The Green Chamber of Commerce is excited to be co-hosting The 2012 MarinSEL Business Leaders Breakfast benefiting the Marin School of Environmental Leadership (Marin SEL) on May 23rd at the Four Points, Sheraton in San Rafael, CA!

Guest speakers include Aaron Lamstein, co-founder of Worldwise and environmental responsibility advisor to major companies, Michael Pritchard, founder of Heartland Media and award-winning advocate for nonviolence with youth, and will also feature student speakers from the pioneering 9th grade class at MarinSEL.

This year’s event introduces the “Vision Into Action (VIA) Award” – honoring a local businessperson with exemplary leadership in sustainability and education. The inaugural award recipient is Marilee Eckert, CEO of Conservation Corps North Bay (CCNB) for her work in engaging more than 5,000 youth as well as the community in CCNB’s one-year training and environmental preservation program.

About Marin SEL:  Launched in August 2011, Marin SEL at Terra Linda High School is a school-within-a-school. It’s a project-based curriculum focused on sustainability and is designed to engage students and create the leaders of tomorrow. The Green Chamber is pleased to co-host this event and provide a forum for local businesses to network, hear inspiring speakers, and encourage innovative opportunities in public education.

Register:  HERE  

Cost: $25 per person

When: 7:45am – 9:30am, Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Where: Four Points by Sheraton San Rafael (map)

1010 Northgate Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903

Help sponsor the event – Learn more

All proceeds benefit Marin School of Environmental Leadership with funds earmarked for educator training

Questions: Contact Cyane Dandridge, Executive Director MarinSEL or call 415-507-2184

The Earth Day Marin Festival is a fun, free event for all ages with the goal of galvanizing a greater level of community action on environmental issues!

The event includes music, speakers, workshops, a teen-led Teen Spot & stage, a kid zone (including some bilingual activities in English/Spanish) and the leading organizations, businesses, agencies, artisans/craftspeople, farmers/food producers and others moving us towards our a healthy environmental and positive future.

Please be ready to have a fun, interesting, and interactive experience with the Green Chamber and come meet us at our exhibition table!

Location: Marin Civic Center, Lagoon Park, San Rafael, CA

Time: 11am-6pm

Cost: FREE!

Volunteering In Service To The Earth: The Earth Day Marin Festival works in conjunction with MyEarthDayMarin.org to promote volunteering in nature on the morning of April 21st and attending the Earth Day Marin Festival afterwards to celebrate!

Please visit Earth Day Marin‘s website or any of the following social media sites below for more info!

Blog  Twitter  Facebook  Facebook Event  Friend on Facebook  TEEN SPOT On Facebook  Slide Show

Additional Information About Earth Day Marin Festival:  Earth Day Marin celebrates the anniversaries of Marin’s Land management agencies – Marin County Parks, Marin Municipal Water District, Point Reyes National Seashore, California State Parks and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and features iconic world music act Zulu Spear, Dr. Scott Sampson of hit PBS Kids show Dinosaur Train, delicious lunch by Good Earth Natural Foods including organic and grass-fed tacos and tamales, a Congressional Candidates’ Forum on the Environment with debate services provided by the League of Women Voters, the Champion Chef Local Foods Challenge sponsored by Whole Foods, an eco-fashion show by DhanaEcoKids, Newsweek lauded “Green Business Icon” Hunter Lovins, coauthor of Natural Capitalism & Climate Capitalism, An Urban Homesteading Design Lab with Rachel Kaplan coauthor of Urban Homesteading, Pacific Sun-Circle Bank Hero of Marin & Shark Champion David McGuire of Sea Stewards, Andrew Mellen bestselling author of Unstuff Your Life, additional workshops and panels, Eco-Puppet Shows by Next Generation, stellar environmental education band Let’s Go Green, ‘The Mick Jagger of the Milk and Cookies set’ Tim Cain, and lots, lots more.

Earth Day Marin Festival Sponsors: County of Marin Board of Supervisors, Good Earth Natural Foods, Marin Clean Energy, Whole Foods Market, Families for Clean Air, The Pacific Sun, and Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

Please join the Green Chamber for The Green Business Entrepreneurs Success Summit, a week long alternative Green MBA – a virtual event designed to take you through the stages of green entrepreneurship, while providing you with practical strategies, tactics, and tools to succeed.

These are FREE Educational Podcasts that are available from Sustainable Business Leaders including an interview with Green Chamber Interim President, Elena Christopoulos.  Be sure to register so you can receive the link to the interview pages when they are live, don’t miss out.  All interviews are available to the public for 48 hours after they go live.

Green Chamber podcast interview with Interim President, Elena Christopoulos will focus on:

The US Chamber of Commerce does not recognize climate change or global warming. The Green Chamber of Commerce (GCC) seeks to bring together businesses that want to address these issues in an honorable way. The GCC is expanding across mainstream American and going global. Elena will share with us:

• What kinds of businesses are joining the Green Chamber of Commerce.
• The many tangible benefits that membership brings.
• One key indicator that the sustainable business dialogue is finally reaching mainstream America.
• Organizations that are moving the needle on cross sector sustainability dialogue.

Location: All podcasts are available online.  To see a list of speakers, please click here.

Time: Live podcasts begin April 16th at 8am PST.  Green Chamber Interim President, Elena Christopoulos, will be speaking live on April 18th at 10am.

