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| May / June 2009 |
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Obama Administration Taps Full Circle Fund Talent
 Full Circle Fund members and grantee partners were tapped by leaders in Washington DC to lend their expertise on a national scale during the recent presidential campaign, and now, in the subsequent Obama Administration. Our 2008 Member of the Year Greg Nelson, formerly Vice Chair of the Environment / Energy Circle is now working full time at the White House as the Associate Director for Energy, Environment, and Technology in the Office of Public Engagement.
Founding member of the Environment/Energy Circle Sanjay Wagle is now the Renewable Energy Grants Advisor at the US Department of Energy, helping oversee the $32.7 billion in Recovery Act funding. Van Jones, founder of the Ella Baker Center (our first Environment / Energy grant partner) and two-time speaker at our Forum event is now the Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Additionally, Alec Ross, past speaker at our Forum event and co-founder of Full Circle Fund grantee One Economy is now Senior Adviser on Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The advancement of these individuals to key roles in the Obama Administration not only gives greater voice to the issues Full Circle Fund has been working to address, it also reinforces that our model of cultivating the next generation of leaders is working.
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Public/Private Partnership Program Launched with State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
 It's nearly impossible in today's economy to find a company that is not being asked to do more with less. Businesses are scrutinized both internally and externally for how they allocate their resources, making it much harder for nonprofits to find corporate allies. And even in the best of times, partnership programs must be well organized and simple for companies to implement, or there will be a reluctance to adopt them.
Corporate partnerships are essential for the success of the Stride Center, an incredible organization breaking the cycle of poverty and changing lives by providing adults with IT certification, hands-on internships, career and life skills training, and eventually, job placement. But as of October 2008, the Stride Center had only a few informal corporate partnerships, making it difficult for promotion or expansion. Then, Full Circle Fund's Technology Circle selected the organization as a grantee and has since created and launched a robust, multi-faceted partnership model that takes into consideration the unique challenges and opportunities for both corporations as well as nonprofits.
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Amy Lesnick Among Most Influential Women in Business for Second Year
 On June 4, Full Circle Fund CEO Amy Lesnick was among more than 100 of the "Bay Area's Most Influential Women in Business" honored at a gala hosted by the San Francisco Business Times. The evening began with a private reception for the honorees where Deloitte Vice Chairman and Regional Managing Partner Mark Edmunds spoke of Deloitte’s long-term commitment to the cultivation of women leaders.
Given the tough times, there was a general theme of gratitude throughout the evening and it was a true celebration of leadership.
Honored along with Amy were dynamic leaders such as Bank of America's Janet Lamkin, Alexandria Albers of Morgan Stanley, San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes White, and PG&E's Nancy McFadden. Honorees were asked to share ten words on leadership, their guiding principles, and/or advice to their daughters. Amy's guiding principles were “Dream big. Be relentless. Leverage your own unique talents to make a difference.”
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Outstanding Spring Programming Cultivates Next Generation of Leaders
 Full Circle Fund’s spring 2009 programming provided a number of opportunities for our emergent leaders to engage up close with inspiring role models. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris spoke at March’s Joint Impact Circle Meeting, advising our social innovators to be bold, courageous, and creative. A few days later, the Education Circle’s Alternative Teacher Compensation Project Team co-hosted two statewide conferences that brought together thought leaders from across the country, including California's Senator Gloria Romero.
Global Economic Opportunity Circle Members deepened their grant-making knowledge by hearing best practices from philanthropist Esther Hewlett, Co-Founder of Global Citizens. Meanwhile, the Environment / Energy Circle welcomed California State Assembly Majority Whip Fiona Ma, and Dan Jacobson, Legislative Director of Environment California, to their April meeting.
In May, nearly 100 enthusiastic members gathered for a weekend in Monterey at the Annual Retreat to refresh, regroup, and collectively build strategies for the coming year.
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Special thanks to our venue sponsors, PG&E, Hewlett Packard, the Environmental Defense Fund, and our other sponsors, community partners and volunteers.
Member Stephen Dodson
 In March, Full Circle Fund’s Education Circle partnered with UC Berkeley’s PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education) on two groundbreaking conferences that added momentum to a statewide dialogue about a very controversial subject: alternative teacher compensation. The Alt Comp Dialogue project, spearheaded by emerging leader Stephen Dodson, aims to increase the dialogue about compensation systems for teachers to ensure that the money spent on schools supports excellent teaching for all of our students.
"Stephen is a young business leader who came to Full Circle Fund in 2005 with a desire to learn and a passion to improve the lives of others, especially in the area of education." said CEO Amy Lesnick, "It is truly remarkable how, in his time with us, Stephen has developed into a seasoned advocate in education policy."
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Imagine H20 Project
After just eight short months of partnership with Full Circle Fund, our Environment/Energy Grant Partner Imagine H20 has grown from a founding team and vision, to a funded, high-functioning organization that has consistently out-performed its goals and begun to make a recognized impact. Dedicated to solving the world's water crisis through innovation, competition, and incubation, Imagine H20's mission is to inspire and empower people to solve water problems. Among other successes, in early May Imagine H2O's website went live, they produced a video, launched officially with a press release, were featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, and hosted their first workshop for water entrepreneurs (with attendance at capacity).
Chairman and Executive Director Tamin Pechet recently shared, "It occurred to us as we reflected on the successes our organization has enjoyed over the past few months that Full Circle Fund members have been directly behind many of them. We feel like we're on a roll, and wanted to share some of the impact that Full Circle Fund's team has made..."
More about the project...
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June 24 - Joint Impact Circle Meeting with Sonal Shah and Greg Nelson 
PG&E is proud to support Full Circle Fund because we're dedicated
to supporting innovative solutions to improve our environment. By combining talent, time, and money to
make a real difference, Full Circle Fund is definitely blazing new trails for the future.