Green Foothills

Desired impact:
* Land use decisions in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties affirm biodiversity, climate resilience, and equity.
* Diverse leaders and communities effectively champion conservation and inclusion.

As a result of our work, our targeted impact by 2025 includes:
* 15 key wildlife and plant species that are endangered, threatened, or species of concern benefit as a direct result of our advocacy.
* 10,000 additional acres of open space, farmland, and natural resources protected or positively impacted.
* 5 successful campaigns led in partnership with organizations that are led by and serve communities of Color.
* 5-10 policies or plans that benefit our goal are approved by governmental agencies.
* 10-20 successful local campaigns that benefit climate resilience, ecosystem services, wildlife, and/or improve access to open space by underserved communities (e.g.: approve beneficial projects, policies, plans, or initiatives, or to modify or stop harmful projects, policies, plans, or initiatives).
* 100 alumni in a leadership role. 60 alumni in a new leadership role since 2020
* 50 initiatives launched/joined by alumni, 10 won
* 200 alumni invested in Green Foothills community (ex: use alumni listserv, volunteer, participate in alumni workshops and advocacy, donate)
* 10 partnerships with tribes, agencies, and NGOs to support recruitment/alumni impact

- Engage in Local Land Use Issues
We engage early in land use policy, proposals, and planning processes that pose an opportunity or threat to our natural environment.Through comprehensive research and inclusive community engagement, the goals of our advocacy are informed by science and community.

- Educate Decision Makers and Community Leaders
We provide the support and information needed for current and future decision makers to be champions for conservation and inclusive public processes.

- Partner With and Mobilize Community Members
We bring together and mobilize people to effectively navigate the land use process. We train, mentor, and learn from diverse leaders and communities in equitable, inclusive environmental activism.

Since 1962, Green Foothills has protected the open space, farmlands, and natural resources of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties through advocacy, education, and grassroots action. We serve as the first line of defense for the last of our region’s critical habitat and farmland, engaging in land use decisions in their earliest stages. Our advocates work with community members on priority issues, providing them with the skills and resources they need to be successful open space advocates.

Our advocates are legal and environmental experts who use their knowledge of environmental policy and land use planning to protect open spaces that are under threat and advance policies and practices which support climate resilience. Our entire team leverages work together to inspire and connect community members to effectively engage in support of our mission and vision.

Green Foothills is the only environmental advocacy organization that solely advocates for the protection of local open space in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. We serve as the gatekeeper for development in environmentally sensitive areas and we are often the first level of defense, working on the ground to follow development proposals and planning processes and speaking up for open space. We are part of a larger collaborative ecosystem of public, private, and nonprofit partners working to protect open space. Often after we have successfully advocated to protect land, nonprofit and public agencies work together to purchase and permanently protect the land.

We also have a premier leadership development program, the Leadership Program, through which we are growing a larger, more diverse base of civic leaders who are working across sectors for the natural environment. Founded in 2013, Green Foothills’ Leadership Program has served as the training ground for over 200 graduates who are working locally to make a difference on the environmental and social challenges of our time. The reimagined program launched in 2020 features a new curriculum for environmental advocacy grounded in race equity and enhanced programming for alumni. This program is growing a diverse and inclusive community of civic leaders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors who want to be a powerful force for the environment and equity in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

Since our founding, 185,000 acres of open space, farmland, and natural resources in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties have been permanently protected. This is the result of our advocacy on over 900 land use issues and 60 ballot measures successfully supported or opposed. These lands serve as a regional greenbelt system that provide places for people to recreate and connect with nature, provide habitat for wildlife including rare and endangered species, and provide ecosystem services which protect and benefit everyone who lives and visits this region. In the face of the climate crisis, these protected lands serve as a vital part of our region’s efforts to enhance resiliency to its effects (i.e., drought, wildfire, sea level rise and flooding, etc.).

As a result of our advocacy, land management agencies and organizations are better able to permanently protect natural areas at risk of development, restore these areas for habitat and other ecosystem service benefits, and open lands up to the public.

Our goal is the protection and stewardship of open spaces, farmlands, and natural resources in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties that provide climate resilience, wildlife habitat and connectivity, and/or recreation for underserved communities. This should be achieved through equitable and inclusive planning processes.

Our intention through our Leadership Program is to connect and train a diverse community of influential changemakers who want to support the protection of our natural environment while uplifting the interests of historically marginalized communities in the conservation movement. To achieve this, we train 20-25 changemakers who go through our annual training program, activate and cultivate relationships with Leadership Program alumni, and continue to invest in alumni’s leadership development by connecting them to existing leadership opportunities and facilitating their connections to each other.

The Alumni Program is a dynamic and diverse community of over 200 changemakers who are advancing collaborative environmental justice initiatives in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. As of 2022, at least 80 Alumni are in leadership roles, allowing them to uplift the interests of the environment and historically marginalized communities. Through the alumni program, graduates support one another as they advance both their leadership and collaborative community initiatives in service of environmental justice. Graduates successfully lead campaigns that secure funding for green space, participate in public and private commissions, hold positions of power in nonprofits, public agencies, and the private sector, and are active in various civic processes in benefit of the environment and their communities.