Together, We Thrive: EcoRise’s 3-Year Strategic Plan

Dear EcoRise Community,

The environmental education movement is at a turning point. Climate change is no longer abstract for the students we serve. It’s disrupting their learning, threatening their health, and shaping their futures. At EcoRise, we see that this moment demands more than curriculum. It demands collaboration, partnership, and systems change.

Over the past year, we’ve been listening to educators in classrooms from New York City to Central Oklahoma to Los Angeles, to students designing solutions in their own communities, to local and national partners who are working alongside us to scale impact.

Click here to download a PDF of the Together, We Thrive strategic plan.

Today, we’re excited to share Together, We Thrive: EcoRise’s Strategic Plan for 2025–2028. This plan guides our work through three interconnected priorities:

• Transformative, Community-Based Environmental Education Programs: We’re deepening our presence in key regions, directing resources to more communities, and creating pathways for youth to access and thrive in green careers.
• An Inclusive, Well-Resourced National Movement: We’re formalizing partnerships with aligned organizations, leveraging data-driven tools like Gen:Thrive to build capacity across the movement, and ensuring our resources reach educators and students regardless of their zip code.
• A Thriving, Responsive, and Resilient Organization: We’re cultivating a culture where staff feel valued and energized, where data informs our decisions, and where our stakeholders actively inform our strategy.

What energizes us most about this plan is how it deepens local and state partnerships in conservative and rural regions—including communities across Oklahoma, Abby’s home state. Teachers and students in these communities deserve the same access to engaging environmental literacy resources, youth leadership opportunities, and green career pathways as their peers anywhere else in the country. For us, this work isn’t abstract. It’s about ensuring every young person, regardless of zip code, has a seat at the table.

This plan didn’t emerge in a vacuum. It’s the result of 12 months of deep reflection, collaboration with Viabosque, community input, and honest conversations about where we’ve been and where we’re going. It reflects the wisdom of educators who know their students best, the innovation of young people designing solutions for their own communities, and the commitment of partners who believe that together, we can build something bigger than any one organization.

The road ahead won’t be easy. We’re navigating funding uncertainty, political polarization, and intensifying impacts of climate change in the communities we serve. But we’re also seeing unprecedented momentum. Educators are eager for resources that work, students are demanding opportunities to lead, and a movement is recognizing that collaboration is our greatest strength.

We hope you’ll explore the full strategic plan and join us in this work. Whether you’re an educator bringing climate literacy into your classroom, a partner amplifying impact in your region, a funder investing in the next generation, or a board prospect exploring how to contribute your expertise, there’s a place for you in this vision.