Links

Links to people and organizations who are finding some new solutions. The order of the list corresponds to the chapters in Clueless at the Top.

DIVERSITY

The International WWOOF Association in the UK helps those who would like to volunteer on organic farms internationally.

The Farm School The Farm School is a family farm for the coming generations where people experience first hand what it means to be stewards of the earth. They provide multi-day residential school-year and summer program

The Earthwatch Institute engages people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment; more than 130 expeditions in 47 countries.

StoryCorps is a national project to instruct and inspire Americans to record each other's stories in sound.

The Center for Cultural Exchange offer arts and education programs in collaboration with diverse communities and artists in Maine and throughout the world.

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization saving the world’s diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations.

The goal of Backpack Nation is to transform the West's 2-3 million independent travelers into an army of global ambassadors, emissaries of peace, a roving force for good, and thereby help to save our world.

Hero Alliance from Cottage Grove, Oregon. In May, 2000, a fleet of colorfully caped bicyclists left Seattle for a four-month, 5,500-mile trip across America being of service to others wherever they could find people to help.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

Help for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Family Justice draws on the unique strengths of families and neighborhoods to break cycles of involvement with the criminal justice system.

Detroit’s non-profit Blight Busters fixes and sells neglected homes.

Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund, fighting to Save Black-Owned Land Since 1967

Petfinder Find an adoptable pet in your area, lost and found for pets, learn how to care for your pet.

The Center For Young Women's Development provides peer based opportunities for high-risk low- and no-income young women to build healthier lives and healthier communities.

HUMAN SHAPES

Whitening creams - India Democratic Women’s Association work against the promotion of whitening creams for women of color.

Campaign for Real Beauty says “For too long, beauty has been defined by narrow, stifling stereotypes.”

Love your body day.

Cosy Sheridan performs her one-woman show, The Pomegranate Seed, across the country – a distinctive take on the media's message about women's bodies.

POLITICS

Campaign finance reform issues and laws in Maine, Arizona, Vermont, and more states.
newrules.org
yesmagazine.com
acfnewsource.org

Shirley Chishom's political career

SOCM – Save Our Cumberland Mountains – a non-profit Tennessee grassroots citizen's organization working for environmental, social, and economic justice, in areas such as forestry, strip mining, toxic issues, tax reform, dismantling racism -- and other issues on a local level.

One of former Bogotá Mayor Antanas Mockus' many inspired strategies for changing the mindset, and eventually the behavior, of the city's unruly inhabitants was the installation of traffic mimes on street corners.

RESOURCES

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing works to end the misuses and flaws of standardized testing and to ensure that evaluation of students, teachers and schools is fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial.

Schumacher Society By favoring regionally based economies, local currencies are a tool for bringing a human face and sense of place back into our economic transactions.

Time Banks USA seeks to build local economies and communities that reward decency, caring, and a passion for justice by developing, testing, and assisting experiments with a new medium of exchange called Time Dollars™ (also known as service credits or time banking.) One hour helping others equals one Time Dollar.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a nonprofit research and educational organization that provides technical assistance and information on environmentally sound economic development strategies.

Co-op America and Responsible Shopper give practical steps for using your consumer and investor power for social change, including green businesses, socially responsible investing, consumer education, sustainable living, and corporate responsibility.

Get Green's mission is to inform the public about ways to save money and save the environment at the same time.

The mission of EnergyXchange is to demonstrate the responsible use of landfill gas as an energy source for small enterprise in craft and horticulture, and to meet local energy needs. EnergyXchange is located at the foot of the Black Mountain Range in Western North Carolina.

The Apollo Alliance is a broad coalition within the labor, environmental, business, urban, and faith communities to develop public education campaigns and communications strategies that build a bold, broad based, and immediate program of public policy to achieve energy independence.

University Bank, in St. Paul, Minnesota, has a mission of social responsibility – neighborhoods and positive community impact.

Fair Taxes for All is a coalition committed to promoting a fair tax system that raises sufficient revenues to meet our shared priorities and invest in our common future.

Tobin Taxes are excise taxes on cross-border currency transactions. They can be enacted by national legislatures, followed by multilateral cooperation for effective enforcement. The revenue should go to global priorities: basic environmental and human needs.

United for a Fair Economy is a national, independent, nonpartisan, non-profit organization that raises awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart.

Energy and dollars savings tips are from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do to Save the Earth authored by Seattle City Light and The EarthWorks Group.

Rocky Mountain Institute has grown from as a small group of colleagues focusing on energy policy to forty staff members who bring a unique perspective to resource issues.

SEXUALITY

Sexuality Information & Education Council of the U.S. SIECUS believes that sexuality is a natural and healthy part of life and that all people have the right to the information, skills, and services they need to make responsible sexual decisions.

The National Women's Health Network was founded in 1975 to give women a greater voice within the healthcare system. NWHN is a membership-based organization supported by 8,000 individuals and organizations nationwide.

