a force for people and planet

implementing local solutions to global challenges since 1999

celebrating twenty yearsCELEBRATING 20 YEARS

Letter from Board Chair, John Taylor:

The many accomplishments featured in this report only scratch the surface of the transformational efforts that we have supported and led over the past 20 years. Addressing disparities in education, bringing high quality clean energy coaching to rural communities, regenerating habitats, and preparing generations for 21st century leadership -- it can be hard to fully comprehend! Yet each of these challenges is interconnected.

To me, SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers is a ‘boots on the ground’ force for change that supports the vulnerable, creates activities that inspire hope, and encourages all of us to be better stewards of the planet -- our home. I am very proud to be part of an organization that does so much to help so many. I look forward to the next 20 years and seeing all that we can accomplish together!

Letter from Executive Director, Sarna Salzman:

It's hard to believe that SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers is celebrating 20 years of service! Looking back on the journey, I am amazed and humbled by the ever evolving connections between hundreds of employees, partners, volunteers, donors, community advocates, and some of the best families in Michigan. We are grateful for all the precious hours and resources that have been invested in our mission and our work. This report highlights programmatic outcomes that are rewarding, life-affirming, and urgently needed.

SEEDS exists to respond to global challenges at the local level. Working together creates hope, and hope fuels hard work. We work to ensure that future generations also get to enjoy all that the sweet waters of Michigan have to offer. There is a lot of work yet to do and it only happens when you give your trust and support. Miigwetch and thank you.

Contact Us Board MembersMailing Address:PO Box 2454 Traverse City, MI 49685

(231) 947-0312www.ecoseeds.orghello@ecoseeds.org

John Taylor, ChairPete Muñoz, Vice Chair & Co-FounderEd Bailey, SecretaryJoey DiFranco, TreasurerMike CocoMegan OldsKate Redman

Implementing local solutions to global challenges since 1999SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers

SEEDS EcoCorps crew members worked for Oryana Community Co-op to fix up the community compost bins. The crew learned construction, landscaping, and composting skills while serving their community.

COLLABORATORSwe are PROBLEM SOLVERS

DOERS TEACHERS LEARNERS SCIENTISTSECOLOGISTS CONVENERS & NEIGHBORS

INNOVATORS

“My daughter loves her SEEDS program! Wonderful program, keep up the amazing

work you do!”

Experiential EducationTeaching & Learning

"SEEDS After School is exciting, authentic learning! Our students get to explore real-world issues and the importance of stewardship." - Laura Gehman, Rapid City Elementary Principal

SEEDS K-12 programming provides daily high-quality education to hundreds of students. Using hands-on activities, we teach a variety of subjects including STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), art, healthy cooking, ecology, life skills, and career exploration. Each day students get homework help, a healthy meal, and time outside!

Right: SEEDS After School students examine insects up close and learn about their biology and habitats with the GT Butterfly House & Bug Zoo. Photo by Gary L. Howe

SEEDS After School Sites 2019-2020

Benzie Central High School & Benzie AcademyBenzie Central Middle SchoolBetsie Valley Elementary SchoolBrethren Middle SchoolCherry Street Intermediate SchoolForest Area Middle SchoolFife Lake Elementary SchoolKaleva Norman Dickson Elementary SchoolMarion Elementary SchoolMesick (Floyd M. Jewett) Elementary SchoolRapid City Elementary School

“My daughter loves her SEEDS program! Wonderful program, keep up the amazing

work you do!”

>600,0001 of every 3 hours is spent on STEM & academics.

1/3 Parents reporting excellent staff and student relationships.

98%learning hours spent with K12 students

“When you partner up or collaborate you’ll get the job done faster than being one person.” - Julian, Forest Area Middle Schooler

Julian loves science and being a part of a team! Julian and his classmates created solar-powered instruments during the 2019 Clean Energy Art Challenge, using kinetics, miniature solar panels, drums, and guitars.Photo by Gary L. Howe

>600kTotal learning hours spent with K-12 students at SEEDS.

SEEDS EcoCorps, previously known as the SEEDS Youth Conservation Corps, is a green collar career exploration program. We provide an earn-while-you-learn format to support career development, specific skills acquisition, and leadership qualities. Crew members gain valuable work experience while serving their local communities.

Workforce Development

SEEDS EcoCorps restores public and private lands. Our work includes:

● Habitat restoration,● Historic preservation,● Public park improvement,● Invasive species removal,● Small scale construction,● Reforestation, & more!

