2019 Annual Letter

to Stakeholders

31 YEARSMG celebrates 31

years of amplifying

voices for change

February 14, 2020

Dear Friends and Stakeholders: In a time where the story of increased division and increasing authoritarian governance is pervasive around the world, we have the honor to work with change agents creating a very different story. Every day we see leaders and activists in the social change sector working to advance a more just and sustainable world. They stand up for equity and for facts. They foster innovations that improve population health and restore natural capital. They engage and support communities using their power of voice. Together, the story they are telling through their actions is the story of possibility, and the story of leading with principles that we all need. We are honored to be part of this story.

As we start a new decade and our 31st year as a social change agency, we are more committed than ever to collaborating with change agents and to helping advance their impact. We are excited to share a few stories of our clients’ work, updates on our team, and some of the ideas and models our team has been exploring. We hope to learn more about your work and to collaborate with you in the year ahead.

On behalf of our entire team at Metropolitan Group and Impacto Social Metropolitan Group, we thank you for your work as change agents, and for including us as part of your community.

With commitment,

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman Maria Elena Campisteguy Al Machemehl Kevin Kirkpatrick

new staff & promotions

Vernice Miller-TravisExecutive Vice President

Isabel CourtelisExecutive Assistant

Tanja Miljevićpromoted to Special Assistant to the Creative Director and CEO

Chantelle StewartExecutive Assistant/ Office Manager

Debra ClarkSenior Associate

Olivia Stonepromoted to Senior Director

Haim MalkaVice President

Brit McInnesExecutive Assistant/ Operations Coordinator

Yvonne Tengwallpromoted to Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Operations

Kristin GimbelVice President

Nate CurrieGraphic Designer

Matt BaerProject Manager

See full bios for all staff at METGROUP.COM/TEAM

In 2019 we welcomed new staff members, including:

Congrats to MG staff promoted in 2019!

Stories of our clients

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is relied upon worldwide for designing, launching and operating Earth observation satellites and airborne technology needed to understand the complexities of Earth as a system. MG worked with JPL to clarify its core purpose and values, articulate major scientific advances achieved and their implications, and strengthen storytelling capabilities to build confidence and investment in Earth science as a means to advance long-term protection of our home planet.

MG helped launch the Public Square Initiative that uses creative expression to engage and mobilize people in Mexico to achieve social justice and civil society. We coordinated an interactive art exhibit, street theater performances and activations with dozens of civil society organizations—conveying a powerful justice and solidarity-based narrative that advanced a set of social justice proposals. 300,000+ people visited the exhibit, more than 120 media stories conveyed its messages nationwide, and we reached 4.5 million people through social media.

The tobacco industry spends $100 million+ each year on marketing in Oregon, luring youth with candy flavors, and targeting communities of color and people with lower incomes. We’re helping Smokefree Oregon build a movement of support for policies to stop the industry’s predatory practices. As part of our work, we’ve been honored to support Oregon’s Tribes and Native-led organizations to launch the new Native Quit Line.

Advancing actionable forest climate policy (that has potential to sequester up to one-third of U.S. carbon emissions) is the charge of the Forest Climate Working Group (FCWG)—a national coalition of conservation organizations, business, government agencies, landowners and universities that constitute the forest sector. MG worked with FCWG to design its forests for climate campaign to activate federal policymakers in addressing climate change.

The City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs engaged MG to design a month-long virtual creativity festival, WeCreate408 (wecreate408.org), to help residents see creative expression as a way to celebrate their communities, connect with their neighbors, and make their voices heard. Thousands of people participated, and by sharing their stories, built recognition of and support for creative expression as an essential element of residents’ lives.

Narratives about pregnancy prevention are often wrapped in stigma, judgment and a long history of gender discrimination and racism. MG worked with Power to Decide, along with national partners, in disrupting these harmful narratives and advancing a new narrative of reproductive well-being: All people must have the information, services and support they need to have the power to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to have a child and raise a healthy next generation.

