Today, April 22, 2021, is Earth Day, a perfect opportunity to celebrate all that we are provided by our planet and remember how we must work every day to protect this “pale blue dot.” For a small mission-driven organization like Farallon Strategies, we work to integrate our values into everything we do with partners, clients, and communities that share our vision for a vibrant future and meaningful life. As an organization, we are focused on transformative change: decarbonization, regional resilience, governance, and through it all – a focus on getting work done on the ground. In our own lives we want to live our company values, and likewise. We built values that bring us together and allow us to connect more deeply to our organization and our work. Importantly, Farallon Strategies recognizes that our commitment to environmental stewardship is rooted in our privilege–not only the privilege of education– understanding how our behaviors affect the Earth and others–but also in our financial ability to act on that knowledge. To bring about the transformational change needed to respond to the climate crisis, Farallon Strategies works to empower communities and individuals, through an environmental justice and social equity lens, and to support long term investments in the capacity and resources needed for us all to rise in standard of living while supporting a just and resilient future on our Earth.
Sustainability and resilience
The fight against climate change is more pressing this Earth Day than ever. Farallon Strategies is committed to maintaining its net zero carbon operation. Founded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Farallon Strategies embraces telework to create a carbon-neutral work environment. Farallon Strategies remote offices are powered by the sun, with materials and supplies all following our strict procurement rules – prioritizing low/no carbon 100% recycled materials, and eliminating the use of disposable materials and office supplies wherever possible. We try not to travel, but when we must we prioritize walking/biking, personal transportation, transit, and then, if we must, driving electric vehicles. Air travel is only for critical situations, as it is one of the largest contributors to emissions for consultants, and one of the hardest to mitigate. As an organization pursuing B-Corp Pending status, we are also tracking our progress and holding ourselves accountable for our actions and commitments. Longer term we strive to be carbon negative – creating an operational and staff environment where we are reducing emissions from our activities vs contributing to the global problem of climate change.
As our organization grows, we commit to maintaining carbon neutrality and striving to go carbon negative longer term. We also commit to pushing for changes in our industry to create more efficient ways of doing things, including telework and remote meetings. It matters more what we do than what we say, however institutionalized use of fossil fuels makes it difficult for average Americans to transition to a low carbon way of living. Expectations for travel to work events, family events, and vacations make travel one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions for a typical traveler’s annual emissions. Farallon Strategies is committed to supporting the change needed in how society operates to become more efficient and resilient.
Our team is located in areas that allow for greater efficiency (Davis and San Diego) and the communities in which we live and work support sustainability and resilience as part of their culture. Because of commitments at the local, regional, and State level, our commitments are buttressed and supported by other levels of governance. How might our work support all communities in the same way? How might we work together across the landscape of private, public, NGO, and across society to support deeper ambition and stronger implementation? The urgency to act now to address immediate and long term needs drove the reason for the company – we must all work together to hold each other accountable and push for actions that are not just status quo incrementalism, but transformative.
On a more personal note, Farallon Strategies was created with future generations in mind. The founder’s daughter, Farallon, is an avid outdoor enthusiast, bug hunter, and gardener. She loves being outside and creating unique spaces and objects from found materials. Farallon Strategies was named after her so that the mission driven reason for its existence can never be forgotten.
Farallon Strategies seeks partners and collaborators to create and support the transformative change necessary to support the change we need. Please reach out to Michael McCormick, Founder and President or Carolyn Yvellez, Founding Associate, to check in and identify ways we can work together moving forward. #FaraStrat
