Search

E3 Washington 

Description

Since 1990, E3 Washington, (formerly the Environmental Education Association of Washington or EEAW) has been the professional home for environmental and sustainability educators and their supporters. E3 Washington's resilient and compelling mission and five goals have succeeding in inspiring and engaging thousands of regionally and culturally diverse education, business, tribal, governmental and community based educators to provide programmatic, leadership and institutional innovations in education. These strategies individually are addressing education-environment-economic needs in school districts, colleges/universities, agencies and organizations a today while also establishing the scaffolding for a system of education for sustainable communities for the future. Utilizing a collective impact approach, E3 Washington brings students, teachers, informal educators, administrators, business and tribal leaders, governmental officials and others together within and across sectors and regions to take immediate actions in a culture of exchange and respect, utilizing the tools of learning communities and transformative leadership. Progress of the E3 Washington network is tracked and measured showing impact over time.

Mission Statement
To inspire, engage and support individuals and groups of leaders in Washington State to leverage powerful partnerships, policies and linking resources in order to create a system of education for sustainable communities.
Donate Now
E3 Washington
PO Box 6277 
Olympia 
WA
98506 
(360) 943-6643 

Abigail (Abby) Ruskey 
Executive Director 

Programs

E3 Washington Programs

E3 Washington is a set of five compelling goals, a powerful network of over 9,000 leaders, a web center and a vision for a “a system of education for sustainable communities for all”. Thousands of education, business, governmental and community-based leaders across Washington created and are in the process of implementing regional and sector strategies in order to weave together actions to collectively achieve the five goals that include:
  • Get Together: Link schools, campuses, and community resources for student achievement, lifelong learning, and a sustainable future.
  • Lead Green: Turn schools, campuses, businesses, and public places into models of sustainability.
  • Go Out: Help everybody explore and discover their place within the natural and social communities that sustain us.
  • Build Support: Garner funds to provide equitable adequate coverage and meaningful impact of Education for Sustainable Communities.
  • Connect Up: Use networking and technology to create inclusive leadership and diverse partnerships to achieve Education for Sustainable Communities.   
             
This “living plan” resides on the state-of-the-art E3 Washington center for environmental, sustainability and systems education www.e3washington.org. The site supports the day-to-day actions of education change agents, thought leaders and innovators across Washington to achieve the five goals.  Importantly, E3 Washington is setting a course to regularly convene representatives of the network in person and through distance technology and a method for tracking and measuring progress across the system.             

Through our E3 Network e-newsletter, E3 Weekly Digest and Showcase News outlets, EEAW regularly promotes environmental, sustainability and systems organizations, programs and leaders. EEAW provides advocacy for sustainability and systems education in Olympia as well as at the federal levels and hosts strategic gatherings (in person and through digital technologies) to advance the E3 Washington goals.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

Coordinated the 2013 E3 Washington Statewide Summit at South Seattle Community College featuring Peter Senge, the author of the Fifth Discipline. The summit was geared to regional and sector teams working to implement the E3 Washington Get Together goal to link classroom and community-based resources for heightened student learning. 

Held the gala E3 Washington Summer Evening event honoring our annual Green Apple Award for Excellence recipients including students, teachers, informal educators, higher education, business, tribal, nonprofit and agency awardees; individuals and organizations that have made important contributions to environmental and sustainability education in the state;

Hosted and co-developed the all day Educator-to-Educator workshop for over 120 teachers and informal educators at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma.  The workshop demystified standards such as the Next Generation Science Standards and featured "promising practices" highlighting exemplary informal programs that are successfully working with K-12 schools to address the E3 Washington Get Together goal.

Received and managed grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, The Boeing Company, the Seattle Foundation, and Tribal Foundations to support selected school districts in use of the Washington State Environmental and Sustainability Literacy Plan to address a persistent "problem of practice" thus demonstrating the value of ESE to the needs of schools today.

Co-led with the Office of the Superintendent of Public instruction the publication of the Washington State Environmental and Sustainability Literacy Plan;

E3 Washington's greatest need is for unrestricted funding for office and staff capacity to sustain the momentum and quality of our programs in the field needed to implement the E3 Washington plan as described in some of the examples above. 

Evaluation


The Environmental Education Association of Washington (EEAW) seeks to engage leaders committed to developing and sustaining healthy people, communities and economies, none of which is possible without a clean and thriving natural environment. EEAW works broadly with education, tribal, business, governmental and community-based partners to make changes in how we perceive and support learning for sustainability.

Proven Success
Since 1990, EEAW has been the professional home for diverse environmental and sustainability educators and their supporters. E3 Washington: Education-Environment-Economy is the leading program of EEAW. E3 Washington envisions and takes actions to achieve “a system of education for sustainable communities for all.” Through the efforts of EEAW, thousands of leaders across Washington created regional and sector networks and strategies which then linked up to inform the five compelling state-level goals and comprise the 8,500 member E3 Washington network. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in concert with EEAW/E3 Washington and other partners spearheaded the development of the Washington State K-12 Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Learning Standards, a strategy in the E3 Washington plan.

Best Practices
EEAW/E3 Washington is focused on a systems approach to develop the capacity of the environmental and sustainability education field. They leverage networks of professional development organizations such as teacher and administrative associations, and strengthen the link between formal and informal educational entities in Washington State. E3 grew from leaders in the community, and has continued to engage a wide network of stakeholders. This initiative is a national model.

Collaboration
EEAW depends on diverse and durable partnerships with hundreds of partners to achieve its goals, strategies and objectives. Primary partners have included tribes and businesses from across the state, governmental agencies from the local to the federal levels, nongovernmental environmental and education organizations, faith-based and military entities and early childhood and public health advocates. EEAW serves as convener of Washington Green Schools, Cool School Challenge, the Pacific Education Institute’s Green Schools Program and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
3/10/2012 $5,000.00support general operating expenses.

Financials

Similar Organizations

Give broadly to Education
If boosting student achievement and aspirations, teaching skills for success in college and career, and increasing the quality of public schools is important to you, then make a difference by giving to the Grantmaking Program.
Questions or comments about this organization?
Contact us to learn more.