FUTURE EARTH US BOARD HANDBOOK
1.1 Future Earth US Board Member Job Description
The Future Earth US Board is a volunteer-based advisory entity, where each member is voted in by the existing board and serves for 3-year terms with the option for renewal. Ideally the board consists of 3 or more members with an elected board chair and a diversity of perspectives suited to the programming, funded work, and mission of the NGO.
1.1.1
Responsibilities of the Board
The Board provides guidance to a US-based entity Future Earth, a 501(c)3 non-proft organization registered in Colorado (hereafter Future Earth US). Future Earth US is part of a global network of offces (hereafter Future Earth Global) with the mission to advance research in support of transformations to global sustainability and a vision of a sustainable and equitable world for all, where societal decisions are informed by openly-accessible and shared knowledge. Future Earth US supports the efforts of Future Earth Global while also developing its own programs at the national to global level in alignment with the mission and vision.
As the highest leadership body of the Future Earth US and to satisfy its fduciary duties, the Board is responsible for:
• strategic and organizational advice
• ensuring strong fduciary oversight and fnancial management
• fundraising and resource development
• approving and monitoring the organization’s programs and activities
• enhancing the organization’s public image
• assessing its own performance as the governing body of the organization
• selecting and evaluating the performance of the chief executive
1.1.2
Responsibilities of Individual Board Members
Each individual board member is expected to:
• know the organization’s mission, policies, programs, and needs
• faithfully read and understand the organization’s fnancial statements
• serve as active advocates and ambassadors for the organization and fully engage in identifying and securing the fnancial resources and partnerships necessary for the organization to advance its mission
• leverage connections, networks, and resources to develop collective action to fully achieve the organization’s mission
• help identify personal connections that can beneft the organization’s fundraising and reputational standing, and can infuence public policy
• prepare for, attend, and conscientiously participate in board meetings
• follow the organization’s bylaws, policies, and board resolutions
• sign an annual confict-of-interest disclosure and update it during the year if necessary, as well as disclose potential conficts before meetings and actual conficts during meetings
• maintain confdentiality about all internal matters of the organization
1.1.3
Time Commitment and Access Points within Organization
The board of directors meets twice a year, either via teleconference or in person. The board meetings are coordinated by the Director of Operations, who works with the Executive Director and Associate Director, as well as the Board Chair, to develop the meeting agenda. The Executive Director and the Associate Director are the main staff contact points to the board.
In addition to the annual meetings, special meetings may be called if needed. The Executive Director and the Associate Director may also reach out to individual board members between formal meetings for advice or possible engagement.
1.1.4
The Role of the Board Chair
The Board Chair leads the board by engaging with individual board members as well as the Executive Director and the Associate Director of Future Earth US. The chair may perform the following functions:
• Serves as the contact point for individual board members on board issues
• Works with the board and the Executive Director to set strategy, goals, and objectives for the board and ensures that they are met
• Ensures that all board members are involved in board activities
• Motivates board members to attend and actively participate in board meetings
1.2 Current and Former Board Members
1.1.5 Board Benefts
Future Earth is a young organization with extensive international networks and skilled staff, thriving programs and a vision of greater impact within the US and globally. Serving on the Future Earth Board of Directors at this pivotal moment will be an opportunity to shape an emerging agenda and organization well-situated to advance sustainability transformation both within the US and globally.
1.2.1
Current Board Members
Maria Uhle
Program Director, National Science Foundation | Board Chair (2020 - present)
Dr. Maria Uhle currently serves as the Program Director for International Activities in the Directorate for Geosciences at the National Science Foundation, where she develops mechanisms and agreements to foster international research collaboration through the Belmont Forum, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and Future Earth. She is the US representative to the Belmont Forum and is the current Chair of the Executive Committee of the IAI. She works with other US federal agencies on international cooperation through the US Global Change Research Program where she is the co-Chair of the International Activities, Inter-agency Working Group. Prior to her appointment at NSF, she served as an International Affairs Offcer in the Offce of International and Academic Affairs (OIAA) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where she developed programs to foster research collaboration with NIST’s international partners from countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Prior to working at NIST, she served as a Program Offcer for the National Academy of Sciences Polar Research Board and the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate. She directed several committees that addressed topics relevant to the Arctic and Antarctic, and focused on reanalysis of historical climate data, and climate projections based on emission scenarios. Before joining the NAS, Maria served on the faculty at the University of Tennessee in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Her background includes degrees in environmental science and geology, and her research focused on investigating the fate of organic matter and contaminants in atmospheric, surface water and soil environments from urban areas and the polar deserts of Antarctica.
