Focus the Nation
Encyclopedia
Focus the Nation is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization started in 2006 dedicated to accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy through youth empowerment. Focus the Nation’s (FTN) leadership development programming supports young leaders in every state between the ages of 18 -28 and provides opportunities to interface with current elected and business leaders on solutions to energy issues. FTN’s Clean Energy Leadership Model contains three programs, Forums-to-Action, ReCharge! Youth Retreat, and Focus Roots Fellowships. Since 2008, Focus the Nation has engaged over 300,000 young leaders in direct dialogue with thousands of business and elected leaders.
Innovators: Innovators need opportunities to create and demonstrate the power of new ideas.Technicians: Technicians need opportunities to build and maintain the infrastructure of solutions.Storytellers: Storytellers need opportunities and content to shape the narrative of their generation’s engagement with the clean energy transition.Politicos: Politicos need opportunities to craft and advocate for policies that drive a transformative public agenda.
Following the 2008 teach-in, Focus the Nation launched “Project Slingshot” with support from Clif Bar
and 1% for the Planet
. Three young people were each awarded $10,000 each to launch climate solutions into action. Project Slingshot has since evolved into the Focus Roots Fellowships, which provides opportunities for young leaders to build intergenerational mentor relationships with clean energy professionals, and achieve tangible, replicable results in their communities.
Focus the Nation is headquartered in Portland, Oregon at the Leftbank Project, a unique community-oriented workspace composed of three historic buildings. Garett Brenann, formerly Focus the Nation's Director of Media Relations and Strategic Adviser, is now the Executive Director, after working for Metropolitan Group, the nation’s leading social change agency.
Clean Energy Leadership Program
Focus the Nation approaches leadership development through the lens of an urgent and historic challenge: climate and clean energy. FTN believes intensely committed young clean energy leaders with robust civic, imaginative and systems-thinking capabilities are the key motivators of a clean energy future. FTN brings together students from four overarching categories; Innovators, Technicians, Storytellers, and Politicos. The Clean Energy Leadership Quadrant is incorporated into all aspects of Focus the Nation’s programming.Innovators: Innovators need opportunities to create and demonstrate the power of new ideas.Technicians: Technicians need opportunities to build and maintain the infrastructure of solutions.Storytellers: Storytellers need opportunities and content to shape the narrative of their generation’s engagement with the clean energy transition.Politicos: Politicos need opportunities to craft and advocate for policies that drive a transformative public agenda.
Forums-to-Action
Forums-to-Action engages hundreds of millennials on strategically selected campuses across the nation each year, developing their clean energy leadership skills and preparing them to moderate high-level, multi-sector education and panel discussions that develop and implement dynamic solutions. As part of the Forums-to-Action program, student teams host Clean Energy Forums every February, with the goal of identifying the obstacles to clean energy in their community and generating a clean energy solution for the student leaders to implement in their communities.ReCharge! Youth Retreat
Each summer following the nationwide Clean Energy Forums, FTN holds and intensive Youth Leadership Retreat on Mt.Hood in Oregon for a select group of 20 young people who are interested in incorporating clean energy into their future careers. The ReCharge! Retreat broadens students’ range of skills such as identifying and leveraging community power structures; knowledge of a region’s historical and current energy transition and multi-industry collaboration. The underlying goal of the retreat is for the participants to return to their communities to launch new Forums-to-Action teams for the coming academic year.Focus Roots Fellowships
Focus the Nation works closely with a small number of young leaders each year who are demonstrating high levels of creativity and innovation. As a Focus Roots Fellow, young social entrepreneurs implement projects in their communities that set examples of building hands-on, sustained support for tangible climate and clean energy solutions. Awarded on the basis of a competitive and juried selection process, the Focus Roots fellowships support stand-out students and young adults each year with $10,000 grants and strategic consultation.History
Focus the Nation was founded in 2006 by Eban Goodstein, Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark College. In 2008, Focus the Nation made headlines with its unprecedented nationwide teach-in. On January 31, 2008, more than 1,500 educational institutions across the United States participated in a day of education and nonpartisan discussion about climate change. In 2009, Focus the Nation hosted the Nationwide Townhall on America’s Clean Energy Future to explore local, regional, and national solutions to America’s energy challenges. In 2010, 20 schools were selected to pilot Focus the Nation’s new leadership development model.Following the 2008 teach-in, Focus the Nation launched “Project Slingshot” with support from Clif Bar
Clif Bar
Clif Bar & Company is an American company that produces organic foods and drinks marketed towards active people. Their flagship product, CLIF BAR, was created in 1992 by owner Gary Erickson. The company's headquarters are in Emeryville, California....
and 1% for the Planet
One Percent for the Planet
One Percent for the Planet is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes. Their mission is to "use market forces to drive positive environmental change by inspiring companies to give"...
