Ecotrust, Portland, OR
This summer I interned at Ecotrust in Portland, Oregon, as the Evaluation Intern for the Knowledge Systems team. Ecotrust is a non-profit organization that operates in and around the Pacific Northwest as well as Alaska. Their triple bottom line approach of social equity, ecological well-being, and economic development guides the work that they engage in.
The majority of my time was spent aiding the Director of Economic Research and Development with conducting an impact evaluation of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP). The Sustainable Southeast Partnership is a partnership whose goal is to increase interconnectivity between seven tribal governments located in rural Southeast Alaska that being the villages of Kake, Klawock, Sitka, Kasaan, Hydaburg, Hoonah, and Yakutat. It aimed to do so by focusing on four areas of change within these communities: a localized economy, food security, energy independence, and fisheries and forestry. The partnership aimed to create a localized economy by increasing the amount of locally owned business and decreasing the dependency on imported goods from the mainland U.S. which more often than not tend to be overpriced due to shipping costs. The availability of processed, imported food has reduced the quality of health of various communities and therefore the need to forge resilient food systems that lessen the dependence on outside sources, spark food-based businesses and improve household and community health has become vital towards the pursuit of food security in Southeast Alaska. Renewable energy served as the main vehicle for SSP’s push for energy independence. Since Southeast Alaska is geographically isolated from the rest of Alaska, it faces the challenge of striving for energy independence in an environment where infrastructure for the existing energy sources is subpar as it is due to the lack of roads/channels to connect communities and sparsely populated areas. Despite the spread out population, issues such as the over logging of trees and an overfished salmon population have led to the necessity of the management of fisheries and forestry as a key issue in the region. SSP addressed this through sponsoring local employment for land and water management work that addressed environmental resource depletion, increasing local unemployment, and the degradation of native lands and historical sites.
The impact evaluation consisted of a thorough review of these efforts taken on by the SSP through a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data collected. I developed metrics to analyze this data, crafted benefit maps, and conducted impact measurement with the Knowledge Systems team.
Ecotrust supports the New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) Program that incentivizes community development and economic growth through the use of tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities. I aided in this application process by drafting grant narratives for the Qualified Equity Investments (QEI) Ecotrust engaged in. Most of the companies that these grant opportunities are intended for are located in or around the Portland area. These grants ensure that local businesses may thrive and provide a considerable source of economic support for small business owners to expand their existing capabilities.
Social network analysis was part of a cross- collaborative project I engaged in. This work consisted of conducting network assessment activities of The Redd’s subtenant/clients by engaging in relationship mapping using Kumu software. In doing so I assessed the strength of the The Redd business network with a focus on its evolution and growth over time, identified opportunities to strengthen the network further, collaborated with network participants to engage in project scoping, and developed metrics of network strength and analyzed opportunities for intervention with the conducting of data hygiene.
Overall, while I am grateful to the Class of 1966 and Mr. Jock Kimberley ’66 for the opportunity that was granted to me to be a part of this fantastic organization, I felt somewhat unfulfilled with the work that I was assigned. I had hoped to be pushed out of my comfort zone and challenged by the tasks at hand, and felt as if I could have done much more with the time I spent at Ecotrust. As for my positive takeaways from the job, I enjoyed collaborating with various people on distinct projects that exposed me to the interdisciplinary nature of the environmental field. The supportive office culture cultivated by the openness of most staff members resulted in my eagerness to go to the office as much as possible.
Megamenu Social