Leah Nichols
Executive Director of George Mason University’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth (2021- present)
Dr. Leah Nichols is the Executive Director of George Mason University’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE), where she leads the ISE team in creating connections – locally, globally, and across disciplines – to put Mason’s research and scholarship into action in support of a sustainable world. Nichols came to Mason after 8 years at the National Science Foundation (NSF) where she served in integrative roles. She contributed extensively to the design and management of several of NSF’s agency-wide programs including: Growing Convergence Research; Coastlines and People; Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems; and Interdisciplinary Research in Hazards and Disasters. As the Executive Secretary for NSF’s Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education, she oversaw the development of the committee’s report titled Sustainable Urban Systems: Articulating a Long-Term Convergence Research Agenda. While at NSF, she also founded and led an interagency working group designed to integrate the social sciences throughout the US Global Change Research Program.
Nichols has a PhD from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow placed at the NSF and a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences. She has published articles on the production of actionable knowledge in leading sustainability journals, including Nature Sustainability and Nature Climate Change, and contributed to the US Fourth National Climate Assessment. She also serves on the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability for Arlington Public Schools.
Ana Pinheiro Privette
Director of Research Applications and New Research Initiatives, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2024 - present)
Dr. Ana Pinheiro Privette is the Director for Research Applications and New Research Initiatives in Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where she is also the Managing Director for the Center for Secure Water. Before joining UIUC, Pinheiro Privette worked at Amazon Web Services as the Head of Sustainability for AWS Impact Computing, and the Global Lead for the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI). Prior to that, she managed projects for the White House climate portfolio, including the Obama Climate Data Initiative (CDI) and the Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP), and worked as a research scientist at NASA and NOAA.
Maria Ivanova
Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban A airs, Northeastern University (2024 - present)
Dr. Maria Ivanova is the Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University where she is also a professor of public policy. Her research focuses on environmental governance and science policy, including multinational organizations. In 2021, she authored The Untold Story of the World’s Leading Environmental Institution: UNEP at Fifty.
Professor Ivanova is also a Foundation Fellow of the International Science Council, an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, a member of the Joint Scientifc Committee of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and an Ambassador for Transparency International. She was a Research Scholar at the Center for Collective Intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on the Sustainability Advisory Council at Yale University, and on the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative Advisory Group.
Professor Ivanova’s leadership extends to various international committees and organizations. From 2014 to 2016, she served on the UN Secretary-General’s Scientifc Advisory Board under UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She was Chair of the Advisory Board for UN University-Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (IAS) in Tokyo, Japan (20192021), and Chair of the Jury for the $5 million New Shape Prize to reform global governance administered by the Global Challenges Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden (2017-2018).
In 2022, Professor Ivanova served on the Rwandan delegation to the UN Environment Assembly, negotiating the resolution on a global treaty on plastics. She continues to engage in the treaty negotiation process as a delegate of the International Science Council.
She holds a PhD from Yale University and Master’s degrees in International Relations and in Environmental Management from Yale as well as a BA from Mount Holyoke College.
1.2.2
Former Board Members
Alan Townsend (2018 - 2024)
Vaughan Turekian (2020 - 2022)
Amy Luers (2018 - 2020)
Jason Neff (2019 - 2022)
Thomas Lovejoy (2019 - 2021)
Diana Wall (2019 - 2020)
1.3 Confict of Interest
Copy - Original document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aRN20P6XEBSLB4WuvNsBk02vxnL0xnqmclf6lPjiyWY/edit
Article I: Purpose
The purpose of the confict of interest policy is to protect this tax-exempt organization’s (Future Earth) interest when it is contemplating entering into a transaction or arrangement that might beneft the private interest of an offcer or director of the Organization or might result in a possible excess beneft transaction. This policy is intended to supplement but not replace any applicable state and federal laws governing confict of interest applicable to nonproft and charitable organizations.
Article II: Defnitions
1. Sources:
1.1. Written in accordance to IRS and/or Colorado Nonproft Association standards.
2. Responsibilities:
2.1 . Any director, offcer, or member of a committee with governing board delegated powers, who has a direct or indirect fnancial interest, either through a “Related Party” or “Business Relationship”, is an interested person and has responsibility to disclose actual or possible conficts of interest.
3. Policy:
3.1 Duty to Disclose: In connection with any actual or possible confict of interest, an interested person must disclose the existence of the fnancial interest and be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the directors and members of committees with governing board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement.