MG launched Colaboratoria, a first-of-its-kind laboratory/community of communication experts working on social impact issues (public health, environment, children’s rights, women’s rights, migration, etc.) in Mexico. The aim is to build strategic communication skills among its members and to increase their application to advance social impact.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently conducted an in-depth evaluation of how to remain a world-class conservation leader in a rapidly changing world. MG provided counsel to MDC’s growing leadership team and facilitated key conversations exploring how to implement a new strategic plan, with a focus on organizational restructuring and culture change.

Globally, cities and countries are setting policies and budgets based on how they affect well-being, not just economics. With the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) we’re exploring how this happens—through shifts in measurement, narrative, power, cross-sector collaboration and more—informed by a group of global experts. We’re working with RWJF and Oxford University Press on a book to share insights, out this summer. We also support RWJF’s leadership programs and dissemination of research to inform policy.

People in Mexico directly engaged with the Public Square Initiative, an interactive public art installation to advance the value of civic space and human rights.

Thank you to

our 2019 Clients

http://www.metgroup.com/

Every year our team explores new ideas, creates new models and tests existing models by applying them to our work, and seeks to continue learning, honing our craft and contributing to the field by sharing what we learn as free resources. A few highlights from 2019 include:

IDEAS FOR CHANGE

Page 1

Ideas

For half a century, the federal government has used NEPA to safeguard Americans from the ill effects of large-scale development. But only when its language is equitably translated into policy designed to help those communities most adversely affected are the law’s guarantees fully realized.

By Vernice Miller-Travis

When I was in graduate school, I remember learning about the legal requirements for performing an environmental assessment under

a law I was not very familiar with. I was so excited I wanted to run from campus to my neighborhood almost a mile away to tell people about my discovery. I had found that we could use the procedures and requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act in our battle with the behemoth North River Sewage Treatment Plant, which lines the banks of the Hudson River along Manhattan island in the West Harlem community for almost half a mile. In addition to being an eyesore that denied our community the considerable aesthetic benefits of the waterfront, the plant fouled the air we breathed. Residents frequently complained of noxious “rotten egg” odors and said they could not open their windows during the hottest months.

I conducted significant further research into the land use and siting history of this largely federally funded facility and uncovered that EPA Region 2 had twice declared a Finding of No Significant Impact under NEPA for the North River plant. A FONSI meant that the city and state were not required to perform an Environmental Impact Statement as required by the statute, or even a less formal environmental assessment. So the public was never informed about how a facility designed to treat 180 million gallons a day of raw sewage and wastewater, constructed without any odor-control features at all, might impact the tens of thousands of people who live near the plant.

I found that even though the federal government funded 75 percent of the construction cost of the North River plant, NEPA environmental reviews were not required by the regulators. This was not unique, I would discover through my work as an advocate for environmental justice, but rather a common practice across the country in communities whose demographics were like the place

where I lived. For me, it raised the question of how race and place can influence when environmental analyses are conducted, and when NEPA’s requirements are ignored in determining if a federal facility (or federally funded facility) could have a significant adverse impact on surrounding communities. It also raises questions about how determinations are made concerning whose well-being matters when major infrastructure development is planned and constructed—and whose does not.

My environmental education continued. I realized early on that not only under NEPA but also other environmental statutes, flowery guarantees of equal treatment before the law were not available to everyone. My conclusion was that NEPA’s promise would only be realized if it was fully enforced and equally applied to protect against threats to human health and the environment wherever federally funded projects are involved—be they wastewater treatment plants like North River, or highways, airports, seaports, nuclear waste storage facilities, energy infrastructure, or so many other major federal projects that can impact surrounding neighborhoods.

I further discovered that very few of what we would come to define as environmental justice communities were treated equally when NEPA analyses were conducted for projects nearby these residential areas. Since the passage of the 1969 statute, too many once-thriving neighborhoods have been obliterated, dissected, cut off, or encircled by infrastructure serving large-scale federally funded facilities—often projects that brought with them benefits for the larger public but major adverse environmental and public health burdens for the local residents. These adverse effects include elevated disease rates and premature and excess mortality rates. For these unfortunate communities, the promise of the foundational statute was never theirs to realize.

