A prominent Cleveland philanthropist has proposed a $10 million matching grant challenge to The Generation Foundation that would double the Foundation's size to $20 million. This would allow the Foundation to significantly increase its funding of regional nonprofits focused on sustainable economic development. Since starting in 1997 with a $1 million grant, the Foundation has awarded over $1.7 million in grants and leveraged over $44 million in additional funding for grantee organizations. A new advisory board member says the Foundation identifies worthy nonprofits working in sustainability that may be overlooked by other funders.

1. A
prominent Cleveland philan-
thropist has proposed a series of
major grants to The Generation
Foundation that would match dollar-for-
dollar all sizeable new contributions up
to a total of $10 million.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime oppor-
tunity to grow the Foundation into a
$20 million organization that will make
a major impact in funding regional
nonprofits that focus on sustainable
economic development,” said President
Glenn R. Brown.
Since its inception in 1997, initiated
by a $1 million grant from the Cleveland
Foundation funded by the P. K. Ranney
Donor Advised Fund, The Generation
Foundation has made more than $1.7
million in grants.
Sixteen other funders have joined in
supporting the Foundation’s 87 grants.
Follow-on grants from other sources to
organizations for which The Generation
Foundation was an initial donor have
exceeded $44 million.
“The donor’s motive
is to stimulate col-
laboration among
the region’s founda-
tions, corporations
and concerned citi-
zens who recognize
that sustainable economic development,
conservation of resources and the devel-
opment of alternative sources of energy is
key to continuing our region’s economic
recovery,” said William R. Seelbach, a
Foundation Trustee and executive at The
Riverside Company.
“This will create new jobs replacing
those lost in the manufacturing sector and
raise the overall quality of life.”
“In 2001 at a City Club conference,
we proposed that the Cleveland phil-
anthropic community should pool its
resources and collaborate in grant making
to technology-based initiatives
with the ability to work catalytically in
economic development,” said Founding
Trustee Peter K. Ranney.
As this idea caught on, one consortium
of funders, the Fund for Our Economic Fu-
ture, has awarded more than $62 million
in grants since 2004 to accelerate business
growth in the region.
“What makes The Generation Founda-
tion unique, besides the huge leverage it
has achieved, is our Advisory Board – 22
community leaders representing the cor-
porate, academic, political and scientific
sectors,” said Board member Steven W.
Percy, retired CEO of BP America. “This
group helps identify worthy grantees and
evaluates their proposals so that Trustees
have in-depth critiques before deciding
on grant proposals.”
Groups chosen for funding by the
Foundation are typically entrepreneurial
nonprofit start-ups that have actionable
ideas in some area of sustainabilty. Many
of these groups are almost invisible to the
larger funding community or may have not
yet applied for any foundation funding.
“The Generation Foundation makes a
lot of what you might call seed-capital
grants, much like an early-stage inves-
tor capitalist might do,” said Founding
Trustee Nancy McCann, President of the
John P. Murphy and Kulas Foundations.
“The grantee might use our funds to pre-
pare a business plan or launch a demon-
stration project which would give it both
more credibility and a chance for other
funding by major donors.”
All Board members, including Heather
B. Moore, Owner of Heather Moore
Jewelry; Thomas M. Morley, President
of Lube Stop; and Tim Ryan, Trustee,
Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust;
together with Executive Director Robert
Miller and donor-volunteer Jeanette
Grasselli Brown, are meeting with
individuals and foundations who support
the Foundation’s mission and might
like to double their grant or gift, or
join the Foundation in an advisory or
leadership role.
News about Northeast Ohio’s Emerging Sustainable Economy from The Generation Foundation
$10M Challenge Grant Proposed for Generation Foundation
A $50,000 grant from The Generation Foun-
dation funded a business plan for the start-
up of Cleveland’s Great Lakes Wind Network
(GLWN). Here, workers climb a 200’ wind
turbine blade.
