The California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI), led by Ten Strands, works statewide with guidance from a Membership Council to create systems change in support of ensuring that all students have access to high-quality environment-based learning.
The Council includes a range of expertise and contributions from educators, governmental and non-governmental agencies, scientists, sustainability professionals, and individuals with expertise on the environment and systems change.
CAELI’s efforts have evolved over time. In 2014, former Superintendent Tom Torlakson appointed an Environmental Literacy Task Force to create A Blueprint for Environmental Literacy, which was completed in September 2015. The co-chairs of that task force, and Ten Strands, were then asked to establish the Environmental Literacy Steering Committee (ELSC), to create and lead an implementation plan for California’s Blueprint for Environmental Literacy. Ten Strands successfully led the ELSC from 2016-2018 and was encouraged by the California Department of Education (CDE) to continue to evolve the work into the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) in 2019 alongside Superintendent Tony Thurmond.
Based on the desire to more fully center equity and to accelerate the rate at which environmental literacy advances across California, CAELI was re-envisioned in 2020 to grow the number of people and representation of those directly involved with the initiative. CAELI members are organized into Innovation Hubs and CAELI-wide Working Groups, which function as project incubators that catalyze change across diverse areas.
- Community-Based Partners
- County Office of Education
- District
- Equity
- Green Career Education
- Professional Learning
- Policy
- Metrics
- Taking Green Ribbon to Scale Campaign
- Standards and Frameworks
- CAELI Partner Portal (CAPP)
- Meet-Ups and Conference Committee
- Advancement