The CLEO Institute

The urgency of this threat-multiplying climate crisis demands serious attention, by everyone. 

The CLEO Institute’s impact and ripple effect are immeasurable as the climate tent in Florida today has become bigger and fuller.  Founded in 2010, it is time to reflect and document our impact (What works? Why?) and more intentionally scale and replicate what is working. 

CLEO simultaneously educates AND engages diverse audiences, providing economic, equity and justice lenses to help spur climate action in cities, counties, chambers of commerce, businesses, foundations, schools, colleges, universities, frontline and justice communities, and more.

We are often credited with helping to awaken countless sleeping giants who now play pivotal roles in building climate urgency and agency, locally, regionally, and nationally.

With ELEVATE PRIZE funding we will:

1. Produce a 10-year CLEO Impact Report.  Using expert external evaluators, we can analyze and summarize vast amounts of data, surveys, quotes, videos, publications, etc.

2. Pilot some of our big dreams: Perhaps CLEO Chapters in each major City? State? College/University? School System?

Ideally, we will identify and promote the PLAYERS (diverse leadership capacities, inspirational styles, intergenerational/interdisciplinary messengers, frontline communities) and STRATEGIES (partnerships, campaigns, events, trainings, and programs) that contribute to our impact.

“Education is NOT the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a FIRE”

This quote, by William Butler Yeats, grounds my thinking, my experience and, I hope, my legacy. It begs us to link education and engagement, to inspire, empower and provoke action. At CLEO, we light fires, and, as we share knowledge, we encourage folks to lead, take their next steps. Thus, CLEO builds Climate Leadership by providing Engagement Opportunities, hence: CLEO.

As a science teacher, high school principal and education strategist for almost three decades, I honed my skills as an “arsonist” and relished doing so.  I was fortunate to receive tremendous praise as diverse as Teacher of the Year, Faculty Spirit Award, Visionary Founder of the Fairchild Challenge, Global Change Maker, and White House Climate Champion of Change.

I am more focused now on legacy, ensuring I deconstruct and share some of the attributes and strategies that have contributed to my success. I stand on the shoulders of many, and have embraced an inclusive approach to my work. The compliment I receive most is that I am an inspiration. What does that mean? Can we deconstruct and teach inspiration?  I’d like to ripple more.

The world’s leading climate scientists say the planet will reach a crucial warming threshold as early as 2030, causing catastrophic impacts across the globe. 

Still, too many from Florida (and throughout our nation) are unaware how this increasingly affects their livelihoods and their health, economic, and national security concerns. CLEO’s goal is to significantly grow a movement of climate literate, resilient and empowered residents who advocate for systemic change at the local, state, national and global levels, demanding that elected leaders act in the public’s interest. CLEO seeks to decrease vulnerability, especially in under-resourced communities

Indeed, CLEO has been at the forefront of the climate justice movement in South Florida as one of the first organizations to shed light on issues such as: climate gentrification due to rising sea levels; government-subsidized housing lacking A/C; septic tank failure; food insecurity, and more. Residents in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, which are predominantly people of color and minorities, are often most impacted by heat waves, food and fresh water vulnerability, and public health risks.

CLEO educates and engages everyone, top down and bottom up, so our movement is informed, coherent, urgent and persistent, and determined to shape a climate-ready future.

Most climate education focuses on increasing knowledge about climate science, which research suggests has limited utility in supporting a collective response to the growing crisis. CLEO embraces active participation, relevance, and interconnectedness; our initiatives are designed to light fires, building individual and collective urgency and agency. 

For example:

Our GenCLEO Movement provides platforms for youth to find and share their informed voices, urging cities and counties to declare climate emergencies and lead accordingly. These young leaders train as part of our CLEO Speakers Network; are empowered to coordinate strikes, petitions, monthly meetings, and events; and, host webinars, discussions and CLEO’s House on Fire Podcast.

Our Empowering Resilient Women Program engages cohorts of residents from underserved communities in a series of interactive workshops entitled: WE Learn, WE Prepare, WE Advocate, and WE Lead. CLEO intentionally and successfully makes room at the table for our most vulnerable citizens to advocate in their own interests.

We are inclusive and have hundreds of partners with whom we collaborate, from cities, counties and elected officials to colleges/universities, foundations and community organizations. This allows CLEO to tap expertise and support when designing and executing programs or following up with programs participants.

See website for more.

The CLEO Institute is the only nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated solely to climate education and advocacy in Florida, the state most vulnerable to climate change impacts. While 70% of Americans believe the climate crisis is real, only 40% believe it will harm them personally, and only 30% talk about it. This MUST change. Most of us act only when it is personal.

Through our programs, we connect the dots between the climate crisis and peoples’ lives, providing examples of climate justice issues in our own backyard. According to United Way’s ALICE Reports, more than 50% of County residents are poor or working poor, living paycheck to paycheck. Thus, emergency preparedness is difficult, and food/water/heat/health vulnerability is heightened.

CLEO’s impacts include: thousands of individuals trained; hundreds of CLEO Speakers certified; dozens of advocacy campaigns launched; funding for city and county Resilience offices expanded; climate justice discussions increased; CLEO programs in North and Central Florida expanded; and much, much more. Through our programs, social media, campaigns, and panel appearances, CLEO has reached millions of people. 

But perhaps most importantly, CLEO has helped widen and fill the climate action tent in SE Florida, and we need to do that throughout the state/nation/hemisphere/globe.