In 2016 and 2017, I served as Facilitator for the Wisconsin Environmental Education Foundation (WEEF) and The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (NRF) in a process of organizational integration. NRF was formed in 1986 as a 501(c)(3) organization to promote private sector investment and involvement for Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife while helping citizens explore, care for, and protect the state’s natural resources. WEEF was established in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) to ensure strategic leadership and vision for environmental education in Wisconsin, provide sustainable funding for the statewide environmental education grants program, and to invest in special projects that addressed newly emerging priorities for environmental education. WEEF, seeking a permanent home to strengthen support for environmental education and to foster philanthropic giving for environmental education, in Fall 2016 proposed merging with NRF. In my role as Facilitator, I helped establish the strategic vision for the integration, collaborated successfully with both organizations in establishing goals and maintaining the negotiation timeline, and managed inter-organizational and interpersonal dynamics. My background in nonprofit organizational development and executive leadership were important assets in this challenging assignment. The merger, which received board approval in Spring 2017, was supported by a grant from the Lodestar Foundation.
