Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Grades of Green works to make environmental protection second nature for youth to develop a generation of adults who care enough to stabilize our planet and ensure it supports us all. We inspire and empower students in Grades K-12 to care for the environment through scalable models of change where students are empowered to take local, actionable steps that lead to combined global impact.
Terry Tamminen, CEO of Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and Former Secretary of California EPA, captures our work in this statement: "I have worked with numerous non-profits looking for ways to provide environmental education to kids and Grades of Green has finally done it. This non-profit is making great strides in shaping the way kids feel about protecting the environment and, in turn, these children are teaching their parents. It's effective because kids are having a great time learning!"
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Water Campaign
The Water Campaign is a four-month program that engages students across the globe to take action to conserve water and develop sustainable, student-led solutions to water issues relevant to their region. Water Campaign Teams (a group of students, educators, and community leaders) will research local water issues, develop an idea to address a water issue, and share that idea with their community. The program is designed for 6th-12th grade students and will launch in September 2017.
The Water Campaign is free to all students, and Grades of Green provides personalized mentorship and student leadership training, including webinars featuring water experts, a virtual library of water conservation resources, and the opportunity to dialogue with other participating teams across the globe. Winning Campaign Teams will also receive a $500 grant to go toward expanding their innovative water solutions, and one grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 grant.
Waste Campaign
The Waste Campaign is a four-month program that engages students across the globe to take action to reduce waste and develop sustainable, student-led solutions to waste issues relevant to their region. Waste Campaign Teams (a group of students, educators, and community leaders) will research local waste issues, develop an idea to address a waste issue, and share that idea with their community. The program is designed for 6th-12th grade students and will launch in January 2018.
The Waste Campaign is free to all students, and Grades of Green provides personalized mentorship and student leadership training, including webinars featuring waste experts, a virtual library of waste reduction resources, and the opportunity to dialogue with other participating teams across the globe. Winning Campaign Teams will also receive a $500 grant to go toward expanding their innovative waste solutions, and one grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 grant.
Where we work
Awards
Outstanding Waste Prevention 2012
California Resource Recovery Association
Hero Award 2011
Assemblymember Betsy Butler
Successful Partnership Between a Public and Private Entity 2010
US Conference of Mayors
Environmental Award 2010
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Outstanding Waste Prevention 2012
CRRA
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Gallons of water saved over due to the organization's services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Context Notes
Students that participated in the 2017 Water Challenge saved over 13 million gallons of water.
Number of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Grades of Green has five overarching goals:
1. To provide fun, easy to implement, hands-on environmental programs that lead to measurable impact by changing habits and behaviors.
2. To inspire students, classrooms, entire school populations and communities to take environmental action to produce tangible results.
3. To encourage creative and innovative thinking in which students can create their own ideas for implementing environmental Campaigns at school and in their community.
4. To amplify student and school results and inspire others to care for the environment via social media, blog posts, media coverage, email and video.
5. To restore, protect and care for the Earth to ensure the future prosperity of the planet for this generation and generations to come.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Using a web-based model, we offer free instruction for “greening" schools and communities on our website, allowing students across the globe to gain access to over 40 Activities. Each Activity offers ideas, tools, programs and step-by-step guides to raise environmental awareness and actively protect their local environment.
We also offer personalized training to all student Campaign Teams, who are paired with a Grades of Green Mentor to research local environmental issues, implement individual solutions to those issues, spread awareness in the community, and advocate for local government policy changes. Mentors customize each Team’s experience by ensuring they receive the one-on-one attention needed to feel engaged and motivated to create lasting environmental change in their community.
During the 2018-19 school year we are targeting five different geographical regions for each Campaign based on and demand for environmental education and activism and partnership opportunities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Grades of Green's overarching program engages students in grades K-12 in environmental activities appropriate to each grade level. In doing so, the next generation evolves to become a powerful force that cares passionately about environmental protection and environmental justice and takes action to achieve tangible results. That's a lofty goal, and our programs break the work into pieces that can be easily implemented, accurately tracked and measured for impact.
40 plus free, hands-on environmental activities centered around the themes of air, energy, toxins, waste, water, and Earth are downloadable from our website. But access to information doesn't necessarily link to implementation and sustainability. Accordingly, we have Grades of Green Mentors who are environmental education experts to deliver on-going, high-quality customized support. To enable Grades of Green Mentors to reach more students and schools, we provide virtual coaching.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We currently educate over half a million students from 650 schools across the globe. These students achieve impressive results that grow daily as thousands of people are inspired to take action to care for the environment. Because each student acts as a catalyst for others, the ROI keeps growing—the more teachers and students our programs reach, the larger the return. The passion we instill in youth and their spheres of influence leads to direct and measurable results - thousands of students educated; over 25 million gallons of water conserved; and over 624 tons of waste including shoes, textiles, clothes, and e-waste, diverted from landfills or recycled in ecologically friendly ways.
Grades of Green plans on building upon this momentum to further connect students to create a network of active and passionate students taking action to create environmental change
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
GRADES OF GREEN INC
Board of directorsas of 02/11/2022
Barbara Franqui
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Term: 2016 -
Lisa Coppedge
Grades of Green
Shaya Kirkpatrick
Grades of Green
Barbara Franqui
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Camela Ott
Steven O’Connell
Breathe Clear Institute
Amber Valentin
Chrissie Clay
RGP
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes