About Us
Who We Are
Environmental challenges are complicated, and burdens are not felt equally. It’s why we bring people from communities, businesses, nonprofits, and government together to solve environmental problems. We do this by:
- Convening and facilitating conversations on environmental issues where collaboration is needed most.
- Planning and hosting events for people to network, share ideas, and learn from one another.
- Managing on-the-ground projects to improve our air, land, and water.
We believe building relationships, collaboration, and working across differences are the keys to fostering an inclusive, just, and thriving world.
Mission
Catalyze collaboration across perspectives, power, and systems for social equity and environmental health.
Vision
Relationships foster an inclusive, just, and thriving world for all beings.
Values
Impact
We facilitate powerful, thoughtful shared action; catalyze creative, innovative solutions; and generate transformative, long-term, systemic outcomes through open-minded listening, sharing, support, and dialogue.
Insight
We skillfully engage complexity, nuance, multiple narratives, ambiguity, and the need for adaptation and iteration, as environmental concerns are interwoven and everchanging. We develop a way forward together by learning from each other and by being a trustworthy partner.
Intention
We exercise deep care in our relationships. We undertake our work together to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for people and places. Our collaborations are nurtured and pursued conscientiously and ethically to lead to greater impact.
Interdependence
We are all related. Trust, relationship and interconnection are the cornerstone of genuine, respectful dialogue; wise decision-making; and resilient communities.
Justice
We create an inclusive, respectful, space for courageous decision-making, sharing power, determining together how best to care for people and planet, and mitigating disproportionate impacts of environmental issues on communities of color and Indigenous, low income, and rural communities.
Leadership
We bridge across perspectives, people, systems, and differences in power. We cultivate and connect diverse, principled leaders who have the ability to hold multiple perspectives, complex ideas, and different worldviews, and who are effectively and thoughtfully working together for lasting good.
Our History
Our founders chose to incorporate the word “initiative” into our name to reflect their vision that dialogue and collaboration would result in concrete action for a better environment. Three decades after our founding, Environmental Initiative continues to offer a nationally unique model for environmental problem solving.
In early 1992, leaders from seemingly adversarial interests came together around a vision of partnership. This group of individuals who were leading Minnesota businesses, environmental advocacy nonprofits, and state agencies discussed a collaborative model for problem solving. The organization grew out of these early conversations and was founded under the name Minnesota Environmental Initiative (MEI).
As Environmental Initiative, we carry forward the tradition of building partnerships to develop collaborative solutions to environmental problems. Environmental Initiative’s collaborations, partnerships, resources, and successes are highlighted in the Our Work and Tools & Guides sections of this website.