Newsletter masthead
April  2011          www.SustainabilityProfessionals.org       Vol. 4 No. 4    
What's New

Discount for Early Renewal  


Renew before your membership expires
and save $20.
 
New Member   Orientation

April 12 @ 9AM PT  

> Membership benefits
> Overview of website
> Networking   opportunity

To join this free orientation contact Marsha Willard  

Network, Learn,
Co-create

ISSP Conferenece

September, 21-23,  

Portland, Oregon


Network, learn and co-create - that pretty much describes ISSP's first ever face-to-face conference. We plan to give members first shot at the slots for this event at a deeply discounted rate. Watch for the announcement that opens registration soon!
 
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ISSP Management Team
  
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Marsha Willard


PUBLICATIONS:
Darcy Hitchcock


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Christy Nordstrom


RESOURCES:
Dorothy Atwood

MARKETING:
Ray Berardinelli

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:
Jessica Vreeswijk


 BOARD LIAISON:
Ira Feldman
In This Issue
ISSP Professional Award
Upcoming ISSP Events
Resources
Job Opening
Book Reviews
Partner Conference Listing

Social Entrepreneurship     
Harnessing the market to solve world problems  
Courtesy Ashoka

This month we continue our focus on the social side of sustainability.

 

Charity is a good thing, but we are not likely to solve the world's problems with donations. We need to harness the power of the marketplace, to pursue what is called social entrepreneurship. And according to Tyler Spalding of Ashoka, doing this is also key to the long-term survival of traditional corporations because of the rapid pace of change in the world.

Read article.... 

 



 

 ISSP Award Finalists

A total of 24 people were nominated by you - the members of ISSP - for our first professional award for service to the profession. The board carefully reviewed the list of nominees and narrowed it to the people we felt best met the criteria for service and contribution.  ALL of the nominees deserve acknowledgment and should take pride and satisfaction in having earned the respect of their peers - probably the highest of honors.

 

Below are the 24 people nominated by their peers. The  highlighted names represent the finalists chosen by the board:

Ray Anderson      Alejandro Langlois

Alan AtKisson          Fernando Legrand

Rory Bakke             Amory Lovins

Ralph Becker           Hunter Lovins

Susanne Croft          Kevin Moss

Gil Friend             Ben Packard

Al Gore                    Keith Pezzoli  

Kevin Hagen             Wayne Rifer

Aston A. Hinds          Karl Henrik Robert

Matt Kistler              Bob Willard

Bob Langert              EO Wilson

                                Rachel Zedeck

 

Members of ISSP will be invited to comment on the six finalists to assist the board in making the final choice.  Watch for a special survey coming to you later this month.  

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

> For a full list of the ISSP educational offerings, click HERE 

 

> To see how these workshops apply to ISSP's Sustainability Professional Certificate click HERE 

 

Participants regularly note in workshop survey follow-ups how very important the instructor, resources and assignments, on-line format and price are to them.  All of which ISSP delivers consistently.


 CONSULTANTS COHORT:
 Build a thriving sustainability practice 

Grow your business. Develop relationships.

Discover your calling. Make a difference.

 

Do you want to take your consulting practice to the next level?  

Do you want to become a sustainability consultant?  

If so, join this 12-month cohort of sustainability consultants.  

Hear from experts, pick up new tools to sell and learn from each other. Monthly online live webinars linked to an interactive 'classroom' available 24/7.  

 

Cohort begins July 2011.  

12 webinars / 12 months coaching: $900. Webinars held on the second Friday, noon-1:30 pacific. (Attendees must be an ISSP member to participate; if you're not a member yet, join before the cohort begins.) Space is limited to 16.

 

Facilitator: Darcy Hitchcock, consultant and author of the award winning book, The Business Guide to Sustainability.    

> Register HERE.

 APRIL

WORKSHOP: Developing Climate Action Plans | An Integrated Approach

 

What's the difference between a Climate Action Plan, GHG accounting and a sustainability plan? As a sustainability professional your organization looks to you for clear answers to questions such as these. Paul Horton of Paul Horton Consulting, will lead you through learning the key elements of an effective, integrated climate action plan to reduce your organization's greenhouse gas emissions, identification of critical stumbling blocks, and provide practical ways to ensure success.

 

Wednesdays (April 6, 13, 20, 27) at 10am PT

 

> Register HERE.  

APRIL WEBCHAT: A Day in the Life of a Sustainability Professional  

 

Highlighting sustainability professionals and the work that they do.  

This month ISSP is featuring Kathleen Shaver, Director, Corporate Responsibility at Mattel and Jennifer Woofter of Strategic Sustainability Consulting for a look into their sustainability professions. 

 

Tuesday April 19, 2011 at 11am PT | 2pm ET  

> Register HERE   Free to ISSP members.  $10 for non-members.  

  MAY 

WORKSHOP: Practical Tools and Methods for Change Agents

 

Alan AtKisson (The ISIS Agreement: How Sustainability Can Improve Organizational Performance and Transform the World) will guide you through change processes and how to apply them successfully. Learn the ISIS Method and Accelerator: Indicators | Systems | Innovations | Strategy for Sustainability.