3.2. Determining Whether a Confict of Interest Exists: After disclosure of the fnancial interest and all material facts, and after any discussion with the interest person, he/she shall leave the governing board
or committee meeting while the determination of a confict of interest is discussed and voted upon.The remaining board or committee members shall decide if a confict of interest exists.
3.3. Procedures for Addressing the Confict of Interest: An interested person may make a presentation at the governing board or committee meeting, but after the presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement involving the possible confict of interest. The chairperson of the governing board or committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. After exercising due diligence, the governing board or committee shall determine whether the Corporation can obtain, with reasonable efforts, a more advantageous transaction or arrangement from a person or entity that would not give rise to a confict of interest. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably possible under circumstances not producing a confict of interest, the governing board or committee shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested offcers whether the transaction or arrangement is in the Corporation’s best interest, for its own beneft and whether it is fair and reasonable. In conformity with the above determination, the Board shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement.
3.4. Violations of the Conficts of Interest Policy: If the governing board or committee has reasonable cause to believe a member has failed to disclose actual or possible conficts of interest, it shall inform the member of the basis for such belief and afford the member an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose. If, after hearing the member’s response and after making further investigation as warranted by the circumstances, the governing board or committee determines the member has failed to disclose an actual or possible confict of interest, it shall take the appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.
4. Defnitions:
4.1. A “confict of interest” arises when a person in a position of authority over an organization, such as a voting member of the governing board, offcer, or employee may beneft fnancially from a decision he or she could make in such capacity, including indirect benefts such as to family members or businesses with which the person is closely associated. For this purpose, a confict of interest does not include questions involving a person’s competing or respective duties that do not involve material interest or beneft to a related party. Membership with Future Earth does not constitute a confict of interest.
4.2. Classes of individuals covered by this confict of interest policy:
4.2.1 An “interested person” is any current or former offcer, director, member of a committee with governing board delegated powers or disqualifed persons.
4.2.2 An “independent voting member of governing body” is an individual that meets all of the following circumstances:
4.2.2.1 The member was not compensated as an offcer or other employee of the organization or of a related organization.
4.2.2.2 The member did not receive compensation or other payments during the tax year from the organization or from related organizations as an independent contractor, other than reimbursement of expenses under an approved expense reimbursement plan or reasonable compensation for services provided in the capacity as a member of the governing body.
4.2.2.3 Neither the member, nor any family member of the member, was directly or indirectly involved in a transaction either with Future Earth or a related organization.
4.2.3. An “offcer” is a person elected or appointed to manage the organization’s daily operations, such as a president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer. The offcers of an organization are determined by reference to its organizing document, bylaws, or resolutions of its
governing body, or as otherwise designated consistent with state law, but at a minimum include those offcers required by applicable state law. The top management offcial and top fnancial offcial should be treated as offcers.
4.2.4 Related Parties:
4.2.4.1 A “family member” or “family relationship” includes only his or her brother and sisters (whether whole or half blood), spouse or domestic partner, ancestors, and lineal descendants.
4.2.4.2 A “35% controlled entity” is an entity that is constructively owned, directly or indirectly, by a given person, such as the organization’s current or former offcers, directors, trustees, or key employees, or the family members thereof, in which a listed persons has a controlling interest, or owns more than 35% of the total combined voting power, profts interest, or benefcial interest.
4.2.5. A “Business Relationship” is defned as:
4.2.5.1 One person is employed by the other in a sole proprietorship or by an organization with which the other is associated as a director, offcer or great-than-35% owner.
4.2.5.2 One person is transacting business with the other (other than in the ordinary course of business on the same terms as are generally offered to the public), directly or indirectly, in one or more contracts of sale, lease, license loan, performance of services, or other transaction involving transfers of cash or property during Future Earth tax year. Indirect transactions are transactions with an organization with which the one person is associated as a director, offcer or greater-than-35% owner.
4.3 A “proposed transaction or arrangement” is intended to include, but not limited to initiating, making the principal recommendation for, or approving a purchase or contract; recommending or selecting a vendor or contractor; drafting or negotiating the terms of such a transaction; or authorizing or making payments from Future Earth accounts.
Transactions include procurement of goods and services, the disposition of Future Earth property, and the provision of services or space by Future Earth.
5. Procedures:
5.1 Each voting member of the governing board, offcer, and employee will be required to sign a separate confict of interest policy form on an annual basis.