National Women’s Alliance envisions a world where the lives of women and girls of color are free from violence, have a full range of reproductive and sexual health options, and achieve racial and economic equality.

PFLAG: Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays advocates and educates the general public about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights and legal protections. is a national non-profit organization with over 250,000 members and supporters and over 500 affiliates in the United States.

Blackstripe lists Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people of African Descent, first developed to include in Black History month.

MEDIA/VIOLENCE

AfroLez® Production is a multimedia arts company committed to projecting holistic images of women of African descent, specifically lesbian and bisexual women.

The Iroquois Confederacy long ago devised the rules of peace-making and negotiation after centuries of war and vengeance. More about this from Lapis Magazine

The Alliance for Community Media is committed to assuring everyone's access to electronic media, through public education, a progressive legislative and regulatory agenda, coalition building and grassroots organizing.

MADRE is an international women's human rights organization that works in partnership with women's community-based groups in conflict areas worldwide.

PEACE X PEACE empowers women to build sustainable peace locally and globally through connection, recognition, and education.

Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women through the mobilization of public pressure.

Women's Action for New Directions dedicates their energies to redirect federal budget priorities away from the military and toward human needs.

Volunteers for Hancock County Jail residents, Ellsworth, Maine.

CORPORATIONS

FoxBGHsuit.com Oakhurst Dairy is being sued by Monsanto Co., which alleges that Oakhurst's marketing campaign that touts its milk as being free of artificial growth hormones is misleading.

The European Network for the Recognition of the Ecological Debt (ENRED) tries to impulse and coordinate efforts in order to achieve the recognition of the Ecological Debt that European Countries have accumulated towards the impoverished countries.

The National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) provides a voice for grassroots groups on farm, food, trade and rural economic issues to ensure fair prices for family farmers, safe and healthy food, and vibrant, environmentally sound rural communities here and around the world.

New Belgium is a Colorado corporation that has a priority of energy efficiency and social responsibility.

You can find where to buy Fair Trade products, from a third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees farmers in developing countries were paid fairly for their crops.

David Green is bringing cutting-edge medical technologies to people of all economic levels in a way that is financially sustainable—and actually cash-flow positive.

Markets Initiative works directly with Canadian companies to develop practical and economic ways to shift their wood and paper use away from ancient and endangered forest products to ecologically sound alternatives.

The mission of the Green Press Initiative is to work with publishers, industry stakeholders and authors to create paper-use transformations that will conserve natural resources and preserve endangered forests.

London’s Green Alliance mission promotes sustainable development by working with senior people in government, parliament, business and the environmental movement to encourage new ideas, dialogue and constructive solutions with the environment at the heart of decision-making.

EDUCATION

The Connections Across Cultures project shows how to invite multiple perspectives into the classrooms of science, technology, math, & engineering. The project values the unique styles and preferences of people who are female, Latina/o, American Indian, and African American, and uses their voices to build teaching strategies for classrooms from kindergarten through university.

The Gaia Institute explores, through research and development, design and construction, how human activities and waste products can be treated to increase ecological productivity, biodiversity, environmental quality, and economic well being.

The Chez Panisse Foundation envisions a curriculum, integrated with the school lunch service, in which growing, cooking and sharing food at the table give students the knowledge and values to build a humane and sustainable future.

The Edible Schoolyard, in collaboration with Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, provides urban public school students with a one-acre organic garden and a kitchen classroom.

Rethinking Schools is a grassroots voice for education reform, advocating for equitable and excellent public schools for all of our children.

Union of Concerned Scientists is an independent nonprofit alliance of more than 100,000 concerned citizens and scientists who augment scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world.

The Community School, located in the small town of Camden, Maine, offers residential and home-based tutoring, small seminars, vocational training, guided life-experience, experiential, and post graduate courses and resources.

The Center for Ecoliteracy is dedicated to education for sustainable living. The Center’s RSL program envisions school lunch as part of an integrated curriculum that uses local food systems as a context for learning, while restoring the connection of farms to communities, meals to culture, and health to our children and the environment.

CREA, in India, is a children’s academy that believes that children shall bring out the best of their capacities if they are allowed to be creative and innovative.

RELIGION

Glide Memorial Church, in San Francisco, is a place where “unconditional love changes lives every day, and hope triumphs over sorrow. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is Glide.”

Shakti Gawain is a pioneer in the field of personal growth and consciousness.

His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

LIFESTYLES

Alliance for a New Transportation Charter improves communities and neighborhoods by enhancing public health and safety, promoting social equity and a better quality of life, sustaining economic prosperity, and saving energy while protecting the environment. Launched in December 2001, the Alliance has grown to over 500 organizations from nearly every state.

Walkable Communities, Inc., and National Center for Bicycling and Walking are organizations that help communities become more walkable and bikable.

America Walks is a national coalition of local advocacy groups dedicated to promoting walkable communities. Members are autonomous grassroots organizations from across the country each working to improve conditions for walking in their area.

