However, I plan to stay involved, moving onto the Greenrock Board of Directors under the Chairmanship of Nick Campbell, and stepping back from day-to-day management of Greenrock's activities.
As the Charity has matured the administrative demands of community engagement and of running our projects and programmes have increased, and this has driven a number of structural and governance changes over the last year. Under the category of 'boring but important': we have changed the legal basis of Greenrock, we have established for the first time a Board of Directors separate from the volunteer Management Committee, and we have put in place a more transparent and open membership process. We have also decided that the time has come to establish a paid Executive Director position - and I am very happy to introduce Gordon Johnson in that role.
Our projects, programmes and events speak for themselves - we respond to need in the community, and the community, both individuals, and many large and small companies, in turn support and enhance our activities. Here I would like to take a little time instead to reflect on and celebrate our strengths as an organization; these are the foundation of our success:
Passion and commitment - we achieve an enormous amount as an almost entirely volunteer organization. The concept that we organize around: sustainability and protecting our planet and resources for future generations, brings together a remarkable cross-section of people, giving us a wide range of skills and opinions to draw on. This leads to lively, and sometime heated debate, but also, I believe, leads to more robust and higher impact solutions. Therefore, for their passion and commitment, I would like to thank the other members of the Management Committee, past and present, all our diverse and dedicated volunteers, and our corporate partners, who contribute to a more sustainable future.
Partnerships - perhaps Greenrock's greatest strength is our strong partnerships in the environmental community and beyond. It helps that we are a lean charity without a lot of fixed overhead, which means we are not competing for high levels of funding, but even as we grow we will continue to ask the question "are we the natural owner of this project or an issue, or does it fit better with another organization?" For example in our new Eco-schools initiative we have reached out and formed close partnerships with organizations as diverse as KBB, local businesses, and the Department of Waste Management. We try to identify the best people to provide support, and then partner with them in areas where they are the experts. Our island is not well-served by duplicating efforts, and we are very happy to work with and acknowledge where other people have more to offer than we do.
Focus on the mission and vision - I am proud of the fact that the Greenrock Management Team constantly ask the following questions: "are we necessary? is this going to make a real difference? have we 'changed the mindset' so that our community in Bermuda automatically includes environmental awareness as part of our decision-making?" I am proud of the fact that our goal is to work ourselves out of a job, rather than to work to sustain our own organization.
Some final thoughts on the future: Our local attitude (although of course I am generalizing here) is a curious mixture of 'we are too small to make a difference and therefore our consumption doesn't matter' and 'the environment is less important than jobs and the economy'. Neither of those things are true. I have written extensively about the linkage between jobs, economy and the environment. While it is true that our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is not significant, we have a moral and legal obligation (through the UK Government ratification of the 'Kyoto Protocol') to try to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Climate change is going to have an impact on our island - it will change global tourism patterns as new areas of the planet become more attractive to visit, more severe weather will have an increasing impact on our coastline and homes, and we should be concerned about our energy security because of the changing availability and transportation of fossil fuels such as natural gas and oil. Greenrock will continue to raise awareness of these issues and to try to identify possible solutions. The solutions are available and many are easy, for example personal energy conservation, reducing waste, and revising the building code, and our mission is to engage the community to pay more attention to these issues.
My work for the organization would not have been possible without the patience and support of my husband and family - who put up with frequent absences, distraction, calls for help, and brainstorming over dinner- for which I am very grateful. I have learnt a great deal personally and professionally through Greenrock, and I hope to continue to draw on this to give back to the community wherever I am.