5.2 A written record on any report of possible confict and of any adjustments made to avoid possible conficts of interest shall be kept by the designated member(s) of Board of Directors.
5.3 The minutes of the governing board and all committees with board delegated powers should contain:
5.3.1. The names of the persons who disclosed or otherwise were found to have an interest in connection with an actual or possible confict of interest, the nature of the interest, any action taken to determine whether a confict of interest was present, and the governing boards or committee’s decision as to whether a confict of interest in fact existed.
5.3.2. The names of the persons who were present for discussions and votes relating to the transaction or arrangement, the content of the discussion, including any alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement, and a record of any votes taken in connection with the proceedings.
5.4 This confict of interest policy statement shall be made available to each voting member of the governing board, offcer, and employee.
Future Earth started with an announcement in June 2012 at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). This launch called for an entity that would strengthen the interface between policy and science and foster inter- and transdisciplinary knowledge to advance global sustainability. The activities would include the networking groups interested in moving beyond disciplinary silos, delivering products at the nexus of science and society, and using this knowledge to shape an informed narrative for a sustainable future. To meet this challenge, Future Earth was created as an affliation of distributed offces or hubs, each responsible for its own funding model, that would comprise a global secretariat. The US Hub was one of fve to come forward, developed under a joint hosting agreement between the University of Colorado and Colorado State University, in 2015. The hub in Montreal, Canada was inaugurated as the home of a global Executive Director for these affliated offces, with each of the 4 other hubs led by a hub director.
As the newly formed US offce stood up programs and built a global network, there arose a need for the organization to be more nimble and fexible than a shared university partnership agreement would allow. In 2017, the US Hub took the steps to become incorporated as Future Earth, a 501(c)3 non-proft organization in the US (hereafter Future Earth US). Future Earth US echoed the name and mission of the global, distributed organization, but would maintain its own accounts, board, funding, and operations. It retained an offce at the University of Colorado, phasing out grants at Colorado State University, and allowing some fexibility of duty station, particularly as COVID-19 required remote work.
For a short time in 2020-2021, after the departure of the last Executive Director in the Canada Hub, Future Earth US became the interim offce tasked with coordinating the work amongst the fve global hubs, including an organizational evaluation. That evaluation led to a major governance and management transition in 2021, establishing a new global Governing Council and Assembly, and an expanded Global Secretariat.
The Governing Council and Assembly consist of representatives from Future Earth’s Global Research Networks, National Committees, Regional Committees as well as groups of funders, early-career researchers, and researchers from low and middle income countries. These global governance bodies have a limited mandate of administering a shared “core” fund that many hubs contribute to and developing collaborative initiatives for the Future Earth network. After a call for expressions of interest in joining this global affliation, the fve originating hubs were reconfrmed under the Future Earth Global umbrella, and four new hubs onboarded; so, now the constellation of hubs consists of nine independently funded and managed offces on 4 continents. Currently there is no Executive Director in any of the hubs but instead a call for a Global Coordination Hub that would assume the responsibilities of global administration and several key operational and communication roles. In the meantime, Future Earth US has continued to provide many of these services and fulfll these roles without the title of Executive Director since 2021.
In 2022, the Future Earth US NGO became fully independent, departing the University of Colorado and establishing a fully remote and distributed staff that spans the US. The organization maintains a staff relationship with George Mason University’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth, with whom the NGO collaborates on research and innovation activities through the lead, Judit Ungvari.
2.2
Future Earth US and Global Mission, Vision and Values
Future Earth’s mission is to accelerate transformations to global sustainability through research and innovation. Future Earth US shares the vision of the global network of Future Earth, which is of a sustainable and equitable world for all, where societal decisions are informed by openly-accessible
and shared knowledge.
To achieve these expansive goals and guide community engagement, Future Earth Global has adopted a set of core values:
Inclusivity and diversity – including perspectives and approaches and increasing the participation in global sustainability from all parts of the world and all sectors of the community
Organizational sustainability – embedding principles of sustainability in internal policies and practices
Transparency and impartiality – ensuring open decision-making processes as the default position for the governance and management of Future Earth
Future Earth Global is also committed to open science and FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles for scientifc data management and stewardship.
2.3
Future Earth US Activities
A recent review of Future Earth documents encapsulates the activities, outputs, and short- and medium-term outcomes expected to be achieved by the suite of hubs in collaboration with the Future Earth community and global partners. Activities fow from a granular to a broader scale impact that supports the mission and vision.
