About Us
We are the elder generations, including grandparents, great aunts and great uncles who are concerned about the future for all children and all life. As Elders Climate Action members, we are determined to do all we can to leave a sustainable planet for future generations.
ECA is non-partisan, and we do not support, endorse, or advocate for any political party or candidate.
We work to inform, inspire, and engage others to take action on the climate crisis. We actively support the youth movements springing up in the United States and throughout the world.
Mission
The mission of Elders Climate Action is to mobilize elders throughout the United States to address climate change while there is still time to protect the well-being of our grandchildren and future generations. We are dedicated to using the power of our caring, our wisdom and our numbers to push for strong policies that will reduce greenhouse gases in our atmosphere to a level consistent with life thriving on our planet.
History
Elders Climate Action (ECA) was conceived in 2014 by a small group of committed people as a project of Elders Action Network (EAN), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage elders to take action on the social and environmental challenges of our time.
A Special Acknowledgement of Our Founder, Paul Severance, (Retired). Paul Severance spent most of his working life as a community organizer, in retirement, Paul turned his attention to the existential threat posed by climate change. He founded Elders Climate Action, stepping down from his role at ECA in the fall 2017, and now serves as a Congressional Liaison for Citizens Climate Lobby.
ECA’s National Leadership Committees
ECA is elder-driven and relies on the dedicated commitment of the volunteers on our National Committees who help bring the information, actions and opportunities to our national audience. At ECA we rely on the time, talent and treasure of everyday folks, like you, who have a deep desire to help mobilize others for climate action. Join us! We need you!
View the full list of committees below and contact us if you would like to get involved!
Coordinating Council
The ECA Coordinating Council represents ECA as a whole, with representation from each of the ECA leadership committees. The Council focuses on strategic planning, marketing, fundraising, and organizational infrastructure to best carry out our mission. This council coordinates between all ECA committees to develop, review and update the ECA strategic plan each year. The Coordinating Council reviews and approves all ECA national actions, policies, and campaigns. The Coordinating Council works together to strategize to increase membership, engagement, and exposure. In addition, the council develops the funding requirements to support the objectives of the strategic plan and pursues raising funds, as well as coordinates ECA activity within the entire EAN organization.
Policy
The purpose of the Policy Committee is to review, revise and submit for concurrence ECA’s policy statements which mirror the latest climate science and reflect the numerous efforts of ECA’s chapters and members. Current emphasis is on collaborations and subcommittee participation with the U.S. Climate Action Network (USCAN) of which ECA is an active and voting member and the Climate Action Campaign. The Policy Committee makes priority recommendations and provides guidance on ECA’s identified priorities.
Communications Committee
This committee is responsible for communication with members and the public with the goal of expanding the number of elders engaged with ECA. Our communications focus on three areas: informing, inspiring and engaging elders This is accomplished through use of social media postings, a monthly newsletter, bi-monthly or more frequent action alerts, sign-on actions to decision makers and more. This team prepares all written material for our website, newsletter and marketing media including materials for national events and collaborations. The committee is responsible for responding to media inquiries, presenting the public face of ECA and all general inquiries sent to ECA.
Collaborations (and Partnerships)
This Committee engages in and coordinates both partnerships and collaborations on a national level. Partnerships are relationships with other organizations with similar missions and interests. Collaborations are deeper relationships with organizations and generally involve engagement with a specific short term project or a long term ongoing relationship that involves regular interaction. Examples include Moms Clean Air Force Play-in as a project and Future Coalition and USCAN as ongoing deep relationships. The Collaborations Committee will strengthen relationships and embark on new relationships throughout the year.
Council of Chapters
Council of Chapters encourages peer learning and support across existing chapters and chapters in formation. It provides a forum in which chapter leaders and select chapter members can share challenges and successes and explore with members of other chapters different ways to fulfill ECA’s mission of mobilizing elders to address climate change in their cities, counties, states and the nation as a whole. The Council of Chapters meets on the third Wednesday of the month.
Education
This team creates, coordinates and hosts all ECA public programming including national calls, workshops, special events and more. The Education team plans, designs and implements programming, finds and coordinates expert speakers, builds strategy for ECA programming, and designs program evaluation – i.e. program surveys, member interest surveys, and host events.
