County’s waterways. SDSVP supported Coastkeeper’s marketing campaign to change the name, logo and mission of the organization in order to better represent the work they do county-wide. Partner David Field became so actively involved that he is now a member of the San Diego Coastkeeper Board.
Launching a marketing campaign allowed Coastkeeper to have the exposure needed to reach a broader audience. This enabled them to gain more members and secure additional support for their environmental programs. Coastkeeper’s staff engages over 5,000 volunteers at beach cleanups, conducts water and habitat monitoring from Oceanside to Baja, educates more than 24,000 children county-wide while continuing to address the sewage, stormwater and industrial pollution impacting all of San Diego’s communities.
“San Diego Coastkeeper would not have been able to launch our successful marketing campaign last year without the help of San Diego Social Venture Partners!”
Bruce Reznik,
Executive Director
In 2005, San Diego Coastkeeper celebrated an important milestone - ten years of successfully fighting the pollution of San Diego’s waterways. They took the time to reflect on their victories and look forward to addressing the challenges that face them in the coming decade.
To accurately reflect the organization’s evolution, San Diego Baykeeper became San Diego Coastkeeper - a new name for a growing organization whose mission now encompasses protecting all of San Diego County’s waterways. SDSVP supported Coastkeeper’s marketing campaign to change the name, logo and mission of the organization in order to better represent the work they do county-wide. Partner David Field became so actively involved that he is now a member of the San Diego Coastkeeper Board.
Launching a marketing campaign allowed Coastkeeper to have the exposure needed to reach a broader audience. This enabled them to gain more members and secure additional support for their environmental programs. Coastkeeper’s staff engages over 5,000 volunteers at beach cleanups, conducts water and habitat monitoring from Oceanside to Baja, educates more than 24,000 children county-wide while continuing to address the sewage, stormwater and industrial pollution impacting all of San Diego’s communities.
“San Diego Coastkeeper would not have been able to launch our successful marketing campaign last year without the help of San Diego Social Venture Partners!”
Bruce Reznik,
Executive Director
Junior Achievement
Lead Partner: Wendy Gillespie
Get ready for hardhats! SDSVP joined hands with Junior Achievement to create a special place that will inspire the future generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders – Enterprise Village.
Junior Achievement is an international organization that has served Greater San Diego for 50 years. Enterprise Village is an innovative project that teaches our youth about money management, credit and investing for the future to prepare them for a more productive life.
Enterprise Village will be a 10,000 square foot replica of a small American city, complete with a city hall, bank, and 18 bustling enterprises. Enterprise Village will also have a non-profit center so students learn the value of giving back to their communities, just like SDSVP!
To make this dream come true for San Diego students, SDSVP contributed a capacity-building grant and significant energy from its Partners to ensure that this project is brought in on schedule with the funds to make it happen. From creating a thoughtful business plan to product-launch marketing advice, the Partners have been fully engaged in every aspect of the project.
The timing could not be better! More students drop out of college due to credit card debt than academic failure. Enterprise Village teaches financial literacy in a hands-on engaging format that kids love to learn. Thanks to the help of SDSVP, Enterprise Village is scheduled to open its doors to its first students in May 2007.
“SDSVP brought an energy and enthusiasm to this project that was contagious. The dedication of the Partners was an inspiration to our entire staff. The guidance that SDSVP provided at strategic junctures was irreplaceable. It was clear the Partners were doing what they do best: being entrepreneurs and launching new projects!”
Marion Paul,
Executive Vice President
Get ready for hardhats! SDSVP joined hands with Junior Achievement to create a special place that will inspire the future generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders – Enterprise Village.
Junior Achievement is an international organization that has served Greater San Diego for 50 years. Enterprise Village is an innovative project that teaches our youth about money management, credit and investing for the future to prepare them for a more productive life.
Enterprise Village will be a 10,000 square foot replica of a small American city, complete with a city hall, bank, and 18 bustling enterprises. Enterprise Village will also have a non-profit center so students learn the value of giving back to their communities, just like SDSVP!
To make this dream come true for San Diego students, SDSVP contributed a capacity-building grant and significant energy from its Partners to ensure that this project is brought in on schedule with the funds to make it happen. From creating a thoughtful business plan to product-launch marketing advice, the Partners have been fully engaged in every aspect of the project.
The timing could not be better! More students drop out of college due to credit card debt than academic failure. Enterprise Village teaches financial literacy in a hands-on engaging format that kids love to learn. Thanks to the help of SDSVP, Enterprise Village is scheduled to open its doors to its first students in May 2007.
“SDSVP brought an energy and enthusiasm to this project that was contagious. The dedication of the Partners was an inspiration to our entire staff. The guidance that SDSVP provided at strategic junctures was irreplaceable. It was clear the Partners were doing what they do best: being entrepreneurs and launching new projects!”
Marion Paul,
Executive Vice President
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