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In 2007 Booz Allen Hamilton set out to help small nonprofits in the Washington, D.C. area gain access to expert advice and guidance on management and fundraising that was otherwise unattainable for them due to cost. In the four years since, the Booz Allen Hamilton Nonprofit Development Conference Series has grown exponentially and now successfully serves more than 400 unique nonprofit organizations with top tier guest speakers from around the metropolitan area who provide the sorely needed advice and guidance.
Conference keynote says invest and innovate out of recession
Comparing these economic times to the 1930s is already getting old. But then there’s Van Jones’ new twist on an old solution that is sensible and exciting. Jones, who will be a keynote speaker at the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship’s annual conference March 29-31 in San Francisco, says its time to create the Clean Energy Corps – a modern version of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps.
The 40-year-old Van Jones, environmentalist, activist, and recent best-selling author seems to only deal in big, big ideas. His vision of legions of Americans retrofitting buildings to be more energy efficient is more than a win-win. It puts young people to work, reduces energy consumption and will lower lots of energy bills.
“If we were to weatherize and solarize America,” Jones recently said on NPR’s “Living on Earth” radio program, “we could power our way through this recession, we could cut carbon, we could increase the value of people’s homes and we could show that green solutions don’t cost more. They actually save people money. You know, if our buildings were 30 percent more efficient, we’d be putting out 30 percent less carbon, but much more importantly, that work pays for itself in energy cost savings. You could actually pay the government back. It would be revenue neutral.”
Jones’ new best-selling book, “The Green Collar Economy”, lays out much of his vision that he brings to reality each day through the nonprofit he founded and still heads, Green for All. This organization promotes green-collar jobs and economic opportunities for the disadvantaged. Its bold mission is to build an inclusive, green economy -strong enough to resolve the ecological crisis and lift millions of people out of poverty.
Jones, named a Time Magazine 2008 Environmental Hero, also challenges the old “think global, act local” slogan. He thinks and acts on every strata of society. On the global level, Jones influenced the United Nations to announce a set of accords on World Environment Day in 2005 that called on the world’s mayors to create environmentally beneficial jobs in slums and/or low-income neighborhoods. This was the launch of the global movement for “green jobs.”
In 2007, Van helped the city of Oakland, Calif., pass a “Green Jobs Corps” proposal. The city allocated funds to train Oakland residents in eco-friendly “green-collar jobs.” Nationally, he worked successfully in 2007 with members of Congress to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007 – historic legislation authorizing $125 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in “green-collar jobs.” Then in 2008, Green for All partnered with the Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection to launch the Green for All Academy. The academy trains U.S. grass roots leaders to effectively advocate for an inclusive, green economy.
This past Sept. 27, Green for All worked with national partners to produce “Green Jobs Now” – the first-ever “national day of action” calling for green-collar jobs in the United States. More than 600 communities in all 50 states participated, with more than 50,000 signing a petition that called for federal government action to spur green jobs.
Jones clearly recognizes the urgency of the economic and environmental problems facing the world. By the time he speaks at the 2009 International Conference on Corporate Citizenship don’t be surprised if he’s talking about even more new projects.
Click here to learn more about the conference and to register.
