Structure

Although we founded Grand Aspirations to foster locally-relevant green economy initiatives, we operate as a national organization with leaders across the country contributing to our programs and structure. We believe that everyone should be deeply involved in building solutions in their home and that we need to work together across geography to share our successes and support each other.

There are three basic levels of operation in the organization:

1. National Teams comprised of youth leaders who carry the operational functions of the organization, ranging from media generation and leadership development to fundraising and local program support. See further description below.
2. Regional Hubs where young leaders who have been involved in the organization have chosen to create long-term, year-round solutionary work. These are sites of innovation and support for new local initiatives. Check out Grand Aspirations Hubs.
3. Local Summer of Solutions programs where young people come together for a short-term initiative to build the green economy locally and train youth leaders. Learn more about the Summer of Solutions.

National Teams

There are more than a dozen national Grand Aspirations teams that carry functions of the organization. See the description below.

• The Resources Team raises resources, especially money through grants, grassroots donations, and revenue-generating strategies, for the national organization.
• The Media Team tells the stories of Grand Aspirations and the Summer of Solutions to a public audience and manages Grand Aspirations media platforms for Solutionaries to amplify their message.
• The Leadership Development Team develops leadership in the organization through identifying learning outcomes to develop training curriculum for the Summer of Solutions, the January Gatherings program leader training, and other venues.
• The National Gatherings Team plans the national August Gathering and the regional January Gatherings happen by finding locations, coordinating travel and food logistics, finding funding, and planning agendas.
• The Partnerships Team builds partnerships with other organizations based on the needs and assets of Grand Aspirations. Informs local and national teams about services available to the organization through partners.
• The Solutionary Knowledge Banker is responsible for maintaining and soliciting new and updated content for the Solutionary Knowledge Bank.
• The Program Support Team supports local Summer of Solutions teams to run successful programs in the summer of 2012. PST holds local Summer of Solutions teams accountable to the guidelines for programs and helps them meet those guidelines.
• The Hubs Development Team helps develop the tools and structure for Hubs to develop and expand as sites of local innovation. They work with the two pilot hubs (the Northwest Institute for Community Enrichment in Oregon and the Minnesota Hub) to develop and share practices, especially revenue-generating practices, to build the just green economy in their regions all year, and they help other locations that are interested in being hubs through the process of hub creation.
• The Anti-Harassment Committee ensures that Grand Aspirations maintains a safe working environment for everyone involved by upholding our Anti-Harassment Policy and responding to reports of harassment.
• The AO4CL Policy Working Group is developing an organization-wide Anti-Oppression for Collective Liberation (AO4CL) Policy for Grand Aspirations. The purpose of an AO4CL policy is to develop a vision for how Grand Aspirations acts as an organization that is dismantling systems of oppression and empowering all people to be solutionary.
• The Compensation Policy Working Group is working on developing an organization-wide Compensation Policy for Grand Aspirations.
• The Advisory Council serves in an oversight role for the organization, providing insight on national strategy and making decisions on nationally-important issues. Members of the Advisory Council must have prior involvement in the organization.
• The Board holds the ultimately liability for the organization and acts as the final ratifiers of policy and structural decisions. The Board is open to anyone to participate. Information about Board elections will be available in 2012.
• The National Support Team maintains effective communication and sustains community through the organization. This team exists to help teams in the national organization meet their goals and function effectively and to foster fulfilling experiences for all national leaders.

If you are interested in getting involved in any of these teams, check out our Get Involved page.