To Sustain our Democracy, We Must Embrace Civic Engagement
Our Programs
Education, the Environment and Workforce Development
At smallMatters Institute, we’re disrupting cultural norms to inspire creativity and provoking much-needed social, cultural and economic change. Let’s embrace the ideas that unite us and re-envision our nation’s future.
Our book, Inherit the Nation, is the driving vision behind our organizational philosophy and programming. It outlines pathways for future generations to inherit a healthy planet, with three primary focuses: education, the environment and workforce development.
We test ideas from the book with proof-of-concept projects that fill gaps in our society and deliver tangible, measurable results for communities. We then analyze the results to guide further workforce development programs, local land stewardship initiatives and social impact investment opportunities.
Further, our programs:
- Subscribe to a triple-bottom-line philosophy
- Foster enduring and beneficial relationships among landowners, public agencies and capital providers
- Include specific metrics to prove efficacy and replication
Unite for Nature
Better public land-use practices could make an enormous difference in community quality of life, yet millions of acres of land owned by schools, churches, nonprofits and businesses are not included in the national debate on public land use and conservation.
Give the Gift of Nature
Reimagining how America values public school land as both an educational tool and a national strategic asset benefit for current and future generations. We’re creating a national conservancy model for K-12 school lands as an investment in our children and the natural world they will inherit.
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Church-owned land, like school property, is frequently underused but offers a wealth of opportunity to improve community wellbeing, enhance the worship experience and contribute to neighborhood development.
Uncommon Assets
Through a combination of traditional liberal arts education and tradecraft training, we equip younger generations to address steep challenges today and tomorrow. Our 10-year-long program teaches participants how to identify gaps in society through a social business lens.
Beauty, Culture and Thought Leadership
smallMatters Institute’s art and literature programs support and celebrate visual and written expression of ideas.
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Art reflects the human experience and the environments that impact us. Much of what we identify with as a people and a nation mirror or rejects our own real, perceived or imagined realities — all of which impact our reactions to both our natural and built environments. As such, the identities which define us (natural and constructed) and how they intersect with our private and public lives is as important to our happiness as freedom itself.
Contact us to learn more…
- Lake Affect Magazine
Lake Affect Magazine is an art, music and literary magazine. The magazine releases two volumes per year and can be found in many public places including libraries, stores, offices and cafes throughout Central and Western New York including the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Ithaca communities. The artwork and writing reflect how people, places, and things intersect to create an environment filled with all that we hold dear.
Learn more…
- Inherit the Nation
Our book, Inherit the Nation, proposes pathways to prepare children to inherit a healthy planet, focusing on three key areas: education, the environment and workforce development. Serving as the driving vision behind our work, the book provides invaluable information and encourages readers to write down their own ideas in the spaces provided.