The Partnership for a Walkable America (PWA) is a national coalition working to improve the conditions for walking in America and to increase the number of Americans who walk regularly.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy provides info to choose the most environmentally friendly car.

Earth 911 gives the location nearest you to recycle or other safe disposal of a large variety of items such as paint, oil, computers, cell phones, batteries, bricks, videos, vehicle donations plus green shopping, composting, kid’s education.

For over 30 years, the Resource Center has demonstrated techniques for recycling and reusing materials in an urban setting, including a sustainable organic farm that sells its produce primarily to local chefs and to the public from an on-site market stand.

Soy Happy® has been influential in opening the door to veggie dogs in Major League Baseball stadiums. They facilitate the introduction of vegetarian alternative fare in mainstream venues all over the country.

LaDonna Redmond is the founder/president of the Institute for Community Resource Development in Chicago, Illinois, that sets up and sustains a wide range of urban community programs, such as neighborhood gardens.

Umassvegetable.org and nal.usda.gov Here’s where to find out about Community Suppported Agriculture (buying fresh foods directly from a farmer) and finding a farm near you.

Find the nearest farmers market to you.

Frugal Green is a publication with straightforward home economics advice on topics such as making your own cleaning products and insect repellent, junk mail (how to get less), Belgian bike culture, 'low impact computing', and water conservation.

The Solar Living Institute Established in 1998 as a spin-off from Real Goods Trading Company, the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, CA, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization that promotes sustainable living through inspirational environmental education.

The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) at the National Agricultural Library (NAL) specializes in identifying and accessing information related to alternative agricultural enterprises and crops as well as alternative cropping systems.

Slow Food is an international association that promotes food and wine culture, but also defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide. Slow Food boasts 83,000 members worldwide and offices in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, France, Japan, and Great Britain.

The Center for a New American Dream helps people consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice.

Beyond Pesticides works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is a grassroots non-profit public interest organization which deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, corporate accountability, and environmental sustainability.

THE WORLD

Coop America Fair Trade is a system of trade based on direct relationships and partnerships between buyers in the global north and producing communities in developing countries. Fair Trade helps ensure that farmers and artisans throughout the developing world receive a fair price for their products, that communities are healthy, and the environment is preserved.

Refugee Women in Development (RefWID), Inc advocates for women who have experienced human rights abuses, domestic violence, rape, and war

Womens Environmental and Development Organization (WEDO) has joined forces with the League of Women Voters and the Center for Women Policy Studies to engage American women as advocates for U.S. foreign policy that promotes human rights, economic development, peace and security, and sustainable development through a series of town hall meetings.

The Global Footprint Network is committed to fostering a world where all people have the opportunity to live satisfying lives within the means of Earth's ecological capacity.

RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, is the oldest political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan since 1977.

Voices in the Wilderness Since its founding in 1996, Voices in the Wilderness has campaigned to end economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people, especially children.

Sister Cities International is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between U.S. and international communities in an effort to increase global cooperation at the municipal level, to promote cultural understanding and to stimulate economic development.

ENVIRONMENT

Green Alliance works closely with decision-makers in government and business in the UK, and with other environment groups, promoting policies for a better environment.

Bioneers offers pragmatic solutions that honor the living web of the natural world as the most fertile source of inspiration and models. The work ranges from science to spirit - local to global - academia to the grass roots - farm to city - business to public service - art to engineering.

The ClearWater Project works with communities and governments to protect clean water supplies while restoring contaminated sources facilitating community involvement and empowering individuals in solving their own water needs

Waterkeeper Alliance unites fishermen, boaters, swimmers, paddlers, naturalists, scientists and other water enthusiasts to the ideal of preserving our natural water resources.

Center for Native Ecosystems is dedicated to conserving and recovering native and naturally functioning ecosystems in the Greater Southern Rockies.

The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E-LAW) gives public interest lawyers and scientists around the world the skills and resources to protect the environment through law. From grassroots lawyers from 10 countries who founded E-LAW in 1989 in Eugene, Oregon, Now, there are more than 300 grassroots lawyers and scientists in 60.

Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space works for a peaceful and environmentally friendly use of space technology.

Trees for the Future planted 5.4 million trees last year. It’s a people-to-people action plan restoring trees to the world’s most degraded lands.

The Green Festival is a two-day party with a serious purpose: to accelerate the emergence of a new economic paradigm that is life-affirming and life-restoring, to cultivate a culture of sustainability and social equity that honors our interdependence with all life.

The Beautification and Restoration Project cleans miles of Mississippi River shoreline using staff, volunteers, community donations and grants.

The objectives of the Jane Goodall Institute are to increase primate habitat conservation; increase awareness of, support for and training in issues related to our relationship with each other, the environment and other animals; expand non-invasive research programs on chimpanzees and other primates; and promote activities that ensure the well-being of chimpanzees, other primates and animal welfare activities in general.

The Ashden Awards reward outstanding, inspirational and innovative local sustainable energy schemes worldwide that both protect the environment, tackle climate change and make real improvements to people's quality of life.