SEEAL - Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance

SEEAL
Staff
Board of Directors
Accomplishments
Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts

SEEAL: CFSEMA’s Oldest Fund is Building a Legacy of Environmental Activism

The Community Foundation’s oldest fund is distinguished as a regional leader in environmental education and activism.

Since the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance (SEEAL) was launched in 1997, it has designed and executed environmental education and stewardship activities for the youth of New Bedford, and for all residents in the watersheds throughout Southeastern Massachusetts, including Buzzards Bay, Taunton River, Jones River, and Westport River.

A partnership of environmental groups, educators and community activists, SEEAL has acted as an umbrella organization since it was launched, applying for and providing over $1.75 million in grants to local non-profits and organizations that provide environmental education, outreach, and stewardship in Southeastern Massachusetts. SEEAL is a coalition of 22 lead partners—non-profits and community groups, schools, colleges and universities. We are governed and run by our lead partner representative Board, a Director, 2 Program Coordinators, and hundreds of regional collaborators that also include businesses, public agencies, and local governments. SEEAL’s mission is to support our partners’ capacity to provide quality environmental education and stewardship in Southeastern Massachusetts

“We have a remarkably active, strong, participatory collaborative right now—we are all energized by what we have accomplished, by our current and future projects, and what we have the ability to do, over time, in environmental education and stewardship,” said SEEAL Coordinator, Jennifer Marshall Grantham.

SEEAL partners require resources and technologies beyond the existing abilities of the individual partners. A unique quality of SEEAL collaborations is the willingness of our partners to formulate a collective vision and to seek funding and resources that benefits a variety of programs and projects in South Coast communities.

Our Vision: We see a culture inspired by environmental awareness and action. Through a network of partner organizations we mobilize community resources and increase capacity for environmental education programs and activities. We embrace an ethic of stewardship that balances human need with ecological integrity.

In order to receive funding from the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance Fund (SEEAL), your organization must join as a member of SEEAL. For more information, please contact Jennifer Marshall (jmarshall@seeal.org), SEEAL coordinator.

Staff

Jennifer Marshall, SEEAL Director
jmarshall@seeal.org
508-493-4343

Karen Malcolm, SEEAL SouthCoast Energy Challenge Development Coordinator
kmalcolm@seeal.org
508-996-8253 ext. 206

Mercy Cover, SEEAL SouthCoast Energy Challenge Outreach Coordinator
mcover@seeal.org
SouthCoast Energy Challenge

Board of Directors

John ‘Buddy’ Andrade (Old Bedford Village Development Corp)

Diane Berube (Friends of Buttonwood Park)

Tem Blessed (YouthBuild New Bedford)

Derek Christianson (Brix Bounty Farm)

Sarah Cogswell (SEMAP)

Jean Fox (Workforce Investment Board)

Gay Gillespie (Westport River Watershed Alliance)

Rob Hancock (Save The Bay)

Linton Harrington (The Trustees of Reservations)

Dierdre Healy (UMass Dartmouth Community Service)*

Gail Janeczek (Buttonwood Park Zoo)*

Susan Jennings (UMass Dartmouth Office of Campus and Community Sustainability)

John Long (Bristol Community College Center for Business and Industry)

Annie McDowell (Schooner Ernestina)*

Chris Pires (Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School)

Gina Purtell (Mass Audubon’s Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary)

Gabrielle Simmons (Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts)*

Mark Smith (Ocean Explorium)

Steve Smith (Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District)

Rachel Stronach (Lloyd Center for the Environment)

Desa VanLaarhoven (Marion Institute)*

Polly Zajac (Global Learning Charter School)

*Denotes Executive Board Member
Advisory Council

John Bullard (SEA)

Jack Crowley (Ocean Explorium)

Lori Hanau (Global Round Table Leadership)

Bill McKibben (www.350.org)

Susan Peterson (Teal Partners, Ltd.)