Restoring Michigan Lands

3000+acres restored

200+miles of trails and riparian miles improved and/or built

From the Keweenaw to Kalamazoo, from Saginaw to Sleeping Bear, serving Michigan and its youth since 1999!

EcoCorps

Corps members work with construction trades mentors like Jim Conner who says, “It’s hard to find young adults who want to get into trades, so it’s great to be a part of a project that is actively encouraging them!”

"I joined SEEDS because most of my life I was an inside kind of kid. Working outside has been a great, new experience for me!" - Daeveon Clemons, SEEDS EcoCorps Crew Member, Saginaw

As a SEEDS EcoCorps crew member, Daeveon Clemons has learned that he really enjoys working with his hands. He is planning to pursue a career in skilled trades.

500+Crew member jobs created

SEEDS Triple Bottom Line

Action for People and Planet

Energy & Environment

SEEDS Energy & Environment team assists individuals and institutions in achieving ‘green’ goals by ● Defining and forecasting the

triple-bottom-line impacts of various choices,

● Designing implementation strategies in alignment with goals, and

● Coaching decision makers and stakeholders.

We regularly facilitate Green Teams and develop energy or climate action plans to help partners reduce costs, reduce waste, and make the switch to clean energy, zero waste, and improved quality of life.

"Through my internship at SEEDS, I discovered that I am really passionate about public policy and working with local governments." - Dana Pflughoeft, Undergraduate at St. Olaf College

Dana, a political science and environmental studies major, joined the SEEDS Energy & Environment team for her summer internship. She provided research for energy action plans, helped benchmark several cities’ energy use, and analyzed data.

Local units of government and other institutions served

60+Residential customers served 600+

Historic Barns Park

Eco Learning at Historic Barns Park

As a management partner of this public park in Traverse City, SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers’ mission comes alive here in all its facets. At Historic Barns Park, SEEDS After School programs host field trips, the SEEDS EcoCorps helps with improvement projects, and Energy & Environment concepts are shared through exhibits, tours, and demonstrations.

So far, we have installed two solar generation exhibits to help the Park achieve carbon neutrality and to educate visitors about clean, renewable energy.

Above: The SEEDS Farm at Historic Barns Park promotes agricultural work, food systems engagement, and food-related careers in hands-on ways, like having Career-Tech Center Agriscience students grow, manage, and replant our award-winning garlic crop!

In partnership with:

Practicing What We

Teach

SEEDS EcoCorps crews practice construction skills through build-out projects at the Park.

Photo by Gary L. Howe

“Being the resident farmers at the SEEDS Farm has given us the chance to share our passion for seed saving, pollinator habitat, and soil health.” - Brenin Wertz-Roth, Resident Farmer 2019

The average age of the US Farmer has been rising rapidly for the last 30 years. For over a decade, the SEEDS Farm has expanded opportunities for early-career farmers to practice through the farmer residency program.

Years of Programs & Services in Review

Historic Barns Park

Energy &Environment

EcoCorps

After School Academic & Cultural Enrichment

Agricultural Land Restoration

The Art of Stewardship (Water)

Career Development in Schools

Clean Energy Art Challenge

Clean Energy Tours and Exhibits

Climate and Energy Action Plans

Ecological Water & Wastewater Engineering

Farmer Residency Program

Get Me Outside!! (Youth Wilderness Camping)

Grasslands & Forest Lands Restoration

Great Lakes Bioneers Conference

Green Collar Career Job Training

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis

Green Team & Energy Network Facilitation

Healthy Kids / Cooking Matters™

The NME Teachings: Sturgeon in the Classroom

Pollinator Habitat Development

The Quest: 75th Anniversary of Alan Lomax

The Quest to Find Your Park

The Quest for Something Fresh

Rain Garden Design & Installation

Riparian & Wetland Restoration

Sara Hardy Farmers’ Market Management

Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM)

Skilled Trades Training

Solar Installations

Something Fresh CD & Cookbooklet

TC Saves Residential Energy Efficiency Sweep

Traditional Skills Training

Trail Building and Maintenance

Zero Waste Management

20 Teaching & Learning

We earned a Platinum Seal of Transparency by sharing the metrics that matter most. For more financial information, please visit our website.

www.ecoSEEDS.org

of revenues have been invested in earth repair activities including eco-education.

of every dollar stayed local and was invested in a person or local business within 100 miles of our worksites.

