WELCOME
Guided by our Core Values, Ten Strands operates with a small, diverse, and nimble staff who work with strategic partners throughout California to advance environmental literacy. Our team serves as a catalyst for transformational change in the public education system and believes that all students have the potential to become future-ready, with the capability of discovering viable climate solutions for their communities.
CEO MESSAGE
Dear Friends,
Since launching Ten Strands in 2012, we have supported over thirty-three thousand teachers across the state in using a model curriculum developed to support environmental literacy in delivering thirteen million environment-based lessons. We work at the state level to meet the urgency of the climate crisis, empowering the next generation of youth leaders with the education to face and find solutions to challenges in their local communities. Our partnerships have secured a $6 million investment from the state to create curricular resources focused on climate change and environmental justice, making California the first state to publicly finance the creation of such units.
As a core priority, our advocacy work plays a critical part in scaling environmental and climate literacy. Along with building the capacity of districts and county offices of education to implement proven strategies, and strengthening the statewide network of dedicated partners, we are catalyzing change through an innovative whole school systems approach.
We value our partnerships with and the contributions made by community-based organizations to enrich the education experience of all students. As a field catalyst, Ten Strands embraces:
- Equity Inside and Outside
- Innovation
- Shared Leadership
- Care and Connection
- Transparency
- Persistence
Beyond equity statements and verbal commitments to support marginalized communities, we take our responsibility to uplift impacted voices and share leadership seriously. As you continue reading our Annual Report, you will see how our team has intentionally placed these values into the creation and growth of our programmatic initiatives.
Together, we have accomplished many great things in these past ten years. The future of Ten Strands is a future that will continue to ensure that students across California are equipped with the knowledge necessary to create healthy communities.
With immense gratitude,
Karen Cowe, CEO
BOARD
Our Board of Directors supports the work of Ten Strands by providing governance and mission-based leadership while cultivating strategic partnerships. Our Advisory Board further enhances our impact by offering their expertise and supporting new avenues for innovative educational change.
CCEJP
Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program
165
+
165
supporters of legislative proposal
52
52
letters of interest received from over 70 organizations
11
11
Organizations selected to collaborate with Ten Strands
Ensuring that all of California’s 5.8 million public school students have access to free, high-quality climate and environmental justice curriculum is critical to achieving educational equity. In July 2021, the State of California appropriated $6 million for the development of education resources to help teachers develop their students’ understanding of climate change and environmental justice. CCEJP is a collaboration between Ten Strands, the San Mateo County Office of Education, the California Department of Education, a wide-range of partner organizations, and leaders who have come together to develop K—12 curricular resources. The free open education resources will connect the humanities with the sciences, offering students over 15 hours of interdisciplinary instruction each year. At each grade level, the activities will build upon prior lessons so that students have cyclical and iterative experiences over the years.
The program will provide students with a deep understanding of climate change and environmental justice issues in California, empowering them to make a positive difference in their local communities. Our commitment to an equitable approach in creating these K—12 learning resources has attracted a wide range of partners who center the experiences of historically marginalized and Indigenous communities in their instructional method. This innovative approach to standards-based instruction brings valuable and diverse perspectives to the project.
CAELI
California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI)
A collective action network seeking to ensure access to high-quality environment-based learning for all California’s TK–12 students.
We believe in the power of systems change as a lever to ensure that all students have access to high-quality environment-based learning. This year — with a membership made up of educators, governmental and non-governmental agencies, scientists, sustainability professionals, and individuals with expertise on the environment and systems change — CAELI completed its first full season under the leadership of Andra Yeghoian as project director and the new Theory of Action. Andra replaced Ten Strands’ CEO, Karen Cowe, who was in this role for the first eight years of the initiative. Learn more about how the hubs promote student learning in our monthly newsletters.
Joining Juanita Chan-Roden, we also welcomed CAELI’s newest co-chair, executive director of the Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education Estrella Risinger, and said goodbye to departing co-chair Craig Strang, since the launch of CAELI. We thank Karen and Craig for their service. Read more about the leadership transition that took place in June 2023 here.
Communications
At CAELI, we have new and exciting opportunities for individuals and organizations to be a part of the movement! This year we published two new web pages: one provides ways to Get Involved, and the other offers access to the many Resources created by CAELI.