SEEAL Accomplishments

SEEAL’s most recent education and advocacy initiatives include:

Most recently, SEEAL administered a two-year, $236,000 grant made to the City of New Bedford, by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2008, titled “Sustainable New Bedford. Through this, small grants were awarded to 43 different organizations, for 30 sustainability-related collaborative, educational projects in the City of New Bedford—over 2400 hours of service were performed, reaching more than 13,000 people. As part of the grant, SEEAL supported YouthBuild to fund their youth training and implementation of energy audits and weatherization on local homes and businesses, in New Bedford. Lastly, with this grant, SEEAL was able to support the prominent local sustainability event, Connecting For Change: A Bioneers By the Bay Conference.
In 2009, as part of the “Climate Change Challenge,” funded by a private foundation, SEEAL worked with 3rd Eye Unlimited to produce a video to address, “what climate change means for the SouthCoast, and why a 15 year-old should care.” This video has been shown as part of 19 dynamic, interactive presentations to 4700 students in 14 area high schools. Mini-grants were also awarded to dozens of organizations to lead climate change initiatives in their communities.
A current effort, the “SouthCoast Energy Challenge,” to be launched in January 2011, with private gifts and grants, will engage and mobilize SouthCoast residents, organizations, and municipalities, to cut regional carbon emissions through the reduction of energy consumption. The goals of the project are to protect and promote local economies, improve public health, and protect the environment. Together, SEEAL partners have set a 3-year goal to mobilize at least 20% of the region’s households and organizations, and 100% of SouthCoast municipalities to collectively cut 20% of regional carbon emissions. We will co-promote the City of New Bedford’s goals to weatherize 5,000 homes within five years. The anchor and portal for the project, will be a well-designed, functional, user friendly website where individuals and groups can learn how to and pledge to, reduce carbon emissions.

In 2002, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recognized SEEAL’s environmental alliance as the model of the future for regional environmental alliances across the State. Massachusetts officials have announced their plan to develop similar alliances as part of the Massachusetts Environmental Education Plan (MEEP).

At the federal level, Congress awarded a $200,000 grant to support SEEAL’s efforts through its ‘Watershed Connections Project’ toexpand and strengthen the environmental education of SouthCoastchildren. This project, funded by the US Department of Education, will target at least 300 students representing five elementary and middle schools of the region with activities designed to improve math and science learning.

Past accomplishments also include:

Service to over 6,500 elementary and middle school children
and over 1,100 junior high and high school students was
provided through more than 142 programs. 26 teachers participated
in professional development institutes.
Nineteen watershed education program kits and training
from the Westport River Watershed Alliance, Lloyd Center
and Coalition for Buzzards Bay was provided to New Bedford
elementary schools.
After school clubs at the New Bedford High School helped
construct a saltmarsh trail at the Dartmouth Children’s
Museum.
Over 2,200 copies of the Flora B. Peirce Trail Guide
produced by the Coalition for Buzzards Bay were published.
2,400 copies of a wildflower coloring book were produced
and published for Buzzards Bay Garden Club programs.
Teachers in the junior high grades in New Bedford received
watershed education program kits along with training,
a GIS map of New Bedford, a lecture entitled “Cumulative
Ecological Effects on New Bedford Harbor: Historical Connections”
by Carol Pesch from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency in partnership with the New Bedford Whaling Museum
and an underway educational program from New Bedford Harbor
on historic Schooner Ernestina, official vessel of the
Commonwealth.
A “Watershed to the Bay” Waterfront-based
Program for elementary and middle school grades was established
by the Buzzards Bay Action Committee in collaboration
with the Schooner Ernestina, Coalition for Buzzards Bay
, Lloyd Center , Westport River Watershed Alliance and
others.
The Garden Education Center and Interpretive Display
at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum was constructed
and a Garden Education Curriculum Guide was published.
A Westport River Water Quality Report covering eight
years was published.
2,000 copies of a River Dwellers Handbook was published.
Flora B. Peirce Trail was restored with boardwalks
installed.
Two-week Summer Programs for the Marion Natural History
Museum were established.
A ‘Coastal Systems’ Intern was funded for
the School for Marine Science and Technology.
SEA Connections Summer Content Institute 2001 for teachers
was hosted by the Schooner Ernestina, Lloyd Center for
Environmental Studies and UMASS

About Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts

Since 1995, area residents have been turning to the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts to make their philanthropic giving as effective as possible. CFSEMA is a public charity serving thousands of people who share a common concern – improving the quality of life in Southeastern Massachusetts.

While the Foundation’s primary grantmaking focus is on the SouthCoast communities of Greater New Bedford, Greater Fall River, and Greater Plymouth County, CFSEMA is a regional foundation serving 41 cities and towns. To date, the Community Foundation has assets of more than $18 million and has distributed nearly $5 million from 108 funds to humanitarian, educational and cultural organizations in the region.

To learn more about the Foundation, visit www.cfsema.org.

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