Promises to Keep

Nov–Dec, 2019

As published in: ÉRASE UNA VEZ:

MARCOS NARRATIVOS

PARA CONTAR

TU HISTORIA…

Shifting Narratives to Create a Just and Sustainable World: How narratives impact social change and how they are developed, disseminated, reinforced and can be changed

Promises to Keep: A critical look at the promise of the National Environmental Protection Act through an environmental justice lens

Érase Una Vez: Narrative Framing in Spanish explores message framing in the Mexican context

Narrativa para el Cambio Social: An animated video short in Spanish that defines narrative and how it impacts social change

Find these tools and more at: METGROUP.COM/IDEAS.

Our passion for a just and sustainable world fuels our quest to build a diverse, world-class team of professionals with a commitment to community. We strive to create an inclusive work environment that fosters and celebrates the rich diversity of people, cultures and ideas in the world. As change agents, we believe reflecting the world in which we live is essential to delivering the highest-quality expertise to our clients.

In 2019, we continued to build on our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. Our cross-functional Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee continued to host monthly lunch and learns focused on racial equity, including sessions facilitated by outside trainers. Our employee resource group continued to meet in 2019 to ensure a safe and confidential space for employees of color to engage and serve as a resource for each other.

Using lessons learned from previous years, we have codified our recruitment processes. For all open positions, we post in diverse communities, network with leaders in communities of color and, when using recruiters, include increasing diversity in success criteria. We also modified our job descriptions to include bilingual preferred and starting salary ranges, finding that this has increased diversity of our candidate pools.

We will be conducting our confidential annual staff survey to ensure that we continue to create spaces for our employees to provide feedback openly. MG remains committed to being an equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace, and ensuring that we support workforce diversity through various partnerships in our local communities.

equity and inclusion

at the historic Balfour Guthrie 733 SW Oak Street Portland, OR 97205

3,194 RSF FOR LEASE

We are thrilled to announce the purchase and renovation of the National Historic Landmark and LEED Silver Balfour-Guthrie Building into a modern creative work and state of the art community convening space. Beginning late spring 2020, our MG headquarters will occupy the majority of the building, showcasing a thoughtfully designed space that fosters collaboration and creativity, and provides a community meeting resource.

We are also pleased to share that our Bay Area office has moved to Oakland, and our D.C. office has grown and will be moving to new offices with expanded collaboration and convening space right on McPherson Square in early 2020.

The Public Will Building

Thank you!We are thankful and privileged to work with our clients, partner organizations, vendors, volunteer leaders and communities to advance a more just and sustainable world. Together, we can support and build the capacity of people to leverage their power of voice. Together, we can shift and counter narratives that perpetuate inequity to powerful new narratives that open new civic space and create possibility for positive change. Together, we can advance the policy, practice, behavior and attitudinal changes that change public will and shift mindsets and expectations. As always, we hope to collaborate with you, to break bread with you and learn from each other, and to support your impact in the year to come.

Our impact

In our communitiesWe are proud of our team’s service and dedication as board members and volunteers in the communities in which we live and work. In 2019, our team volunteered over 1,100 hours for 37 organizations and causes, and as volunteers, helped raise more than $1 million to support the issues they care about.

We walk the talkIt is with excitement that we share that we have re-certified as a B Corp and were recently recognized as Best for the World (overall social impact), Best for Workers (policies, benefits, pay equity) and Best for Governance (transparency, corporate responsibility) by B Lab; Metropolitan Group scores in the top 10 percent of all B Corps worldwide on this rigorous set of standards. This is our fourth time honored as Best for the World.

strategic communication

multicultural engagement

organizational development

Metropolitan Group crafts strategic and creative services that empower social purpose organizations to build a just and sustainable world.

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