about growing climate solutions
Growing Climate Solutions understands that community resilience is best achieved by building partnerships across our region.
Growing Climate Solutions’ network of organizations and stakeholders is a community of partners who share knowledge and experiences. Interacting with other local businesses, discussing ideas among diverse congregations of faith and acting alongside others allows our community to leverage resources. Moving forward together, we amplify impacts of our solutions and their visibility in the community, inspiring others to join in as well.
Our Principles:
Build climate awareness using proven communication, education, and engagement strategies.
Protect our natural
assets using
strategies rooted in an
understanding of how
they provide resilience
Engage and empower community leaders to inspire, guide and support decisions and local actions that will make our region resilient
Ensure a prosperous and
healthy community by
supporting inclusive decision
making and equitable solutions
that create resilience
Increase the visibility of
local climate action by
celebrating successes
and becoming a national
role model
HELP US GET ON A “PATH TO POSITIVE” FUTURE!
Our Founding Partners
A joint initiative of four of Southwest Florida’s most respected charitable, educational and environmental organizations, Growing Climate Solutions seeks to cultivate community leaders from the business, health, civic, faith and non-profit sectors across the five-county region to engage their institutions and stakeholders in actions to address both the causes and impacts of our changing climate.
We are supported by ecoAmerica, creators of the proven Path to Positive climate engagement model. Through our ecoAmerica partnership, we offer research-tested, downloadable climate communication and engagement guides and resources tailored for specific audiences, including health professionals, faith leaders and public servants.
Together, we believe in building deep and lasting support for climate action in
Southwest Florida.
Community Foundation of Collier County
The Community Foundation of Collier County works to inspire ideas, ignite action and mobilize resources to address community needs in Collier County. The Community Foundation was incorporated in 1985 by local visionaries who believed that a community foundation in Naples, like foundations in other cities across the country, could help charitable-minded people create legacies for the immediate and future needs of the area.
The Collaboratory
the-COLLABORATORY is an exclusive online community whose members share their experiences, thoughts and opinions in research studies. These studies cover cultural trends, new products and services, and personal interests and activities. They provide insights that shape the future thinking of businesses and organizations around the world.
Florida Gold Coast University
Florida Gulf Coast University, a comprehensive institution of higher education, offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs of strategic importance to Southwest Florida and beyond. FGCU seeks academic excellence in the development of selected programs and centers of distinction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, health professions, business and marine and environmental sciences.
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Conservancy of Southwest Florida is a private nonprofit that works to protect Southwest Florida’s natural treasures – our water, our land and our wildlife – and to educate and advocate within the five-county Southwest Florida region. The Conservancy is committed to helping citizens stay informed and assisting our government and business leaders with science-based research encouraging them to make growth decisions that keep the health, well-being and sustainability of our region in mind.
ecoAmerica and Path to Positive
We are a proud partner of ecoAmerica’s Path to Positive Communities program.
Path to Positive Communities is a national program supporting communities in climate engagement by amplifying support for local climate mitigation and resilience efforts through partnerships with trusted institutions and diverse local leaders across key community sectors. It provides sector-specific engagement strategy and content designed to broaden public awareness and support for local policies and programs.
Growing Climate Solutions also draws on ecoAmerica’s Blessed Tomorrow and Climate for Health programs to build cross-sector capacity in climate outreach, action and advocacy.
About Our
Regional Director
Dr. Ana Puszkin-Chevlin joined Growing Climate Solutions: Path to Positive Southwest Florida in 2019 as its first regional director. She is a champion for sustainable policies with extensive experience helping communities become climate resilient.
As regional director, Puszkin-Chevlin oversees climate education and outreach efforts to accomplish the partnership’s primary goals: empower community members and leaders to initiate change, ensure a prosperous and healthy community, build climate literacy and protect natural assets.
Puszkin-Chevlin previously was sustainability officer for the City of Delray Beach, where she was responsible for developing and implementing the city’s sustainability policies, programs and project initiatives. These included climate literacy and resiliency, adaptation and education, transition to renewable energy, water and energy conservation, advancement of green building principles, community recycling efforts, green municipal government, sea-turtle and tree canopy protection, and green and equitable economic development.
Her 30-year career also includes working in the corporate real estate sector and in academia as a senior research fellow with Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Urban & Environmental Solutions, special project officer and assistant director of graduate programs of urban planning at Columbia University, and chief operating officer for Health Sciences Consultant Group.
Puszkin-Chevlin earned doctorate and master’s degrees in urban planning from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Oberlin College.
Get involved
As part of our efforts to engage the community, build climate awareness and empower Southwest Florida residents, businesses and civic institutions, Growing Climate Solutions: Path to Positive Southwest Florida encourages business, faith and community organizations to get involved and help advance climate awareness and action in Southwest Florida.