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SUSTAINABILITY
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Continuing a pursuit that George and Cynthia Mitchell began in the mid 1960s, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation seeks to fund high impact projects at the nexus of environmental protection, social equity and economic vibrancy.
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Notable Initiatives |
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Recognizing that two of the greatest challenges in the pursuit of global sustainability lie in the areas of energy and water, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation has begun to focus its sustainability funding in these two areas within the state of Texas.
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Clean Energy Future for Texas |
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With a $6 million pledge in 2008, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation partnered with the Energy Foundation to launch a three-year initiative to fund a portfolio of non-profit organizations advancing a clean energy future for Texas. As the global leader of the traditional energy industry, Texas has enormous technical, financial, and educational expertise in energy exploration, production, and marketing. Now is the time to harness the state's expertise and can-do attitude to ensure that Texas emerges as the leading clean energy economy in the United States and the world. Doing so will create additional jobs and economic growth for Texas, secure an affordable and reliable domestic energy supply, and ensure opportunity for future generations of Texans.
Through its grants portfolio of approximately $1 million per year, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation continues to support a clean energy economy in Texas by funding improvements in energy efficiency, building codes, advanced transportation fuels, and displacement of traditional coal power generation with responsibly produced natural gas and renewable energy.
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Enhanced Water Quality for Texas |
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Over the past 15 years, individual contributions from George and Cynthia Mitchell, as well as grants from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, have totaled approximately $3.5 million toward efforts to protect the fragile groundwater springs of the Edwards Aquifer of Central Texas. This support has been spearheaded by their son, Kirk Mitchell, a passionate advocate of central Texas's unique water resources, whose own contributions are almost $2 million to date. A majority of the funding from Mitchell family sources has supported Save Our Springs Alliance in Austin and its affiliates of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance.
In 2010, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation committed an additional $3 million over three years to fund a portfolio of grants to non-profit organizations working toward a future of enhanced water quality and quantity for Texas, with an emphasis on seeking a sustainable balance between human and environmental uses. With regional population and economic growth comes increasing stress on limited water supplies and impacts on water quality. The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation's water program emphasizes policy measures that improve water conservation and make Central Texas a leader in water conservation policies and practices; protect Hill Country rivers and springs; preserve existing, undeveloped groundwater supplies and quality; and promote the linkages between water conservation and energy efficiency to maximize the benefit from this low-cost, high-benefit strategy that is currently underutilized.
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The Mitchell family's philanthropy in support of Sustainability Science at the National Academy traces its roots to the mid-1980s. Determined that science had a major role to play in informing policymakers on issues of global sustainability, George Mitchell lobbied the organization to marshal its resources to engage in periodic "foresight" reports for the benefit of lawmakers. Such a report had been generated within the Carter administration some years earlier and resulted in the publication of The Global 2000 Report to the President. Though a good start, George was frustrated that subsequent administrations killed the idea of foresight reporting and felt the undertaking should be removed from the political arena and taken up by the non-partisan and highly respected National Academy of Sciences. He also felt that the private sector had a role to play in advising the National Academy and urged the organization to create the Presidents' Circle, of which he became a founding member in 1989.
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Our Common Journey |
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His relationship with the National Academy escalated in the mid-90s when George and Cynthia Mitchell, together with Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., underwrote a multi-year research program that culminated in the 1999 publication, Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability. According to the National Academy of Sciences, this "landmark" report "redefined the role science and technology can play in sustainable development. Our Common Journey helped establish the National Academies' long-term commitment to research for global economic development that maximizes the efficient and wise use of the Earth's resources."
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George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science |
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In 2002, through a $20 million multi-year commitment, George and Cynthia Mitchell and the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation established the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science at the National Academy of Sciences. The purpose of the endowment is to be held in perpetuity by the Academy and used to guide academic, government, and other institutions in the development of sustainability science and to encourage the world's business community to apply knowledge from this emerging field in business practices.
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Related Articles |
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Founded in 1982 by George Mitchell, Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) began in partnership with four regional universities as a broad-range consortium dedicated to basic, applied, and policy research funded by contracts, grants, and gifts. In 2000, under the leadership of George and Cynthia Mitchell's son, Todd Mitchell, HARC embarked on a strategic initiative to narrow and refine its focus. Given the needs of the region, the interests of its founder, and HARC's successful work in the field, it was restructured as an organization dedicated entirely to applying and further developing sustainability science at the regional level. Today HARC is a non-partisan, non-profit research organization dedicated to moving knowledge to action to improve human well-being and to protect the environment. HARC has combined its traditional engineering and technology strength with its 29-year history addressing regional and global environmental challenges to refocus its operating core competency: facilitating the adoption of technologies and policies that lead to a sustainable balance between human and environmental needs.
With a $25 million grant in 2005, George Mitchell established the Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science. Income from this endowment gives HARC the stability to pursue in perpetuity its mission to advance technologies and policies that support regional sustainability.
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In 2007, George Mitchell created the George P. Mitchell '40 Chair in Marine Sciences. The $1 million endowment funds teaching, research, service, and professional development activities in marine sciences.
In 2008, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation donated $2 million to establish two chairs at Texas A&M University at Galveston.
The George P. Mitchell '40 Chair in Sustainable Fisheries focuses on the research and teaching that provide the basic knowledge and tools necessary to sustain marine fisheries for recreation and food. In particular, the chair holder concentrates on economically important fisheries and the critical ecosystems necessary to maintain their health and long-term viability in Texas, national, and international waters.
The George P. Mitchell '40 Chair in Sustainable Coasts focuses on the research and teaching that provide the basic knowledge and tools necessary to sustain our coasts, including the Gulf Coast and beyond. The chair holder is closely associated with the legislatively-established Center for Texas Beaches and Shores at Texas A&M University at Galveston.
With a $25 million grant in 2005, George Mitchell established the Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science. Income from this endowment gives HARC the stability to pursue in perpetuity its mission to advance technologies and policies that support regional sustainability.
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In 2002, George and Cynthia donated $2 million to fund the George and Cynthia Mitchell Chair in Sustainable Development and Environmental Economics within the Department of Economics at Rice University.
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The Mitchell family and the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation together own approximately 5,600 acres of piney woods forestland in an area of southeast Texas that is rapidly giving way to residential and urban growth. The property has an active habitat management program first developed and implemented by George and Cynthia's daughter, Sheridan Lorenz, and now directed by granddaughter, Sarah Scott Mitchell. The program's goal is to return the ecosystem to pre-settlement condition and enhance the habitat for endangered and threatened species that call Cook's Branch home. A rare example of habitat restoration and preservation, the healthy forests of Cook's Branch Conservancy are among the few remaining in private hands in the region.
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| This website chronicles the philanthropy of the George and Cynthia Mitchell family as their pattern of giving evolves into the growing programs of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation. |
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