Financial Values

Aggregate Revenue Profile(~$18.5 million since 2009)

Aggregate Expense Profile(~$18.5 million since 2009)

82¢

1/3+

For more financial information, please visit www.ecoseeds.org/342/our-supporters.

Traverse Area Association of Realtors 2019

Wickson-Link Memorial Foundation 2019

Leader | $500+Marci Bultemeier & Mike Coco 2018, 2019

Steve & Terry Cousins 2018, 2019

Jim & Rose Foley 2019

David & Maureen Herr 2018, 2019

Thom Greene & Nadeen Kieren 2019

Misaeng & Zachary Liggett 2018, 2019

Brenda & Levi Meeuwenberg 2018

Richard Kosinski & Deborah Ochs 2018

Andy & Megan Olds 2018

Maura Brennan & Dan O’Neil 2019

Daniel Remahl 2019

Libby & Michael Robold 2018

Brian Beauchamp & Sarna Salzman 2018, 2019

Joanne Sprouse 2019

Joanie Fisher Woods & Randy Woods 2018, 2019

Builders Exchange of Northwest Michigan 2018

The Larkin Group 2018

Three Lakes Association 2018

Zany Consignment Boutique 2019

Major In-Kind GiftsLittle Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians 2018, 2019

Major VolunteersAmber Frashier 2019

Christina Love 2018, 2019

Will Nichols 2018, 2019

Kevin Query 2018

Brent Thelen 2018

For a current and complete list of all SEEDS supporters, please visit our website.

Visionary | $25,000+AmeriCorps VISTA 2018, 2019

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 2018

Harvey Randall Wickes Foundation 2019

Michigan Department of Education 2018, 2019

- Michigan Office of Great Start Early Childhood Education & Family Services Michigan Fitness Foundation 2019

National Forest Foundation 2019

National Park Service 2018, 2019

Rotary Charities of Traverse City 2019

Saginaw Community Foundation 2019

Champion | $10,000+Art and Mary Schmuckal Family Foundation 2018

Brookby Foundation 2018, 2019

Charlevoix County Community Foundation, 2019

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians 2018, 2019

Manistee County Community Foundation 2019

The Oleson Foundation 2018, 2019

Shafer-Tuuk Family Foundation 2019

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2018

Worthington Family Foundation 2018

Ally | $5,000+Anonymous 2018

Marilyn Karpicki 2018

Toby & Ken Salzman 2018, 2019

Cherry Republic, Inc 2018, 2019

Consumers Energy Foundation 2019

Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation 2019

ITC, a Fortis Company 2018

The Les and Anne Biederman Foundation 2018, 2019

Lucille and James Martineau Family Fund 2018

Pierce Family Charitable Foundation 2018, 2019

The Randy and Michelle Stuck Family Foundation 2018

Rotary Charities of Traverse City 2019

TransCanada Charitable Foundation 2019

Vanguard Charitable 2018

Mentor | $1,000+Bert & Judy Herzog 2019

Laura & Paul Jacobson 2018, 2019

Heather & Scot Korth 2018, 2019

Lori & Michael Lyman 2018, 2019

Dave Seabury 2018, 2019

Kimiko & Richard Williams 2019

Allen E. & Marie A. Nickles Memorial Foundation 2019

Cherry Capital Airport 2019

Cherryland Electric Cooperative 2019

Community Foundation Youth Endowment 2018

Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation 2018

Hastings Mutual Insurance Co. 2018

The Herrington-Fitch Family Foundation 2018, 2019

Lucky's Market 2018

Inland Seas Education Association 2019

Oryana Community Co-op 2018

Parallel Solutions 2019

Pour for More 2018, 2019

Robert B. Murchie (STRIVE) Scholarship Endowment 2018

Spanglish 2019

State Farm Insurance 2019

TransCanada Charitable Foundation 2018

"The Oleson Foundation supports SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers because we know that our investment will make a profound and lasting impact on our community." - Kathy Huschke, Executive Director Oleson Foundation

Thank you to our major supporters! January 2018 - December 2019

For a current and complete list of all SEEDS supporters, please visit our website.

Follow Us on Facebook & Instagram@SEEDSTC

Be Part of the Solution with a Gift to SEEDS!

Send Us MailP.O. Box 2454Traverse City, MI 49685

Donate Onlinewww.ecoseeds.orgSelect “Donate”

We encourage reusing and recycling! Pass this report on to a friend when you are finished!SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established to implement local solutions to global issues at the intersection of ecology, education, and design.

Photo by Gary L. Howe