Strategic Plan

Mt. Huron Sunrise

In the next two years, the Cottonwood Institute will be a very different organization than we are right now. To accomplish the ideas we have set forth below, we need to align ourselves with donors, schools, and organizations that are committed to environmental sustainability and our mission of inspiring the next generation of active community leaders and environmental stewards. If we approach all constituents from the context of inspiring and enrolling others with what we are committed to, we will be unstoppable and we will truly change the world!

The Cottonwood Institute is committed to:

• Sustainable Funding: We need to develop mutually beneficial relationships and align ourselves with donors and corporate sponsors that can provide consistent, reliable, and sustainable funding.

• Sustainable Stream of Students: We need to align and partner with organizations, agencies, and community groups that already have students organized, that can help offer scholarships, and that have a sustainable stream of students to serve.

• Sustainable Pool of Highly Skilled Instructors: If we have sustainable funding and a sustainable stream of students, we can hire a pool of qualified instructors that are obsessed with inspiring the youth of America, environmental sustainability, and changing the world.

• Land Access: Public land access is extremely difficult in terms of obtaining outfitter guide permits. The process is long, it is expensive, and limit the skills and activities we can teach our students. I have a vision of obtaining 35+ acres of private land that we can use as a base camp for all of our courses and where we can build a truly sustainable working farm that is off the grid, environmentally sustainable structures and a primitive area with no man made structures, and that has an organic garden/greenhouse. Sponsors can provide the things we need to make this work (i.e. solor panels) and host workshops to demo their sustainable products. We could provide alumni of our courses summer jobs to work the land and keep things operating smoothly. The land will meet the following criteria:

1. 1.5 hours from Denver
2. Accessible year round
3. Next to BLM, National Forest, or National Park land
4. Have a river, creek, stream, or pond with water rights and year round flow
5. Ability to have fires (unless there is a county fire-ban of course)
6. Diverse resources: plants, trees, fire wood, debris for making shelters

• Sustainable Vehicle: We are in need of acquiring a van or a mini-bus, but rather than seek a gas guzzling van, we have an opportunity to align ourselves with sponsors that are environmentally minded to acquire a sustainable vehicle, such as biodiesel, straight vegetable oil (SVO), natural gas, or a bi-fuel vehicle. We could also use this vehicle as a powerful marketing tool to raise awareness about the Cottonwood Institute and our environmentally minded sponsors.

If you are inspired to help the Cottonwood Institute work towards the ideas we have set forth above, please contact Ford Church, Founder and Executive Director at 303.447.1076.