Sustainable Workforce Development: From A Vision to Action

On February 2, The Stone Soup Leadership Institute hosted its second annual Green Job Shadow Day. This free one-hour Brown Bag Lunch workshop broadened educators and career counsellors’ exposure to the increasing opportunities in the green economy and give them tools to empower their students for green jobs.

Growing this workforce to adapt to climate change requires all hands-on-deck.  “Educators and career counselors are the gatekeepers and the folks who have the most power to influence high school students to pursue sustainable career pathways,” said the Institute’s Founding Director, Marianne Larned.  She welcomed our guest speakers: Galen Ho, President/CEO and co-founder of ImmersiveWorlds LLC and Illai Kenney, co-founder of the HBCU Green Fund who is featured in the Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories of Young Heroes. Two teams from the City of Boston joined the Green Job Shadow Day Brown Bag Lunch. The Boston Green Academy’s Dave Kramer and PowerCorpsBOS: Davo Jefferson, and Joey Pellegrino joined to learn how they might strengthen their green jobs program that provides young adults with training, career readiness support, and connections to employers in the green industry. Read More Here. 

LISTEN to Illai Kenney at The Institute’s VIP Dialogue at COP28 in Dubai as she talks about the HBCU Green Fund and using the Stone Soup Educational Curriculum with the HBCU Fellows program. “For me it’s about starting from home…and starting where it’s needed the most.” Special thanks to Press Club Brussels Europe. Watch video.

For 15-year-old Chris, being with Gandhi’s grandson Arun was it was a life-changing experience. He was inspired to use his tech-savvy knowledge to shape the Institute’s online platform. Stone Soup Climate Education Curriculum & Platform. Last summer, Chris joined us virtually for our 19^th Sustainability Summit from his hospital room while waiting for a double transplant. “It’s crazy looking over the last 8 years,” he said. “To see how the Institute’s Curriculum is now a fully-fledged – and I got to be part of it all these years.” Sadly, Chris passed from his long-term health condition. But his spirit lives on in our shared vision– joining hands with Arun Gandhi. Chris story “Be the Change” in Stone Soup for a Sustainable World: Life-Changing Stories of Young Heroes. Watch Video. Martha's Vineyard Times story

Tribute to Arun Gandhi

This year we lost a dear friend, Arun Gandhi. A member of the Institute’s International Advisory Council, we’re grateful for his leadership and support. Walter Cronkite presented the Gandhi Award to Dr. Muhammad Yunus with these words. Much like Gandhi's Salt March, which freed India's poor, your microcredit movement is freeing the world's poor so we can all work together to build a more peaceful world.

Then in 2015, Arun traveled to Martha’s Vineyard for our 15^th Sustainability Summit. Young people from the Vineyard, Hawaii, and other island communities were deeply touched by his presence. They loved hearing of how as a 12-year-old, he went to live with his grandfather. This precious time together left an indelible mark on their souls. Read More Here. Watch Video.

Welcome Kathleen!

It’s great to have you on our team!

It’s been an auspicious year with many exciting events, including the launch of the Institute’s Stone Soup Climate Education Curriculum. 

Walter Cronkite asked us all a bold question: “What do we want for our children, for our families, for our future?” His question persists, and challenges each of to ask “What is next in my life?

We are painfully aware that those who are most adversely affected by the climate crisis – and most need these educational tools –are the least able to fund them. As we begin the New Year, The Institute is gearing up to scale the Stone Soup Climate Education Platform, so that educators around the world will have FREE access to our educational tools and trainings--so they can prepare all young people to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. Read more.

The next generation deserves the best educational tools, and training, to help build a sustainable workforce and economy, and a more just, equitable, and sustainable future.

We invite you to join with us!

The Stone Soup Leadership Institute is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 1997. We develop educational tools and professional development (PD) training designed to educate multicultural youth to become leaders of a more sustainable world.

www.stonesoupleadership.org