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History of the Grassroots Institute
The GrassRoots Institute (GRI) emerged out of the Mendocino Coast Chapter of the Alliance for Democracy (MCAfD) in the summer of 2016. It was founded by Jim Tarbell, Carrie Durkee, Michael St. John, Margaret Koster and Lillian Cartwright, who had facilitated courses on Grassroots Solutions to Corporate Power at Mendocino College since the Spring of 2015. Those courses were based on the Alliance for Democracy (AfD) publication Justice Rising. Meet the founders of GRI .
Starting in 2017, GRI changed its focus to - Reclaiming the Commons and Building the Economy for the Common Good in Mendocino County. Mendocino County has often been targeted by powerful corporations pursuing extraction of natural resources, too often at the detriment of people and the planet. The institute offers and supports an alternative economic model based on collaborative worker owned and operated commerce, stewardship of natural resources and community self-determination.
In the Spring of 2021, it formed workgroups to focus on the Climate Crisis, Building a Solidarity Economy, and Sustainable Food and Farming. The Climate Crisis group mounted a successful campaign to get the Board of Supervisors of Mendocino County to commit $2 million to climate change mitigation. That success led to the formation of eight workgroups expanding the institute’s community action to include:
• Climate Crisis
• Noyo Headlands Millsite
• Housing & Ag Land Trusts
• Mendocino County Vision
• Candidates & Elections
• Water
• Forests
• GRI Infrastructure
.
Starting in 2017, GRI changed its focus to - Reclaiming the Commons and Building the Economy for the Common Good in Mendocino County. Mendocino County has often been targeted by powerful corporations pursuing extraction of natural resources, too often at the detriment of people and the planet. The institute offers and supports an alternative economic model based on collaborative worker owned and operated commerce, stewardship of natural resources and community self-determination.
In the Spring of 2021, it formed workgroups to focus on the Climate Crisis, Building a Solidarity Economy, and Sustainable Food and Farming. The Climate Crisis group mounted a successful campaign to get the Board of Supervisors of Mendocino County to commit $2 million to climate change mitigation. That success led to the formation of eight workgroups expanding the institute’s community action to include:
• Climate Crisis
• Noyo Headlands Millsite
• Housing & Ag Land Trusts
• Mendocino County Vision
• Candidates & Elections
• Water
• Forests
• GRI Infrastructure
.