. Three young people were each awarded $10,000 each to launch climate solutions into action. Project Slingshot has since evolved into the Focus Roots Fellowships, which provides opportunities for young leaders to build intergenerational mentor relationships with clean energy professionals, and achieve tangible, replicable results in their communities.
Focus the Nation is headquartered in Portland, Oregon at the Leftbank Project, a unique community-oriented workspace composed of three historic buildings. Garett Brenann, formerly Focus the Nation's Director of Media Relations and Strategic Adviser, is now the Executive Director, after working for Metropolitan Group, the nation’s leading social change agency.
Mission
Focus the Nation accelerates our transformation to a clean energy future by fostering connections between generations, and empowering young people through education, civic engagement, and action.Focus the Nation's Board of Directors includes
- Tony DennisTony DennisJohn Anthony "Tony" Dennis is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for football league clubs Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City, Chesterfield, Colchester United, Lincoln City and made more than 100 appearances for Cambridge United.-External links:**...
, Owner, Delaris Consulting - Anna Richter, Program Coordinator, The Nonprofit Technology Network
- William BarnesWilliam BarnesWilliam Barnes was an English writer, poet, minister, and philologist. He wrote over 800 poems, some in Dorset dialect and much other work including a comprehensive English grammar quoting from more than 70 different languages.-Life:He was born at Rushay in the parish of Bagber, Dorset, the son of...
, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Economics University of Portland's Pamplin School of Business - Laura Goble, Director of the Moreau Center for Service & Leadership, University of Portland
- Jesse Jenkins, Director of Energy and Climate Policy, The Breakthrough Institute
- Alexander de Roode, Sustainability Manager, Portland Community College
- Sarah Severn, Global Director of Corporate Responsibility Horizons, Nike, Inc
- Edward WolfEdward WolfEdward J. Wolf, M.D.Dr. Wolf graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, prior to completing his residency at the National Naval Hospital in San Diego, California. He completed his fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Connecticut...
, Free-lance Writer, Portland,OR
Focus the Nation’s Advisory Board includes
- Rachel Barge, Executive Director of CleantechU
- Charles BaronCharles BaronCharles "Babe" Baron was an organized crime figure in Chicago, Illinois, who, owning a successful car dealership as well as holding the rank of Brigadier-General in the Illinois National Guard, was involved in illegal gambling as a handbook operator for the Chicago Outfit.Along with Dave Yaras and...
, lead of Climate and Energy at google.org - May Boeve, Co-coordinator for 350.org350.org350.org is an international environmental organization, headed by author Bill McKibben, with the goal of building a global grassroots movement to raise awareness of anthropogenic climate change, to confront climate change denial, and to cut emissions of one of the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide,...
- The Honorable Bill BradburyBill BradburyBill Bradbury is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Illinois, he grew up in Chicago and Pennsylvania before moving to the West Coast where he worked in broadcast journalism before running for public office. Democrat, he served as Oregon Secretary of State from 1999...
, Former Secretary of State of Oregon - Minna Brown, Former National Organizer with Focus the Nation
- Ross Chambless, Communication Intern, University of Utah
- Jared Duval, Author and Demos Fellow
- John Isham, Ph.D., Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics Middlebury College
- Bill McKibbenBill McKibbenWilliam Ernest "Bill" McKibben is an American environmentalist, author, and journalist who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. He is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College...
, Writer/Founder 350.org350.org350.org is an international environmental organization, headed by author Bill McKibben, with the goal of building a global grassroots movement to raise awareness of anthropogenic climate change, to confront climate change denial, and to cut emissions of one of the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide,... - William Moomaw, Ph.D., Founding Chairman of the Munsignhe Institute for Development
- Teryn Norris, Director of Americans for Energy Leadership, Senior Advisor at Breakthrough Institute
- Billy ParishBilly ParishBilly Parish is an American author, activist, and environmentalist. In 2003, he dropped out of Yale University to help found the Energy Action Coalition, which has since become the largest youth advocacy organization in the world working on climate change issues...
, Director, Energy Action CoalitionEnergy Action CoalitionThe Energy Action Coalition is a North American non-profit organization made up of 50 partner organizations in the U.S. and Canada that runs campaigns to build the youth and student clean energy movement and advocate for tangible changes on local, state, national and international levels in North... - Terryl Ross, Ph.D., Director of Community and Diversity Oregon State University
- Alex SteffenAlex SteffenAlex Steffen is an American writer, editor, public speaker and futurist most noted for his bright green ideas.Steffen co-founded and ran the online magazine Worldchanging from its start in 2003 until its closure in 2010...
, Co-Founder/Executive Editor WorldchangingWorldchangingWorldchanging is an American non-profit online magazine and blog about sustainability and social innovation. At 19/09/2011, it was taken over by Architecture for Humanity.... - Alex Tinker, Legislative Assistant to Oregon Representative Jefferson Smith
- Dr. Lisa Weasel, Portland State University Professor