CAELI in numbers
Over
20
20
new CAELI Members
Over
200
200
participants in CAELI events and programs
Reached over
33
,000
33
people with CAELI resources and stories
Almost
1
,000
1
new newsletter subscribers
1
,000 +
1
social media followers
10
,297
10
new users to our website
NOLI
National Outdoor Learning Initiative
200
+
200
Online Library Resources
112
K
112
Unique Visitors
The pandemic created immense challenges for educational leaders by increasing rates of teacher burnout, exacerbating existing inequities, and the urgent need to support student learning recovery. Ten Strands, alongside Green Schoolyards America, the Lawrence Hall of Science, the San Mateo County Office of Education, and other key partners, understood that outdoor learning provides a powerful opportunity to deliver healing and equitable education to all students, benefiting their academic achievement, social development, and overall well-being. We co-founded NOLI as a collective action project to develop a free online library to guide K—12 schools to safely and equitably reopen. Over 400 volunteers created more than 200 resources, garnering extensive national press interest from 1,110+ media outlets with 166 unique articles published. In June 2021, NOLI was presented the Best of Green Schools Michelle Curreri Collaborator Award.
This effort has evolved into a long-term climate action initiative that helps educational institutions consider how they can make investments in building resilience through permanent outdoor spaces and programs.
Ten Strands has also joined forces with Green Schoolyards America, the California Department of Education, and CAL FIRE to launch the California Schoolyard Forest System (SM), a new initiative to create schoolyard forests across PK—12 public school grounds to directly shade and protect students from extreme heat and rising temperatures. We remain committed to school grounds designed for ecological resilience, teaching and learning using the outdoors, and student health and well-being.
ECCLPs
Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects
400
+
400
Virtual and in-person attendees
400
K
400
Goal to graduate environmental and climate literate high school students in California
Our partnership with the University of California (UC), the California State University (CSU), and community organizations is a first-of-its-kind collaboration preparing pre-service and in-service teachers to advance climate and environmental literacy in PK—12 instruction. By significantly expanding the opportunities of every child in California to learn about climate change and to have the tools to affect positive social action, our youth will develop an intrinsic desire to care for our planet. ECCLPs focuses on PK—12 climate and environmental justice literacy through research, teaching and learning, and community partnerships within the UC and CSU systems, through which more than half of the state’s teachers are trained.
ECCLPs’ relaunch event brought together climate change activists, educators, and funders for an immersive experience showcasing the important perspectives of students, educational leaders, Indigenous voices, and community organizations. The event also served to announce Ten Strands’ board member, Dr. Kelley Lê’s, appointment as the initiative’s inaugural executive director at UC Irvine. An experienced education leader and author, Kelley is motivated to bring practical and scalable solutions to the preparation of current and future teachers to educate students across the state to be dedicated stewards of our planet.
SUSTAINABILITY
Whole School Sustainability
A New Holistic Approach to Scaling Environmental and Climate Literacy, and Supporting Sustainable and Climate Resilient Schools
Change often requires the disruption of existing systems and practices. For our first 10 years, we have focused on teaching and learning as the center point to advancing environmental literacy. Ten Strands aims to meet the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for environmental justice by catalyzing change through an innovative whole systems approach – a holistic framework engaging the multiple educational components of campus, curriculum, community, and culture to make transformational shifts. By expanding our approach, we will open up new opportunities for investing in programs and services that align key constituents around high-impact leverage points that connect environmental literacy instruction to climate resilient school improvements. Our whole systems framework increases student engagement, building connections and momentum across classrooms, schools, districts, and counties. Ten Strands will continue to build strategic synergy and maximize the impact needed to achieve systemic change by prioritizing environmental literacy, climate change, and justice. While we remain steadfast in our commitment to teaching and learning, we realize the importance of a whole systems approach including grounds and facilities.