Future Earth US programs and leadership roles span the range of activities identifed in the diagram. These may be summarized as: priority identifcation, convening, networking, institutional support, resource mobilization, and knowledge transfer. Most of the US programming is cross-cutting, combining several of these activities for maximum impact, and passed through a transdisciplinary lens to ensure inclusion, relevance, and knowledge-to-action.
Examples of contributions led by this US-based NGO include:
• the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress series, co-convened annually with the Belmont Forum, and focused on transdisciplinary and interactive engagements to accelerate sustainability actions
• Anthropocene Magazine, including the Daily Science, Fixing Carbon, Climate Parables, and other publication products that bring research-informed tools, approaches, futures, and arguments about sustainability solutions to a global audience
• the Program for Early-stage Grants Advancing Sustainability Science (PEGASuS), which funds underserved and underrepresented voices addressing regional sustainability priorities through transdisciplinary research in partnership with key stakeholders
• the 17 Rooms Summit that catalyzes cross-cutting collaboration to advance sustainability structured around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
• hosting the Global Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate Change, a 24hour conversation passed around the globe led by indigenous youth to foster community, exchange sustainability knowledge, and inform multilateral global sustainability frameworks
• the Future Earth Member Portal, an online social media platform available in multiple languages with capacity to host events, strengthen networks, complete collaborative tasks, and disseminate opportunities
In addition, many staff members support the global structure through service to various communities, such as co-leading global Research and Innovation, directing global communications including the website, social media, and major communication products, and through engagement with Low and Middle Income Country research agencies and scientists via collaborative funding platforms, such as the Belmont Forum.
Using the map of activities and expected outcomes, a results framework has been created to monitor progress indicators and increase impact. Highlights are featured in the global annual report and in program-specifc analytics, such as the SRI reports or the Anthropocene reporting to NewsMatch.
New programs, activities, and roles are undertaken by the US NGO with appropriate human and fnancial resources.
2.4
Future Earth US Bylaws
This annex captures the most recent version of the Future Earth NGO bylaws which govern this US-based 501(c)3. Any changes to the bylaws must be communicated for review by the Board members at least 3 weeks prior to their update.
2.5
Future Earth US Finances and Fundraising
2.5.1 Finances
Future Earth operates on an adjusted fscal year running from April to March, in sync with the fscal year of the Global Secretariat. Annual budgets
and fnancial updates are sent to the Board for review and approval. Annual audits are also conducted and fnal reports are sent to the Board. Please also refer to General Financial Policies.docx.
2.5.2 Fundraising
Future Earth staff actively fundraises to support staff, programming, and operations as well as to expand the organization’s activities as needed. Our work is supported by both federal and private foundation grants. In addition, Anthropocene Magazine receives revenue from subscriptions and donations, including the annual NewsMatch member drive in November and December. The Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress is supported by congress registration income as well as sponsorships.
Our current funders include:
National Science Foundation
US Global Change Research Program
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
VK Rasmussen Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
Prior funding was provided by the George and Cynthia Mitchell Foundation.
SRI2024 sponsors (both direct and in-kind):
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
UNESCO/Bridges
Alternet
OECD
UNEP
ICoE Taipei
Frontiers Planet Prize
The Earth-Humanity Coalition
Academia Sinica
International Science Council
International Institute for Applied Analysis
Nature Sustainability
Sitra
Puistokatu 4
Ministry of the Environment Finland
Finnish Research Council
City of Helsinki
City of Espoo
Future Earth Finland
Finnair
VTT
Loyly
In addition, SRI2024 is supported by the host institutions, University of Helsinki and Aalto University, which are the two largest Finnish research universities.
2.6
Current Future Earth US Staff Members
• Dr. Erica Key, Director, Future Earth US Global Hub; Executive Director, Future Earth US
• Dr. Veera Mitzner, Associate Director, Future Earth US Global Hub / Future Earth US; SRI Director
• Laurel Milliken, Director of Operations, Future Earth US
• Dr. Judit Ungvari, Research and Innovation Co-lead
• Dr. Makyba Charles-Ayinde, Latin America and Caribbean Regional Lead; Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Global South
• Bridget Blake, Communications Coordinator; Head of Communications, Future Earth US
• Kyoko Shiota MacAulay, Community Manager
• Kathy Kohm, Editor-in-Chief, Anthropocene Magazine
• Mark Harris, Senior Editor, Anthropocene Magazine
• Stephan Useche, Events Manager
• Monika Bauer, Manager, Collaborative Projects and Partnerships (in kind, on loan from IIASA)