“This is a
once-in-a-
lifetime
opportunity”
Notable Generation Foundation Grants
Research and feasibility studies to form community
consensus to launch BioEnterprise: $162,500
Study by Battelle to help NASA Glenn spin off and
license new technologies: $75,000
Start-up funding for Cleveland Clinic Innovations
to form spin-off companies: $100,000
Start-up grant for Fund for Our Economic Future
collaborative regional economic development: $110,000
Extension of OneCommunity broadband and computing
services on a regional basis: $70,000
Initial support for Corporate Sustainability Network
and Sustainable Cleveland 2019: $77,000
Funding for Northeast Ohio Energy Efficiency Alliance to
improve commercial building energy efficiency: $35,000
Green Plus program with COSE to promote sustainable
practices for small businesses: $20,000
Feasibility planning for development of Great Lakes
Science Center fresh water issues: $100,000
Enable RET3 to distribute free reconditioned computers
to schools and underserved families: $25,000
Spring2012

2. D
efine a big, audacious goal; add passion, determi-
nation and a whole lot of elbow grease, a little bit
of luck – or perhaps divine intervention? – and
stir in a small group of committed volunteers and you’ll
get what Community Greenhouse Partners (CGP) board
president Jon Eckerle calls a “transformative oasis in the
middle of a food desert.”
CGP is a sustainable urban farm located between the
St. Clair-Superior and Hough neighborhoods of the East
Side of Cleveland. Using almost three acres of land and
buildings obtained from the Cleveland Catholic Diocese,
CGP is currently building hoop houses and growing food
year-round in order to meet the neighborhood demand
for fresh produce. They also teach earth science and sus-
tainability to students of all ages and provide economic
opportunities to residents in the urban core.
“Our plan is to transform the church grounds into a
local food hub that will feature aquaponic greenhouses,
a vermicomposting center, a fruit orchard, a community
food processing kitchen, classrooms, offices and retail
space,” said CGP Executive Director Timothy Smith.
“We have assembled a group of local experts in the many dis-
ciplines of urban agriculture to assist in the development of the
program and have formed a diverse board of trustees dedicated to
the mission of the organization,” he said.
Thanks to a $10,000 grant from The Generation Foundation,
partnered with an additional $5,000 grant from Hawken School,
CGP is adding two new hoop houses built by Tunnel Vision
Hoops, a Cleveland-based greenhouse manufacturer. In order
to keep growing during winter months, when the demand for
fresh vegetables becomes harder to fill, thermal coils – sustain-
ably powered by solar panels on the roof of the church – will be
placed under the growing beds, which will heat the soil, keeping
the roots warm and the plants happy even during the coldest
of winter. The warmth will then rise off the soil into the hoop
house, where specially treated plastic walls will help retain some
of the heat, keeping the interior temperature at a steady 45-50°
despite temperatures approaching 0° outside.
The new hoops are nearing completion, thanks to more than
30 volunteers at a daylong workshop taught by Tunnel Vision
Hoops partners Carlton Jackson and Todd Alexander. The group
learned how to build a hoop designed to withstand Ohio winters,
while exploring the science behind year-round vegetable growth
in a wintry climate. The volunteers included local residents,
members of Theta Chi Fraternity at CWRU and members of
Ohio Fracktion, a statewide environmental group.
“The volunteers that helped us build illustrate our vision of how
a community can come together to bring positive change to a
neighborhood,” Smith said.
The hoops will be used to grow various salad greens, kale,
tomatoes and microgreens, some of which will be used at
Hawken’s new University Circle campus. The rest will be sold
at area farmers markets including the Coit Road Market in
East Cleveland on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and the
Gateway/105 Market at East 105th Street and Asbury Road just
north of the new VA Hospital on Friday afternoons. Vegetables
will also be available for sale daily from 10 AM to 6 PM at the
farm, located on the corner of East 67th and Superior Avenue.
For more information about Community Greenhouse Partners,
contact Executive Director Timothy Smith at 216-926-4806.
Grant Funds Urban Farm for Community Greenhouse Partners
Volunteers Steve Whiting and Jenny Jones identify plants with Dezmon Spive as
others work on constructing a hoop house at Community Greenhouse Partners.