TEN STRANDS TEAM
Staff
Marwa Abdelghani
Communications Manager
Karen Cowe
Chief Executive Officer
Navreet Singh Dhaliwal
Philanthropic Engagement Manager
Jeffrey Dowling
Instructional Designer
Dr. Amy Frame
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Dr. Roni Jones
Director of Curriculum
Jilliann Rodriguez M'Barki
Chief Advancement Officer
Will Parish
Founder and President
Celeste Royer
Director of Equity and Inclusion
Loren Sanchez
Executive Assistant to CEO
Andra Yeghoian
Chief Innovation Officer
Board of Directors
Dr. Tom Adams
Susanna Cooper
Candice Dickens-Russell
Dr. Adrian Hightower
Dr. Kelley Lê
Sheila Nahi, Chair
Will Parish
Robert Sheffield
Advisory Board
Bill Andrews
Jennifer Caldwell
Paul Chapman
Jayni Chase
Dr. Milton Chen
Jack Chin
Dr. Hardin Coleman
Diana Dehm
Randi Fisher
Mark Gold
A.J. Hudson
Cannon Michael
Christy Rocca
Suzanne Schutte
Leslie Mintz Tamminen
PARTNERS LIST
- Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education
- California Association of Science Educators
- California Department of Education
- California Environmental Literacy Initiative Leadership Council
- California Geographic Alliance
- California Global Education Project
- California History Social Science Project
- California Partnership for Math and Science Education
- California Regional Environmental Education Community Network
- California Science Project
- California State University System
- California Subject Matter Project
- CalRecycle
- Climate Generation
- Climate Literacy Committee of the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter
- Environmental Volunteers
- Equity Meets Design
- Green Guardians
- Green Schoolyards America
- Justice Outside
- Lawrence Hall of Science
- Marine Science Institute
- Monterey County Office of Education
- Orange County Department of Education, Inside the Outdoors
- San Diego County Office of Education
- San Joaquin County Office of Education
- San Mateo County Office of Education
- Santa Clara County Office of Education
- Santa Cruz County Office of Education
- Solano County Office of Education
- State Education and Environment Roundtable
- The HEAL Project
- The Inverness Institute
- UndauntedK12
- University of California System
FINANCIALS
Revenue and Expense
Ten Strands operates on a July 1 through June 30 fiscal year
2021-2022
Total Revenue and Support: $4,734,751
2020-2021
Total Revenue and Support: $2,169,103
Program Expenses
2021-2022
Total Program Expenses: $1,452,694
Support Expenses:
Salaries & Personnel Expenses: $381,391
Other General & Administrative: $46,574
Total Support Expenses: $427,965
2020-2021
Total Program Expenses: $1,358,006
Support Expenses:
Salaries & Personnel Expenses: $520,105
Other General & Administrative: $124,828
Total Support Expenses: $644,932
Change in Net Assets
DONOR ROLL
Thank you to our supporters
At every level, our accomplishments are all thanks to our supporters who enable us to provide environmental literacy learning experiences to California’s K—12 students.
check_small Donors with consecutive giving over the past three years
check_small Loyal donors with five or more years of support
check_small Donors who have given annually since our founding in 2012
CORAL $250,000–$499,999
- Elizabeth R. and William J. Patterson Foundation check_smallcheck_small
HUMMINGBIRD $100,000–$249,999
- First Republic Bank Foundation
- Jacques M. Littlefield Foundation
- Suzanne U.D. Parish Foundation
- Pisces Foundation check_smallcheck_smallcheck_small
- Sand Hill Foundation check_smallcheck_small
SEA STAR $50,000–$99,999
- BelleJAR Foundation
- William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation check_small
- Jennifer Caldwell and John H.N. Fisher check_smallcheck_small
- Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
- Lampert Byrd Foundation
- National Geographic Society
- Diana Nelson and John Atwater check_smallcheck_small
- Julie and Will Parish check_smallcheck_smallcheck_small
SEA OTTER $25,000–$49,999
- Katie Albright and Jake Schatz check_smallcheck_small
- Anonymous
- Rick and Tonya Antle
- California Community Foundation
- Bob and Dana Emery check_smallcheck_small
- HalfMyDAF
- Clarence E. Heller Foundation check_smallcheck_small
- HRH Foundation check_smallcheck_small
- Morgan Family Foundation
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation
- Silver Giving Foundation check_smallcheck_small
- Susan and David Tunnell check_smallcheck_small
CACTUS $10,000–$24,999
- Anonymous
- Janice and Matthew Barger check_smallcheck_small
- Leslie Berriman and Nion McEvoy check_smallcheck_small