 

Attend 4 online interactive live webinars + 24/7 access to web based interactive classroom at ISSP's Learning Center. Includes dynamic Discussion Forums, resources, feedback on assignments and networking with instructor and other participants.  

 

Mondays (May 2, 9, 16, 23) 12pm PT  | 1pm MT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET

 

> Register HERE.   

 

  

MAY WEBCHAT: A Day in the Life of a Sustainability Professional 

 

Highlighting sustainability professionals and the work that they do.    

Join us in this live webinar and Q&A with Kevin Hagen, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at REI (Twitter @kevinhagen).  He will present on how CSR drives business innovation at REI, the future of the CSR position, the six phases to problem solving in sustainability and the five skills and competencies that a CSR director needs. This will be a very engaging webinar.  Please join us.

 

Thursday MAY 12, 11am PT | 2pm ET    

> Register HEREFree to ISSP members.  $10 for non-members.


 ON DEMAND

WORKSHOP: Sustainability 101     Instructor: Darcy Hitchcock   

You'll know after taking ISSP's foundation course the concepts, frameworks and tools used by sustainability professionals.   

Open enrollment | Web/computer based workshop. 

> Register HERE.  

 RESOURCES

 


A Day in the Life of YOU,

<<the Sustainability Professional>>

 

 

 


 

 

This month in keeping with our feature WebChat on April 19th

 'A Day in the Life of a Sustainability Professional,' we are looking for members to create their own Day in the Life profiles. 

 

We would like all the "Day in the Lives" to be consistent in format.  Use the following outline to create yours:

Organization:

Title:

Email:

 

Responsibilities: What are your primary tasks?

 

Typical workday: What is a typical day like?

 

Competencies: What skills or knowledge are important for you to be successful.? (Refer to the ISSP Competency study)

 

Best part: What do you like about this work?

 

Worst part: What is frustrating or hard about this work?

 

Getting this job: How did you get into this field (and how long ago was that)? What would someone need to have to get into a position like yours now?

 

Once you have completed your submission, posted in the Resource section of the ISSP website. 

 

Here is how:

1.  Log in and click on the Resources section in the left column

2.  Click on Create Content under your log-in name in the right column. 

3.  Click on Resource.  Title and body boxes will pop up.

4.  In the Title box - Start your post with: "A Day in the Life" for ease of searching, followed by your name.

5.  Paste your submission in the Body Box.

 

Review and comment on other A Day in the Life submittals.  Do a search for A Day in the Life.  Add a new comment to those you review.

 

Dorothy Atwood is our Resources Program Manager so contact her if you have ideas of things you want other members to post or ideas of ways we can use this feature to pull together information.


JOB OPENINGS

ISSP hosts a job board for members.  New this month -

Director of Development for well known non-profit  & 

Environmental Services Manager 

Check out this and other openings at

 ISSP Job Postings 

 

 BOOK REVIEWS

Cover

Parkin, Sara (2010) The Positive Deviant: Sustainability Leadership in a Perverse World. Earthscan: London, England. 

When I first started reading this book, I was really excited. The intro claimed the book was for those of us who "does the right thing for sustainability, despite being surrounded by the wrong institutional structures, the wrong processes, and stubbornly uncooperative people." I was so hungry for a book that could help me and others deal with our role in society, of being Cassandra, trying to convince the oblivious masses on the Titanic that we need to turn the ship.

 More...  

 

 

Cover

Henderson, Hazel (2006) Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy. Chelsea Green: White River Junction, VT. 

 

This is a who's who of people making progress in the sustainability field. While the chapters are organized around areas and the stories were often encouraging, it was hard to read cover to cover. Maybe it's the irony of working in such a doomsday world field that good news is hard to take.

More...

 

 

 

  Call for study participants 

Seeking sustainability professionals familiar with or using the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's (WBCSD) Vision 2050 Report to complete a survey by e-mail or interview.

You are invited to participate in a research project from the Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability programme, at Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden. The research focuses on the Vision 2050 report, which was released by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in February last year.

As the report states the biggest question facing business and others is "How do we get there?" The primary goal of this research is to co-create a management model that is intended to help companies that are willing to commit to the report�s goals to align their operations and strategies with the spirit of moving in the direction of strategic sustainable development by 2050.

We are seeking the participation of sustainability professionals to gain a better understanding of their insights into the report and to collect the necessary information to create a management model that complements the Vision 2050 report.

In order to ensure the validity of our research, once a prototype management model has been developed we would like to share it with you to get your insight and feedback on it. This information would be used to create a final management model. We are offering to share our final product by the beginning of June.  This management model will be yours to use not only in capturing maximum value from Vision 2050 but in enabling you in supporting your clients/services as well.  
 
Thank you in advance for your collaboration. Your information is invaluable to us. We will make the best use of it in order to best contribute to society�s sustainable development.

If you are interested in participating in this survey, please contact the Vision 2050 Thesis Team at [email protected]

  SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCES & EVENTS

See details on the ISSP site under >Education & Events>Partner Events 

Special discounts for ISSP members.