ECOLOGIA

ECOLOGIA "developed out of the dominant historical event of the second half of the 20th Century, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Our founding board members and staff grew up during this era, struggling with its threats and its realities. In the late 1980s, when the Soviet Union opened up, the opportunities for peaceful citizen diplomacy energized our earliest work.

"ECOLOGIA (ECOlogists Linked for Organizing Grassroots Initiatives and Action) was founded by grassroots environmental activists from the United States, in 1989, in order to support grassroots environmental initiatives across the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), especially environmental ones, were playing an important role in the political, social, and economic transitions of the time. From our base in Northeastern Pennsylvania, ECOLOGIA's founding staff and board members traveled frequently to these countries between 1988 and 1991. Working without any pre-determined agenda, we found common ground with leaders of emerging environmental organizations. We began by listening, designing programs that responded to practical needs identified by our new-found colleagues, and initiating our partnerships with small projects that achieved concrete results."

Supporters
ECOLOGIA projects have been made possible thanks to the generous support of:


 * Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
 * Colombe Foundation
 * Ford Foundation
 * Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund
 * John Merck Fund
 * Moriah Fund
 * Open Society Institute
 * Rockefeller Brothers Fund
 * Trace Foundation
 * Trust for Mutual Understanding
 * Turner Foundation
 * UNICEF
 * United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX)
 * United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Academy for Educational Development (AED)
 * Wallace Global Fund
 * W. Alton Jones Foundation
 * And many individual donors

People
Accessed November 2007:

Directors

 * Randy Kritkausky - President and co-founder of ECOLOGIA.
 * Aleg Cherp
 * Rachel Golden
 * Carolyn Schmidt
 * Ed Shoener
 * Paul Soler-Sala

Advisors

 * Diana Barnard - MD Middlebury Family Health, Vermont
 * Alene Case - North Branch Land Trust, Pennsylvania
 * Catherine Gauthier - Québec Ministry for the Environment
 * Christina Pease - MD University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Seattle
 * Scott Smith - MD Cedar Ledge Family Practice, Vermont
 * Humphrey Wou - WC Kenney Watershed Protection Foundation & Earth Island Institute, California

Contact

 * Web: http://www.ecologia.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Sacred Earth Network
 * Virtual Foundation