- The Kelly and Sam Bronfman Family Foundation check_smallcheck_small
- Eliza Brown check_smallcheck_smallcheck_small
- Nina Brown de Clercq check_smallcheck_small
- Owsley Brown III check_small
- The Keith Campbell Foundation check_small
- Ruth Cox and Milton Chen check_small
- David and Carla Crane Philanthropic Fund check_smallcheck_small
- Stephanie DiMarco and Jim Harleen check_smallcheck_small
- Kate Ditzler and Stuart Gasner check_smallcheck_small
- First Republic Bank check_small
- Christine Gardner
- Katie Hall and Tom Knutsen check_smallcheck_small
- Betsy and Ed McDermott check_smallcheck_small
- Sheila and Paul Nahi check_smallcheck_small
- Nicholas J. and Susan S. Pritzker check_small
- Kate Ridgway and Rick Holmstrom check_smallcheck_small
- Sherman Family Fund check_smallcheck_small
- Laura and Greg Spivy check_smallcheck_small
- Laura and Jeffrey Ubben check_small
GREY WOLF $5,000–$9,999
- Martha Conte
- Stuart Davidson and Wendy Webster
- John Lamm check_small
- Bill and Stephanie Mellin
- Susan and Bill Oberndorf check_smallcheck_small
- Louise and Arthur Patterson
- JaMel and Tom Perkins check_small
SUGAR MAPLE $1,000–$4,999
- John Buoymaster check_smallcheck_small
- Karen Cowe check_smallcheck_small
- Paul Danielsen
- Cathy and Sandy Dean check_smallcheck_small
- Barbara Deméré check_smallcheck_small
- Rebecca Draper check_small
- Kate and Bill Duhamel check_smallcheck_small
- Kamal El-Wattar check_smallcheck_small
- Melinda Ellis Evers and Will Evers check_smallcheck_small
- Pam Polite Fisco and Dennis Fisco check_smallcheck_small
- Jason Fish and Courtney Benoist
- Jessica and Stephen Galloway
- Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund check_smallcheck_small
- Paul and Eileen Growald
- Shelly Guyer and Tom Huntington check_small
- Julie B. Harkins check_smallcheck_small
- Melissa and Shepard Harris check_small
- Caryl and Mickey Hart
- Sabrina and Mick Hellman check_smallcheck_small
- Adrian Hightower check_small
- Vince and Amanda Hoenigmann
- Colin Lind
- Dagny Maidman and Molly Wood check_smallcheck_small
- Cannon Michael
- MMHBO Fund
- Meridee Moore
- Maryam and Oran Muduroglu check_smallcheck_small
- Harry Griffin Mumford Jr.
- Emilie and Doug Ogden check_smallcheck_small
- Simone Otus Coxe and Tench Coxe
- Anne and Michael Parish check_small
- Mauree Jane and Mark W. Perry check_smallcheck_small
- Rina and Chris Chase
- Dr. Krista Ramonas and Gordon Rubenstein check_smallcheck_small
- Celeste and Jim Royer check_smallcheck_small
- Cesar Rueda
- Suzanne and Will Schutte check_small
- The Stellar Blue Fund check_smallcheck_small
- Susan Gilmore Stone and Prescott Stone check_small
- Susan Swig
- Kirk Anne Taylor and Nik Hallworth check_small
- The Laney and Pasha Thornton Foundation check_smallcheck_small
- Mary and Jerome Vascellaro check_smallcheck_small
- Brooks Walker III Family Fund check_smallcheck_small
- Lynn and Peter Wendell check_small
- Mary and Yanek Chiu check_small
BEAR $1–$999
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- Thomas Adams
- Craig Anderson
- Bill Andrews check_small
- JoAnn and Jack Bertges check_smallcheck_small
- Eric Blasen check_smallcheck_small
- Philip E. Bowles
- Buzz Burlock check_smallcheck_small
- Hedy Chang and Jack Chin check_smallcheck_small
- Helen and Paul Chapman check_smallcheck_small
- Gail and Hardin Coleman check_smallcheck_small
- Nancy and Edward Conner check_small
- Susanna Cooper
- Jahmal Corner
- Lisa Cottle and Matt Biggar check_smallcheck_small
- Diana Dehm
- Delphinus School of Natural History
- Navreet Dhaliwal
- Candice Dickens-Russell check_smallcheck_small
- Thomas Van Dyck
- Sandra Emerson
- Amy Frame
- Carol Inkellis and Joel Gingold check_smallcheck_small
- Maya Gingold check_small
- Mary and Daniel Gregory check_small
- Peter Hellwig
- Larry and Linda Howell
- Jayni and Chevy Chase
- Christopher Tellis and Isabella Kirkland
- Missy Lahren
- Laura and Michael Lazarus
- Le Family
- Andrea Lewis check_smallcheck_small
- Grace and Jerry Lieberman check_smallcheck_small
- Linda Livers check_smallcheck_small
- Jilliann and Simo M’Barki
- Alexis Davis Millar
- Vicki Moore
- Stephanie Rico
- Jennifer and Marty Rigby check_smallcheck_small
- Christy Rocca check_small
- Donald R. Share check_smallcheck_small
- Patti and Richard Shavelson
- Robert Sheffield check_smallcheck_small
- Darrell Steely check_small
- Leslie and Terry Tamminen
- Lisa C. Van Dusen check_smallcheck_small
- Carl Vogt check_small
- Billy and Kathleen Volkmann check_small
- David B. Whitlock
- Charlotte and David Winton
- Evelyn Young
Copyright © 2022 Ten Strands