Solar panels on the adjacent church roof will power thermal coils to warm the
earth and greenhouses in cold weather. Photo: Dan Morgan / Straight Shooter
NEO Launches, Funds Regional
Planning Effort with 110 Partners
In today’s economic climate of stretched resources and reduced
funding, connecting Northeast Ohio’s communities more effec-
tively could hold the key to long-term sustainable development.
Initially funded by The Fund for Our Economic Future, The
Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium
(NEOSCC) is an effort to move the region toward sustain-
ability. It looks at how we use land and infrastructure across the
12-county region and how our choices impact sustainability.
According to Director Hunter Morrison,
a Generation Foundation Advisor, “Our
aim is to create tools that help Northeast
Ohioans build a vibrant, resilient, thriv-
ing region. We have two main objectives:
developing common ground to make
Northeast Ohio sustainable, and building
a regional capacity for collaborative ac-
tion to ensure these things get done.”
NEOSCC has a small team of staff and consultants, along
with a diverse group of 110 member organizations and commu-
nity leaders. In the coming months, it will launch its Vibrant
Northeast Ohio engagement initiative to help build a commu-
nity of stakeholders that will put NEOSCC’s tools and plans to
use in achieving a vibrant, sustainable Northeast Ohio.
To find out more, visit NEOSCC.org; facebook.com/Vibrant-
NEO; or follow on Twitter @vibrantneo.
is published with the
generous support of CCF Innovations at
CCF Innovations: Bringing
World Class Innovations to Market
Morrison
Cleveland Clinic
2

3. Western Reserve Land Conservancy
Tackles Housing Demolition Crisis
C
leveland has 10,000 vacant and abandoned homes. They
cause property values to plummet, provide safe haven
for criminals and increase the cost of municipal services.
And each will cost about $7,500 to tear down.
All it takes is one abandoned house on a block to diminish the
value of nearby homes. Most experts agree that reclaiming and
revitalizing our urban neighborhoods can only take place if these
derelict homes – residences that will never again be occupied –
can be safely held in a land bank and then demolished.
“Western Reserve Land Conservancy wanted to help address
this problem and has talked to community leaders throughout
Ohio to learn more about the crisis and to collaborate with those
working on urban revitalization,” said Rich Cochran, President
and CEO.
Last March, the Land Conservancy launched Thriving Com-
munities Institute and hired as its director former Cuyahoga
County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, a national expert on land banking
and the foreclosure crisis.
For the past year, Rokakis, who helped design Ohio’s land-bank
legislation and established the state’s first county land bank in
Cuyahoga County, has worked with dozens of organizations and
government entities on a “Clean and Green” program to secure
abandoned homes, earmark money for demolition and start the
revitalization process.
Demolition has proven that it can stabilize communities by
removing the blight and increasing values. In Flint, Mich., the
Geneseo County Land Bank strategically concentrated $3.5 mil-
lion of demolition on the city’s north side. Within five years of
these demolitions, the aggregate property valuation in the area
had increased by more than $112 million, according to Michigan
State University researchers.
Thriving Communities has worked with Ohio Attorney Gen-
eral Mike DeWine’s office to earmark $75 million for demoli-
tion from the state-federal settlement with the nation’s largest
mortgage servicers.
In addition, Rokakis is working closely with U.S. Reps. Steve
LaTourette and Marcia Fudge on a bill that would provide $4 bil-
lion for states and land banks to issue 30-year tax credit demoli-
tion bonds to demolish vacant, foreclosed and abandoned homes
across the country to prevent “a tsunami of blight.”
Land-banking expert Jim Rokakis visits one of Cleveland’s 10,000 aban-
doned houses. As head of theThriving Communities Institute, he advo-
cates “clean and green” demolition efforts which create a healthy envi-
ronment and help revitalize blighted neighborhoods.
