Beginning in 1992, ESC has worked to provide grassroots groups assistance with technology. From 1992 to 1994 we provided 400 computers, printers, software and training to our constituency through the generosity of the Apple Corporation. In the mid-nineties we also donated software, fax machines, printers and modems to almost 400 additional groups. In 1996 we also provided training on the use of computers for communications and research to almost 200 groups in the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi River basin. After assessing the effectiveness of those efforts and the needs of our constituency, ESC created a permanent Technology Resources Program (TR) in 2000. It has provided on-site assessments, equipment donations, training and on-going consultation to 128 environmental justice groups in the Southeast and Southwest since then.

Finally, there are four programs that provided significant service that are no longer part of our work, or have been moved into other programs. From late 1990 to 2003 in our Workplace Solicitation Program, ESC staff helped organize and strengthen the nineteen statewide and regional federations of environmental groups raising funds through workplace solicitation. Those federations have collectively raised over $85 million in new dollars for distribution to their members. From 1991 through 2003, ESC operated the State Environmental Leadership Program (SELP) as the convener of an annual conference of groups advocating for state governmental environmental policy. In 1998 the program was expanded significantly with a staff based first in Seattle, Washington and later in Madison, Wisconsin that assisted SELP members in joint efforts to address common issues. At the end of 2003 SELP became an independent organization with a close working relationship with ESC.

In 2009, the Training and Organizational Assistance Program and the Leadership and Enhanced Assistance Program were adapted so that ESC support can become more flexible and responsive to constituent needs. Rather than having specific deadlines and time frames for capacity building work, both short term and long-term support is provided based more specifically on the capacity building needs of the organizations we support. 

ESC has always been serious about closely examining its work and developing plans based on those examinations. We have conducted overall evaluations with outside investigators in 1992, 1994, 1999, 2006, and 2008. Those have led to changes in our programs and organizational structure and our decision to begin a Dismantling Racism Process. The most recent overall evaluation and others focused on specific programs and special initiatives  informed our planning process which resulted in a new strategic direction in 2009. Click here to read our strategic direction.

We will continue to advance the original vision for ESC while adapting to changing circumstances. The need for our work is even greater than it was in 1988 and we will find ways to meet those needs even more effectively in the future.

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