The beginning

When I first moved to Houston I had the good fortune to engage in a project with The Fifth Ward Enrichment Program, an after school and summer program designed to serve at risk youth.  Historically, Houston's Fifth Ward was the bottom of the economic rung, nicknamed "the Bloody Fifth" the notorious legacy of neglect and crime was well known throughout the city.  Together with the organization's founder, Ernest MacMillan, we created a framework in which sustainable development concepts could be used to inform the direction of the agency.  They had already been serving social and economic needs for their constituents. If we added the environmental component, perhaps we could make the community more sustainable and the agency itself in the process.

Eco-apartheid

Van Jones, the president of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, in Oakland, California (ellabakercenter.org)  has coined the terms eco-apartheid and eco-equity.  We have practiced defacto eco-apartheid in our country.  The poorest segments of our nation received the fewest benefits from clean and green movements, yet they are the populations who need the most help.  Houston has the highest rate of asthma in the country. Thanks to the chemical and petroleum plants nearby, we also have the country's worst air quality.  The connection is real.  But we now have an extraordinary opportunity to create jobs, employ all levels of the pyramid and improve the quality of our lives while saving the planet.

Take a look at this green collor jobs video. 

Sustainable Development

The triple bottom line of sustainabie development, economic, social and environmental are what inform my actions and decisions.  If I can assist activity at the bottom of the pyramid by incorporating triple bottom line activities, I do believe that we can affect transformative change that is sustainable.  To this end I now work with companies and non profits to embrace sustainable development in the course of their daily operations.  If I can build transportable frameworks for business and nonprofits, then perhaps I can work both levels of the pyramid and speed the benefits for all.

Background

After spending the past decade working in big business, half of it promoting sustainable development, I realized that the "top of the pyramid"  -- the economic pyramid - produces results that trickle down to the rest of the pyramid at a glacial pace.  Last year I had the good fortune to be nominated to distribute philanthropic funds to  causes that I believe in.  In accepting this responsibility I had the realization that the terms of need or the criteria of eligibility were things I hadn't thought through.  In my professional life these concepts are quite clear.  In the new role of being responsible for philanthropy, I needed to come to grips with my belief system and also articulate how I was going to operate in this new terrain.  This site is devoted to a description of these efforts.

I invite you to back my efforts.