Nominee's Background:
Alisa Gravitz Executive Director Coop America http://www.coopamerica.org What's Working - If you look around Green Festival, you'd be convinced that the movement for a just and sustainable world is booming. But is it? The answer is a resounding 'yes'! And success is being fueled by creative, passionate, people using powerful economic strategies to promote fair trade, renewable energy, local economies, and investment in healthy communities. Find out what Co-op America and their members are doing around the country to put economic clout to work for a better world - and how you can get involved!
For over 20 years, Alisa Gravitz has helped pioneer and lead the national agenda to create a socially and environmentally responsible economy. As the Executive Director of Co-op America, the national nonprofit membership organization working on marketplace solutions to social and environmental problems, Ms. Gravitz has pioneered effective techniques for addressing issues of sustainable consumption and production with American consumers and businesses. In recent years, Ms. Gravitz helped develop groundbreaking initiatives in a broad range of markets including the magazine industry for increased use of paper with recycled content, solar energy for achieving economies of scales and price reductions, and financial services for reforming predatory lending practices. Alisa is a leader in helping people reduce their consumption, and shift consumer demand to goods and services that are environmentally responsible and socially just.
Through her work at Co-op America, Ms. Gravitz has helped hundreds of socially responsible businesses emerge and thrive. The 2,500 businesses in Co-op Americas green business network have passed stringent screens for social and environmental responsibility, and are listed in the annual National Green Pages". These businesses are on the cutting-edge of providing jobs, protecting the environment, and strengthening communities.
Ms. Gravitz is also a nationally recognized leader in the social investment industry. She co-authored Co-op Americas acclaimed guide to social investing, which is used by over half a million investors to invest their money according to their values. As vice president of the Social Investment Forum, the national socially responsible investment industry association, Ms. Gravitz has played a key role in the dramatic growth of the socially responsible investing industry to $2.2 trillion dollars. She is the 1995 recipient of the prestigious Socially Responsible Investing Service award and was recently named one of six of the most important people who are changing the way companies think about the environment by the Green Business Letter.
Ms. Gravitz serves on the boards of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), the Social Investment Forum, Co-op America, Social Venture Network, Network for Good, Positive Futures Network, and the Anacostia Watershed Society. She helped launch Business for Social Responsibility and served on its founding board.
Prior to Co-op America, Ms. Gravitz worked on the development of energy efficient technology for the Carter administration, and worked on small business issues and environmental policy in both the public and private sectors. Ms. Gravitz earned her MBA from Harvard University and her BA in economics and environmental science from Brandeis University.
Nominating Speech:
Nominated by: progressive government institute
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Progressive Criteria:
The Department of Commerce will:
Promote commerce to enhance citizens' lives, not simply to enrich investors;
Promote decent, well-paying, environmentally sustainable jobs;
Take the initiative in developing a Genuine Progress Indicator to replace GDP which does not adequately distinguish between good growth and destructive trends; Work to provide new guarantees for pension security;
Support very small businesses, minority and women-owned businesses;
Direct and manage the patent and trademark system to promote the common good by promoting valuable inventions, research and intellectual exchangee, as a higher priority than protecting corporate profits.
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