Registration: To Register Click Here

Cost:  This event is FREE!  Enroll today & get The Green Startup Action Plan emailed to your inbox as a FREE gift.  Registration includes a free subscription to the Green TV Marketing newsletter.

Cancun Sabor Mexicano,  Cohousing California, Dick’s Carpet One Floor & Home,  Greenfundraiserstore.com,  Kartheesan Ragavan Consulting,  iGreen Media Group,  Hunter Sterling,  Marin Convention and Visitors Bureau, Next Phase Solar,  San Rafael Chamber of Commerce,  SF Concierge

…and Welcomes Back 10 Renewing Members!
Ad infin Item,  Arterra Landscape Architects, Bacchus Press,  Elena Christopoulos Sustainability Consulting, Hampton O’Bannon Partners, LLC,  I Song Orthodontics,  LittleFootprint Lighting,  Mechanical Contractors Association of BC,  Robert Schildgen: Freelance Editor and Writer,  Sungevity 

Thank you everyone for your support of the Green Chamber.  We will continue to recognize new and renewing members throughout the year.  The Green Chamber is committed to learning how to serve our community in the BEST way possible.

Join us April 1st, 2012 and learn how to drive economic innovation by attending 1) an all day workshop with Bay Area entrepreneurs,  MBA students from Mondragon Team Academy, Dominican and other Bay Area universities AND/OR 2) the evening panel discussion with keynote speaker Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond, and local cooperative businesses.

Day Workshop:  9:30am – 4:00pm

What you will learn:

• Cooperative principles and models using systemic thinking methods
• Successful business models based on principles of social entrepreneurship and democratic participation

Evening Panel Event – 7:00 – 9:00pm

What you will learn:

• What business model Mondragon is using today
• Which Bay Area businesses are successful cooperatives
• How U.S. entrepreneurs can use this principled model

Space is limited – Register HERE to reserve your seat now!  

When:  Sunday, April 1, 2012 – 7:00 – 9:00pm

Location:  Dominican University, San Rafael, CA (Guzman Lecture Hall)

Cost:  $15 for students; $20 for non students

Questions? Comments? Please contact Lisa Tamayo at (707) 235-6168

Who is Mondragon University and Cooperative Corporation? Living principled commitments to the customers and workers, Mondragon promotes innovation, community, socio-entrepreneurial results, participative democracy, social transformation and “the subordinated nature of capital.”  Since 1956, the MCC has been financially successful by putting people before profits, and cooperatively sharing in the profits.

Please check out our events calendar to view upcoming events this year, HERE

Learn how to Green your business while saving money! Susan Briski, GreenMBA Professor and Sustainability Consultant, will discuss the viable options for your business small and large!

Speaker Bio:

Susan Briski, Principal and founder of Sustainable Progress, is a sustainability consultant and educator with clients that include businesses, colleges, churches, and community groups. She is knowledgeable about the latest environmental and sustainability models and practices, including Green Business Certification.  Susan also teaches the Eco-Commmerce Model curriculum at the GreenMBA program at Dominican University.

Her talk will focus on the Green Business Certification Program with additional background on comparable certifications and eco-commerce models, followed by a question and answer period.

Date: 
Thursday ~ March 29, 2012

Time:
6:30 pm ~ 8:00 pm

Location:
Venture Greenhouse
30 Castro Ave.
San Rafael, CA 94901

Registration:  Please click HERE

Cost:

• GCC members are always free!
• Marin Convention & Visitors Bureau members free
• (Register with code: GCCMCVB100)
• SR Chamber members $5
• (Register with code: GCCSRCC50)
• Non-members $10
• Students $5

*** Note: MCVB member registration will only be approved after review by affiliate from organization.

What To Expect: 

• Learn how to Green your business while saving operating costs, and gaining marketing buzz.
• If interested in Green Business Certification for your business - GCC Members have FREE access to graduate level consultants in Green MBA program at Dominican University to assist in assessing pain points and identifying solutions.
• Opportunity to network with like-minded professionals!

* Appetizers and drinks will be provided.

Event Sponsor:

Event Partners:

GCC Community! Please join Green Chamber member California Nature Tours and Executive Director of the Green Chamber, Risa De Ferrari, on a free, fun and flexible outdoor tour from Founder of California Nature Tours,  David D. Schmidt this weekend!

David, who is a 5th generation San Franciscan, major California history buff, and has worked for the EPA for over fifteen years, will address interests, respect effort level of the group, and ensure safety while bringing the magic of “Eco-History”. “Eco-History” combines ecology and human history to unlock hidden secrets of the past.  We will be taking one of two tours – Cascade Creek waterfall walk or Pan Toll to the East Peak of Mt. Tam hike - depending on conditions the day of the hike!

Meeting Location:  PanToll Camp parking lot on the Panoramic Highway (1/2 mi west of Bootjack Camp) in Mt. Tamalpais State Park,

Time: 10 am – 4 pm

Cost: FREE! (We have a maximum of 10 spots available for this hike so please contact David Schmidt today if you are interested in joining the hike!)

David’s Phone: 415-971-5201

Email: davidnaturesf@gmail.com

What You Should Bring: People should bring lunch, water, rain gear, warm clothes (it’s usually colder on Cascade Creek than at sea level because it’s all in the shade, and higher altitude), and hiking boots if they have them. Otherwise, running shoes with a good tread on them. Bring hiking poles if you have them as well.