Sustainable Conservation
Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of California’s land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. We help California thrive by uniting people to solve the toughest challenges facing our land, air, and water. Every day, we bring together business, landowners, communities, and government, in some of the most productive yet economically disadvantaged parts of California, to steward the resources on which we all depend in ways that are just and make economic sense.
Challenging conventional wisdom in 1993, Sustainable Conservation’s founders posed a simple, but bold, question …
“What if protecting the environment could also be good for business?”
Not your typical environmentalists, our visionary founders hailed from the corporate world. Concerned by the time, money, and goodwill lost to avoidable courtroom and political battles, they considered the private sector an untapped ally in solving California’s pressing environmental challenges. Working with business – not against it – they knew California could achieve true sustainability, balancing both environmental and economic needs.
As each new initiative brought tangible results, Sustainable Conservation earned the trust and respect of a diverse set of stakeholders – from industry and scientists, to government and other environmental leaders. We’ve turned a simple question into a unique brand of environmental problem-solving, and a powerful model for the rest of the world to follow.
Sustainable Conservation currently drives collaborative solutions to meet the water needs of California’s environment, people, and economy for current and future generations – with particular focus on advancing sustainable groundwater management and accelerating the stewardship of natural and working lands and waterways. A sustainable water future for California that supports a thriving economy is achievable. But, a future in which nature and people have access to clean, affordable, and reliable water is possible only by working with – not against – each other.
Partnering for Change
Collaboration and inclusivity are in our DNA. For nearly three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different interests to catalyze conservation success. By listening deeply and honoring all perspectives, we locate common ground on which to forge a better path forward for our Golden State.
Commitment to Continuous Learning
We recognize the importance of continually expanding our learning to better understand who our work benefits, where our blind spots are, and how we can evolve to ensure our solutions are co-created with those most impacted by water and climate issues. There’s always more we can do to prioritize human needs and equity issues – both in the field and at the office.
We are in the process of reviewing all of our programs to identify who is currently at the table with us, who is missing at the table, and how we can provide more room at the table. Current programmatic efforts include:
* Stepping up our efforts to address the dire lack of clean drinking water for more than one million Californians.
* Targeting on-farm pollution-reduction technologies to benefit impacted communities.
* Guiding groundwater recharge practices to protect, and ideally improve, water quality.
* Widening our outreach to ensure all communities can access simplified pathways for habitat restoration work.
We are also looking at our policies and practices to foster an inclusive, transparent, and non-hierarchical internal structure. Beginning in 2019 and throughout 2020, staff and Board members have participated in trainings offered by the Center for Diversity and the Environment and the Racial Equity Institute to challenge our implicit biases, understand the historic and current context of racial and economic inequities in the U.S., and prioritize the lenses of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and culture.
We recently formed diversity, equity, and inclusion staff and Board committees with rotating annual membership to keep the organization moving along this path. We will continue trainings with the Center for Diversity and the Environment in 2021 and 2022 to incorporate our learnings into each of our programs and the organization as a whole.
BECOME A CALIFORNIA CONSERVATIONIST!
California Conservationists are Sustainable Conservation’s most trusted and loyal supporters. As a member of the California Conservationists, you are a part of our community and share in our vision of bringing people together to solve the big problems facing California’s land, air and water.
Whether you are a Partner or part of the California Legacy Society, your support makes a difference and should be celebrated.
You can take advantage of the many benefits associated with belonging to our community of donors as you grow and learn with us.
We trust you will feel and experience the benefits of your relationship with Sustainable Conservation even more as you continue to take the next steps in your California environmental journey with us.
CONTACT SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION:
To contact our San Francisco office
phone: 415-977-0380
fax: 415-534-3480
email: suscon@suscon.org
To contact our Modesto office
phone: 209-576-7729
fax: 415-534-3480
email: suscon@suscon.org
