Earlier in March, we convened Fellows in Washington, DC, for our annual spring retreat and policy communications training.  We are proud of all participating Fellows who arranged and attended meetings with policymakers on Capitol Hill, and in agency and policy-oriented NGO settings.  Fellows shared their expertise and contributed to current policy discussions, learned more about their issues in their policy contexts, and expanded their professional networks.  (Some even stepped outside of their comfort zones at the dinner table, where we were treated to, among other delicacies, fried grasshoppers!  True story.)  Our deep appreciation goes to Fellow alumni who took part on workshop panel discussions, and who joined us for dinner to meet the current Fellows.  Bonus to this DC trip:  a group viewing of the Obama portraits in the National Portrait Gallery!

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Alright, everyone, here's your chance to give back.  We need a few more interviewers on each coast to help us choose the 2018 class of Switzer Fellows.  Switzer Fellow men, we're looking at you!  We have a shortage of male interviewers, so step right up.  (Women, we're not excluding you - you are welcome, too!)  Please let Erin know if you can help out.  Interview dates:

Switzer Fellow Roger Perez, Senior Associate at the Nonprofit Finance Fund, presented a webinar for Fellows and colleagues on March 14th on "Understanding Full Costs."  This webinar aimed to help non-profit managers, board members and foundation partners to learn about the concept of full cost in non-profit budgeting and grant writing.  The webinar was recorded for anyone who is interested but couldn't make the webinar.  Follow this link ( https://vimeo.com/260095947), and use password Switzer18.

Green stalks of redwood lilies grow beneath the giant trees at Pepperwood Preserve, but no one has seen the colorful, trumpet-like blossoms for decades.  They likely haven't bloomed since 1964, when powerful winds pushed the Hanley fire from Calistoga to Santa Rosa, following much the same path as the deadly Tubbs fire last year.  "There is beauty in the Pepperwood landscape now," said Switzer Fellow Lisa Micheli.  "It is a renewal in process."

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"Ten years ago there were three solar companies in New Hampshire; today there are 90, and the next decade will be even more dramatic," says Fellow Henry Herndon, casting his eyes in the direction of a new solar array on a local church in Durham.  "I feel like I can have an impact in New Hampshire - and I already have had an impact."   Read more.

Henry has a Switzer Fellow Thought Leadership piece on our website: Local decisions will help shape state's energy future.

Henry is also the recipient of a recent Leadership Grant for his work as Director of Local Energy Solutions with the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association.

"Work with your mind, not with your hands."  Daisy Benitez grew up hearing these words so often it became her mantra.  In fact, her life was shaped by this saying and by the lives of its authors - her parents.

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