From the Director

To innovate: "make changes in something established, esp. by introducing new methods, ideas or products."

To collaborate: "work jointly on an activity, esp. to produce or create something."

Leverage: "the power to influence a person or situation to achieve a particular outcome."

(Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Innovation, Collaboration, and Leverage

One of the privileges of having been able to support so many worthy initiatives at such early stages in their development is being able to see how new networks, movements and campaigns evolve from so little to so much.

At Blackstone, we have learned that one of the most underappreciated and enormously important steps in social change work is the early stage gathering that must take place between people who might not otherwise spend much time together or even know how best to work together, but who must come together to make a particular effort worthwhile. They must figure out ways to get along and align themselves behind a common vision. This is the moment of creation behind virtually every organization or social movement.

We have seen how quickly and unpredictably things can develop once things move beyond this early moment. Thanks to the enabling power of social media and the energetic commitments of those we have supported, we have watched compelling ideas grow, often quite quickly, into viable entities that now have influence on important national conversations about how the future of our environment is managed, and offer a multitude of options for the way forward. Once launched, many of them have evolved far beyond initial intent.

When we partnered with the Rocky Mountain Institute in late 2006 to convene a small group of urban sustainability directors at a gathering in Boulder, Colorado, no one could have predicted with any certainty that four years later there would be a vibrant national network of urban sustainability directors in more than 100 cities around North America as a result. Many good things followed that initial meeting in Boulder, including the creation of Green Cities California, the Climate Leadership Academy, and the more recent opportunities we have had to provide early support to the EcoDistricts Institute and LEAN Energy.

When we agreed to provide support to Forest Ethics in their effort to pressure oil companies to start cleaning up the ecological mess at the Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, we had no idea that within a few short years they would have used the process of corporate dialogs that we provided funding for to convince over 15 major brand companies to re-examine their fuel procurement policies and start to shift their supply sources away from Tar Sands oil to cleaner sources of energy.

When we were approached by a former chief administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2007 for support with his ambition to bring together the world's leading climate scientists, satellite agencies and global conservation organizations to start mapping out the location of the world's major carbon deposits, we had no idea that it would quickly evolve into a global effort supported by a variety of foundations and governments that has contributed substantially to the broader effort to protect the world's forests.

When National Geographic asked us at the beginning of the recession in 2008 to provide support for their annual explorers symposium, we had no idea that our offer of an annual innovation challenge grant to their emerging explorers would serve three years later as a reference point for conversations within the organization about how to use similar grants to transform not just the organization but the way it responds to major global environmental challenges.

When we provided financial support for the first meeting at the World Resources Institute of a small group of global companies that wanted to become better stewards of natural resources, we could not foresee that a couple of years later a group of companies would build on their example to form a similar group in Brazil.

There are many other examples, which have owed their success to the determined efforts of the individuals and organizations involved.In their totality, they represent to us the early stages of a mosaic of environmental change makers who are establishing a foundation for a new way forward that addresses environmental challenges seriously and in ways that will ultimately influence all of society.

The Dynamics of Systemic Change

In the summer of 2011, one Blackstone advisor characterized what we had been doing as 'mid-wifing the new culture.' It was surprisingly apt, given our trust of organic development. The experience has provided us with valuable insights into what so many refer to as 'systemic change.' Our understanding is that it starts from fairly humble beginnings in a lot of different places, and that over time interests and associations among people start to converge. Real systemic change takes place over years, decades, perhaps generations. The process has more to do with entrepreneurialism than with mandated change. There is no one leverage point, nor is there any easily predictable destination. To reach full realization, it must transcend conventional divides between political, professional and ultimately cultural interests.

We look for novel approaches to established problems, and ones which will lead to the transformation of early ideas into initiatives that are often very different than they were at their inception. And we look for initiatives that are going to produce results, whether they are new networks that grow and strengthen human interaction, or the adoption of cutting edge practices by new adoptees, or the integration of new ways of doing things into established systems in ways that make them better or more holistic.

We regard a healthy investment of financial resources and strategic counsel as one that yields major social profit. We put a high premium on trust and a certain amount of risk, trust in the creative process and the people involved, and risk because there is always the possibility that things will get derailed or fail to evolve. We are among an energized group of philanthropists, entrepreneurs, activists, business people, government officials and other creative risk takers who derive great satisfaction from trying to engineer change that has beneficial social effects and is aimed at making the world a better place. There are more of us than most people realize. At Blackstone, we look to get behind the vanguard, the early adopters, the creative ones. They are the ones who make things happen. They are the ones to which we have provided our support.