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Make Your Giving Tuesday Gift Today

GivingTuesday is a global day of generosity that takes place TODAY! GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past ten years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

When you make a gift on Giving Tuesday, you’re supporting more than Stewardship Partners; you’re also supporting the wildlife, people, and natural splendor of our Puget Sound home. Your donation attests to the importance of clean water, healthy salmon and wildlife habitats, sustainable agriculture, healthy communities, and overall stewardship of our shared environment. We hope you will consider supporting us!

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Thank You for Your Support All Year Long

Just like that, we come to the close of another year. As we reflect, our team is proud of our solutions-driven work, facilitating partnerships and creating measurable positive impacts on the environment and neighborhoods across the region.

2023 represented a bit of a “return to normal” for us. In March, we held the 8th annual Green Infrastructure Summit of the Salish Sea, back in person for the first time since 2019. In September, our Feast on the Farm fundraiser returned in person for the second time, and we were so fulfilled getting to see our friends and supporters out on the farm, enjoying the scenic beauty. We also got our hands dirty restoring the Snoqualmie Valley, and in October, we brought out our partners from Duke’s Seafood for our first restoration event with that group since 2018. We loved seeing all of you in person more, and what a great year it was!

Stewardship Partners would not be here without you. Thank you for being dedicated to our team and our mission and loving this special place we call home. Please consider Stewardship Partners in your annual giving this year.

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Feast Tickets Now on Sale!

You can now purchase tickets for Feast on the Farm, on Saturday September 16th in Carnation! Come be a part of this magical night at Griffin Creek Farm, a Stewardship Partner dedicated to sustainable farming practices. Feast on the bounty of food prepared by local chef Lisa Dupar. Raise a glass of wine and break bread with like-minded community members engaged in caring for our region. After dinner, settle in on a haystack to the sounds of musician Lila Forde, and her inspired fusion of jazz, folk, and singer-songwriter.

Tickets are on sale now! Purchase them here

Sponsorships are still available, please contact us if you are interested. If you cannot attend the event, we encourage you to to support our work by making a donation.

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Goodbye Chef Bill

It’s with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that our good friend and stewardship partner Bill Ranniger passed away recently after a battle with cancer.  Bill was the Executive Chef at Duke’s Seafood and had a profound love for the Northwest, the environment, salmon, music, and community. His passion for food and wine ran deep, as did his belief in the importance of sourcing from local farms and selecting wild, natural and sustainable seafood.

Bill was a smart, caring, and loving person that would share his big smile and positive energy with everyone around. Duke’s was one of the first businesses to Adopt-a-Buffer in the Snoqualmie Valley, back in 2016.  He loved planting trees, removing blackberry bushes, and sharing his thoughts. “It’s a great day for saving a salmon and making some oxygen!” he once told me.  We will miss you Bill.

–Executive Director, David Burger

Bill’s family requests that memorial gifts be designated to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center for cancer research.

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Welcome Bryan Haakenson to the Board

We are thrilled to welcome Bryan Haakenson, Principal and Senior Project Manager at GLY, to the Stewardship Partners Board of Directors! A Northwest native who embodies every aspect of GLY’s collaborative, community-centered approach, Bryan provides leadership on projects in the heart of thriving residential, educational, and corporate campuses that are fully occupied during construction. His unique skills, personality, and temperament make him ideally suited to work within occupied settings to safely and expediently deliver new construction nestled in with renovated spaces. Bryan oversees the GLY Sustainability Advocacy group and focuses efforts to reduce GLY’s operational carbon footprint. He and his family enjoy all the outdoor activities the PNW has to offer, including boating in the summer and skiing in the winter.

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Thank You Olivia!

At the end of May we are saying bye to our wonderful intern, Olivia Schwartz. Olivia joined Stewardship Partners in September and was quickly involved in Feast on the Farm, a big event for a newcomer! Since starting she has worked with the whole staff on projects from Adopt-a-Buffer to Salmon-Safe to Sound Impacts and did an amazing job at the Green Infrastructure Summit of the Salish Sea. Throughout her internship she demonstrated all the values of a Stewardship Partner and put up with the sometimes hectic Feast and Summit with a great attitude. We wish her the best as she graduates from UW and moves on to new opportunities. Thank you Olivia!  

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We Need Your Help!

Stewardship Partners is currently seeking volunteers to help with a few specific tasks. These needs would require someone with specific skills who would be willing to donate their time to help us with projects! If you have these skills and would like to volunteer please reach out! We are looking for:

-A welder – To help us with a green infrastructure installation (Location: Seattle)
-A photographer – To help us get great pictures of Feast on the Farm and possibly other events (Location: Carnation)
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The 8th Annual Green Infrastructure Summit: An Amazing Convergence of Like Minds and Hearts

It seems like absence really does make the heart grow fonder. After 3 years of virtual Summits, on March 17th, we were finally able to gather about 230 leaders of the green infrastructure movement together in person (with a couple dozen more joining us online). It was great to see everyone (and the sunshine didn’t hurt either)! Faces and perspectives new and old gathered at Cascadia College in Bothell for the 8th annual Green Infrastructure Summit of the Salish Sea. The host committee’s chosen theme of “money as medicine, historic investments are a historic opportunity for healing*”, helped us all consider our work with shared goals of healing harms, environmental, social, and otherwise.

Over the course of 8 summits in 8 years, a lot has happened. But one theme has persisted throughout: How can we repair environmental damage in a way that heals our social wounds as well? Or put in the terms that Host committee member Bridget Ray spoke, the people here belong to this land, are of this land, not the other way around, and when we work to heal and care for one, we must keep that relationship in mind. This is happening. Investments in green infrastructure are taking community-identified goals and needs into account. Some of those goals relate to workforce and career pathways. Others talked about the very rich complexity of community-centered strategies. Green infrastructure is increasingly helping create accessible outdoor spaces in the form of stormwater parks.

Most of the sessions (all the ones in the auditorium) were recorded and will remain available for you to watch and share with your colleagues on the summit webpage (along with content from past summits).

“While I didn’t know it at the time, this summit was my last in my current role. I couldn’t have asked for a more rewarding send off than that. I am profoundly grateful for this community, your vision, your love for this land and all the people that belong to it.” -A note from Aaron Clark

*Acknowledgement to Edgar Villanueva who popularized the concept ‘money as medicine’ in his important book, Decolonizing Wealth.

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Welcoming New Crew Members!

Stewardship Partners is thrilled to welcome Kiersten and Lauren to the team. They joined us in early April as part of our Snoqualmie Stewardship Habitat Restoration crew. They jumped right into helping us install and plant the Carnation Elementary School rain garden (the second one there) and the Griffin Creek Farm rain garden. We look forward to having a full crew in the Snoqualmie once again!