Andrew Watterson and Beau Daane
Join Foundation Advisory Board
Watterson Daane
T
wo Cleveland sustainability experts – Andrew Watterson,
Senior Consultant at BrownFlynn; and Beau Daane, Man-
ager at the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at Case
Weatherhead, have joined the 22-member Generation Founda-
tion Advisory Board.
Prior to joining BrownFlynn, Watterson served in the Office
of Sustainability for the City of Cleveland for six years, most
recently as the City’s first Chief of Sustainability. As Chief, he
advised the City on policies related to energy, buildings, fleet,
and purchasing, and oversaw the Office of Sustainability. Here,
he coordinating the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 initiative, an
action plan established by the City to create an economic engine
to empower a green city on a blue lake. He has a Masters of
Positive Organization Development from Case Western Reserve
University, his B.A. in Environmental Policy and Economics
from Bates College, and is a LEED-Accredited Professional in
the U.S. Green Building Council.
From 2007 to 2011, Daane worked as the Business Recycling
Specialist for the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District. A
long-time advocate of land conservation, he is a trustee of the
Western Reserve Land Conservancy and is co-chair of Bratenahl
Sustainability Action Team. Daane graduated cum laude from
Duke University and earned a master’s degree from Cleveland
State University. He just completed an MBA at the Weather-
head School of Management.
Cleveland’s Trash-to-Energy
Project Moves Ahead… Slowly
Cleveland sends about 230,000 tons of waste to landfill each
year, costing some $7 million. This refuse generates more than
14,000 tons of methane gas. Trucks that carry the trash to the
landfill generate 602 metric tons of CO2. What to do about this
unsustainable practice has been under study four years.
Early this month, Council authorized hiring a consultant to
review the proposed Cleveland Recycling and Energy Genera-
tion Center and responses to the related Request for Informa-
tion. A series of amendments would expand the scope of work
to include additional technologies and waste management
processes like increasing recycling and gasifying a portion of
the waste stream to generate electricity.
Efforts are also underway to significantly increase recycling in
Cleveland households, which will reduce the amount of money
the City pays in landfill tipping fees, generate additional
revenue from the sale of recyclables on the open market and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. City officials note that more
recycling may be only part of the solution to the waste manage-
ment challenge, and that new ways to improve its handling of
municipal solid waste must be found.
3

4. Surprisingly…
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have
dropped 14% compared to levels in 2000, thanks in part
to a decrease in the carbon intensity of fuels used to gener-
ate electricity. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2011
report.)
Renewables (wind, solar/PV, biomass and hydroelec-
tric) now provide 8.3% of total U. S. energy needs–
more than the 7.5% coming from
nuclear. (U.S. Energy Information
Administration Energy Review February
2012.)
The Tennessee Valley Authority
will retire 18 old coal-fired gen-
eration units by 2020. Emissions of
sulfur dioxide, a component of acid
rain, will drop by 97 percent from 1977
levels. (TVA announcement.)
However…
The “cryosphere” – that part of the Earth’s surface
that is seasonally or perennially frozen – in Greenland
and Antarctica is melting much faster than expected. At
its current rate, sea levels will rise three to five feet by
2100. (SWIPA 2011 report.)
The United States fell to third place in clean-energy
investment last year as the lack of a national energy
policy hurt purchases in wind, solar power
and other technologies. China is first;
Germany second. (“Who’s Winning the Clean
Energy Race?” by the Pew Charitable
Trusts.)
Federal land in Wyoming holding 750
million tons of coal will be leased to
mining companies that plan to export
much of it to Asia. (U. S. Interior
Department.)
The Generation Foundation is a grantmaking public charity working cooperatively to build a sustainable regional economy. 3375 Hollister Rd., Cleveland, OH
44118; (216) 371-0289; Fax (216) 321-1431; www.generationfoundation.org. Glenn R. Brown, President; Nancy McCann, Heather B. Moore, Steven W. Percy,
Peter K. Ranney,Tim Ryan and William R. Seelbach, Vice Presidents; andThomas M. Morley, Secretary. Robert Miller, Executive Director andTreasurer.
3375HollisterRd.
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World Environmental Scan: the Good, Bad and Ugly