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) [email protected]
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
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