Fresh Outlook Foundation

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Community sustainability — the integration and balance of social, cultural, environmental, and economic interests and objectives — is the goal of growing numbers of local governments and their citizens. While government policies and practices are necessary to set the stage for sustainable outcomes, it’s our individual behaviors at home, work, and play that constitute the greatest potential for positive or negative change.

Research has proven that lasting behavior change is best enabled and encouraged via community-based social marketing (CBSM), which actively enhances the benefits of sustainable behaviors while simultaneously removing their perceived barriers. The Fresh Outlook Foundation is a non-profit organization that will apply CBSM principles and practices in the development and delivery of proven programs that promote sustainable behaviors in people’s homes, workplaces, and recreational activities.

While the Fresh Outlook Foundation will provide a needed service using a proven behavior-change tool, its founders recognize that the organization’s long-term success ultimately depends on innovative, supportive, and lasting relationships with stakeholders from the public, private, civic, and innovation sectors. To that end, partnerships between and among the board, staff, volunteers, members, local governments, businesses, community groups, and the media will be cultivated carefully to ensure mutual benefit. These partnerships will help stakeholders achieve their sustainability goals while providing the foundation with strategic, tactical, operational, and financial support.

Your participation as a financial partner or a community advocate is particularly important to the foundation’s future. We guarantee it will be an enriching experience that will further your sustainability goals while helping the foundation “provoke a fresh outlook among British Columbians that inspires sustainable behavior at home, work, and play.”

Fresh Outlook Foundation programs will target specific audiences with need- and interest-based programs that enable, encourage, and empower sustainable behaviors. The foundation’s first target audience will be local governments, followed by community leaders, business people, shoppers, church congregations, service clubs, strata councils, recreational groups, etc.

The Fresh Outlook Foundation will be governed by a board of directors chosen carefully to represent the foundation’s key stakeholders and potential partners: local governments (elected officials and staff), business communities, educational institutions, NGOs, and the general public. The board and staff will be guided by codes of conduct, pledges, best practices, critical success factors, and operational plans that have been carefully crafted for each of the following business functions:

In keeping with CBSM principles, the Fresh Outlook Foundation will pilot all programs in the Central Okanagan before expanding them into other regions. The first phase — which will focus on the development of Building SustainAble Communities for local governments and Maven Mentors for community leaders — will be undertaken in 2007 by founding board members and the foundation’s CEO.

For more information about how you can help, please contact jdevries@silk.net.