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RAE Builds Unique Partnership in the Pacific NW
RAE's West Coast office in Seattle was established in 2005. Since then it has carved out an interesting partnership involving two other Seattle-based environmental organizations: People For Puget Sound (PFPS), which is a RAE alliance member, and EarthCorps.
A member of Restore America's Estuaries, People For Puget Sound is a citizen's group established in Seattle to protect and restore the health of the Puget Sound region through education and action.
EarthCorps is a Seattle-based environmental non-profit dedicated to building global community through local environmental restoration service.
Two people in particular personify this special partnership: Robin Clark, the Habitat Restoration Program Manager with People For Puget Sound, and Fin Norbu, RAE's intern from EarthCorps.
Prior to joining PFPS in 2004, Robin Clark was a Project Manager at EarthCorps. Aside from being a liaison between RAE and PFPS, Robin has also been instrumental in helping to develop a dynamic partnership between People For Puget Sound and EarthCorps.
Robin calls Puget Sound her home, where volunteerism and community involvement is so ingrained in people that "participating on a board of directors of a nonprofit is as commonplace as stopping for a latte."
However, she still recognizes that offering people a range of ways to get involved is a challenge for local organizations. One of the ways to address such a challenge is to "knit together opportunities between organizations," according to Robin, an avid outdoor enthusiast who enjoys riding bikes and sea kayaking.
Although PFPS works with EarthCorps on a number of projects, including educational presentations, project development, and environmental training programs for youth, it wasn't until the launch of EarthCorps' Externship Program in early 2007 that it started employing EarthCorps externs. Along with RAE, PFPS has now developed a partnership to work with EarthCorps' international interns.
This initiative not only strengthens the partnership between EarthCorps and RAE, but also provides employment opportunities for those interested in working in the coastal restoration field, and learning about how local and national environmental non-profit organizations work. The partnership also helps realize the larger goal of providing extended environmental training opportunities to keen and promising international participants.
EarthCorps has carved its niche by training "emerging environmental leaders" from the U.S. and abroad. It is dedicated to "building global community through local environmental restoration service." The EarthCorps' six-month environmental restoration training program engages more than 60 corpsmembers, including 25 international participants from more than 20 different countries at any given time of the year.
Since early 2006, RAE has partnered with Seattle based nonprofit EarthCorps (www.earthcorps.org) to host international professionals seeking hands-on practical work experience in the environmental field.
Phuntsho "Fin" Norbu, after completing his training as a corpsmember in 2006, now leads EarthCorps' Externship Program, which has expanded to other parts of the country. During his year-and-a-half as an extern, Fin has worked on several projects for both People For Puget Sound and Restore America's Estuaries, strengthening this unique partnership. He currently works as a Development and Restoration Associate at RAE.
Fin was born in Bhutan, one of the most environmentally sensitive countries on earth, and home to some of its rarest and most endangered species of flora and fauna. Bhutan, the newest democracy in the world, is a small nation located in the eastern Himalayas. In light of increasing pressures on Bhutan's natural environment, Fin set a path to gain better education and training in the environmental field so he could return home and do his part in contributing towards "nursing our ailing earth."
EarthCorps is sponsoring Fin as part of the Externship Program that has enabled him to rotate through a number of environmental groups in the U.S. including RAE, People For Puget Sound and the Lopez Community Land Trust. Teaming up with his brother, Fin recently started a sustainable travel outfit (Bridge To Bhutan) in Bhutan. This broad experience has given Fin practical hands-on experience that he will rely on to link tourism to environmental and social projects back home.
EarthCorps' Externship Program was developed in 2005 to meet the demand of international professionals seeking hands-on practical work experience with U.S. based environmental organizations. These environmental professionals spend up to 18 months with EarthCorps partner organizations gaining skills that they will implement back in their home countries. EarthCorps has a growing network of partner agencies that host international professionals.
It's envisioned that Robin Clark's and Fin Norbu's experiences in helping shape this partnership between RAE, PFPS, and EarthCorps would just be the beginning of many in the years to come. EarthCorps is excited to offer this opportunity to like-minded environmental organizations working in the Puget Sound region and around the nation.
To learn more about EarthCorps' Externship Program, contact Mark Howard, International Program Manager, via email: mark@earthcorps.org; phone (206) 322-9296 ext. 224.
OR
Fin Norbu, Restore America's Estuaries, via email: pnorbu@estuaries.org; phone (206) 624-9100 ext. 3.