SUBSCRIBE
Sign up for FREE daily enews
Vermont Business Magazine Margo Baldwin, President and Publisher of Chelsea Green Publishing, has announced the establishment of The Chelsea Green Foundation, an independent private operating foundation that will perpetuate the legacy and the mission of the company and will support and expand its educational work in both the United States and United Kingdom. The Foundation will be based in Lebanon, New Hampshire and function as a charitable trust under NH law.
Founded by Margo and Ian Baldwin in 1984, Chelsea Green Publishing is the leading publisher of books on the politics and practice of sustainable living. For almost 40 years it has published authors who both inspire and bring in-depth, practical knowledge about organic and regenerative farming and gardening, ecology and the environment, healthy food, local economies and community resilience, systems thinking and integrative health, and wellness.
The foundation, as does Chelsea Green Publishing, will work at the intersection of ideas and practices of people and organizations on the leading edge of change. The new foundation will provide grants to individuals and organizations, offer in-person and online educational programming, and directly advocate for the work of its grantees on both sides of the Atlantic. It is the intent of Chelsea Green Publishing that the foundation directly and effectively support activists, artists, farmers, writers, and other practitioners to challenge orthodoxy by exchanging creative and critical thinking that inspires ecological and societal resilience through hands-on knowledge of soil, food, water, health, economics, energy, politics, and local communities.
The newly launched foundation will be chaired by Margo Baldwin and led by Matthew Derr in the role of Executive Director. Derr is an accomplished higher education leader whose background in community organizing has long focused on critical thinking, creativity, and the human relationship with the natural world. Derr is President Emeritus of Sterling College in Vermont, where for nearly a decade he established the Rian Fried Center for Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems, the School for the New American Farmstead, and EcoGather Online. While at Sterling, Derr worked with the Berry Center to found the Wendell Berry Farming Program in Kentucky. He was awarded the Counsel of the Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) Chief Executive of the Year Award in 2010.
Jon Rae, former head of Schumacher College in the United Kingdom, will join Derr and Baldwin on the board of the Foundation. Schumacher, like Sterling, is an ecologically focused institution. Jon has a life-long practice of opening and holding spaces for people and ideas to flourish within communities and the web of life. “Jon’s background in advancing ecological literacy, knowledge of the world of philanthropy, and his experience in higher education leadership, prepare him to support the early development of the Chelsea Green Foundation. We’ve put together a really strong team and we’re excited to launch,” said Baldwin.
“Leveraging the expansive community of practitioners who have written for Chelsea Green and that of its board members, the foundation will establish a unique place within the mosaic of not-for-profits engaged in the sustainability space in the United States and United Kingdom,” according to Derr. The foundation, at its core, seeks to identify, inspire, and foment practical solutions to ecological and societal problems by supporting leaders who can scale up to make a positive impact. “We are truly delighted to see Chelsea Green Publishing take this important step at this critical time for society. Like the company, I believe the foundation will bring attention to new ideas and hands-on thinking,” shared company board member Kevin Ellis.
White River Junction, Vermont, September 20, 2022 – Chelsea Green Publishing | ChelseaGreen.com
Join our free eNewsletter
Powered by Disqus
Vermont Business Magazine
365 Dorset Street
South Burlington, Vermont 05403
Phone: 802.863.8038
Fax: 802.863.8069
This website developed by OFF GRID MEDIA LAB
About Author
