“The secret of change is to focus your energy not on fighting the old, but building the new.” -Socrates
Change is inevitable, especially in 2020. This note is new and so is the Executive Director position with MAEE. After six years on the all volunteer board, I’m excited to step into a new role and lead MAEE forward.
We are working to build a stronger, more connected organization to support educators and broaden our impact on EE in Minnesota. Catch up recent initiatives, ongoing strategic planning process, and ways to support EE in Minnesota.
Among all of this change, I continue to draw inspiration from the creative ways that environmental educators come together to embrace change. Many are seeing this as a way of redefining what education looks like. The Teach Outdoors! Minnesota coalition came together to provide inspiration and resources to teachers looking to expand their classrooms beyond the four walls.
Other initiatives show the caring and giving nature of environmental educators, like the EE Relief Fund put together by the Minnesota Naturalists Association. This campaign is set up to help environmental educators who may have lost income or jobs because of COVID-19. We were proud to donate funds from our virtual conference.
Fall Events
- 2020 MAEE Conference — We held our first ever virtual conference in early October. We focused on local citizen science projects and enjoyed an inspirational keynote from Carrol Henderson. Thanks to all who presented and attended!
- Annual Annual Awards Ceremony — We celebrate four outstanding EE educators virtually during our virtual ceremony in early November. Over 50 family, friends and coworkers of our amazing award winners! Learn more about their work and watch their nomination videos (warning: you might leave inspired and teary eyed)
Strategic Planning
With a grant from NAAEE, we hired a strategic planning consultant, Erin Raab. She’s helped us engage stakeholders, redefine our mission, and refocus our work. A big thank you to everyone who helped us by filling out a stakeholder survey, or participated in a focus group in these past several months.
We spent 6 hours on Zoom this past Sunday! Fortunately many smiling faces and rich conversations made the time fly.
Stay tuned for more exciting changes. Interested in lending your time to volunteer? We are always looking for talented and dedicated folks, and bonus for WordPress experience. Email maeeinfo@gmail.com for more information.
Support MAEE
We’re also in fundraising season. Support MAEE on Give to the Max Day, November 19! Another fun way to support MAEE, while also completing your holiday shopping list and shopping local is through MN Brands for Good. All of your items can be purchased online and are delivered right to your door. Add “MAEE” as your supporting organization, and 40% of your purchase goes directly to MAEE!
See you outside!
Wendy Tremblay
Executive Director