The Flinn Foundation is committed to benefiting Arizona well into the future through environmental sustainability. In fact, sustainability is embedded in our four areas of philanthropic interest.
Two of those areas of interest, the Flinn Scholars Program and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership, help prepare Arizona’s future leaders. Alumnae of the programs are in immediate demand as Arizona confronts sustainability challenges, from rapid urbanization to the preservation of natural resources and biodiversity.
We recognize the value of ecosystem thinking: fostering work across perspectives, disciplines, industries, regions, and cultures; developing strategies to nurture and leverage networks; investing in relationships among individuals and organizations toward a stronger Arizona.
Sustainable practices day-to-day
The Flinn Foundation has also raised its sustainability standards operationally, inspired by broader concepts like the triple bottom line and social accounting, which connect organizations’ financial and programmatic outcomes to their societal and environmental impacts.
Improvement in sustainable practices and policies include:
- Greater reliance on locally-based, environmentally friendly suppliers and vendors.
- More sustainable management of our conference center for Arizona’s nonprofit sector, including an emphasis on waste reduction.
- Encouraging sustainable practices among our bioscience and arts-and-culture grantees, program participants, and community partners.
- Installing low-flow settings faucets and toilets.
- Encouraging low-water landscaping and regular water-use audits.
The Foundation has been recognized for its efforts by the city of Phoenix, which has awarded the Foundation a Phoenix Green Business Leader for several years. Flinn is also part of Local First Arizona’s Certified Green Business program.
These targets are the starting point. The Flinn Foundation has many more opportunities to encourage sustainability best practices and learn from those of our colleagues and stakeholders across Arizona. We recognize the call upon the philanthropic sector to greater leadership, and its responsibility to benefit society at large and the planet on which we all depend.
