Storytelling for Engagement and Trust

Provides certification training for food and beverage professionals, including WSET Level 1 and Level 2 Awards in Wines, ServSafe, and TIPS programs, to build expertise in wine knowledge and safe service practices.

Offers private hands-on cooking classes, wine and craft beverage tastings, team-building sessions, happy hours, meetings, retreats, and other gatherings in a flexible event space. Also provides expertly curated tastings and culinary programming for corporate and nonprofit groups.

Manages a four-season public garden with native plants, herbs, and apple trees designed to support pollinators and promote healthy ecosystems as part of its educational and sustainability mission.

Runs a restaurant serving comfort food made with New York State-sourced ingredients, including cheese and beef, and operates a market offering hot and cold lunch options, New York-made food products, beverages, snacks, and specialty gifts at the Finger Lakes Welcome Center.

Operates a tasting room featuring 100% New York State products, including rotating selections of over 60 wines and 10 taps of craft beer, cider, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages, available for on-site consumption and take-home purchase in growlers or bottles. The tasting room is open year-round with seasonal outdoor seating on a terrace during warmer months.

Offers hands-on cooking and beverage classes for participants of all ages and skill levels, including culinary demonstrations, cocktail education, and craft beverage appreciation, led by professional chefs and instructors. Programs include comfort food preparation using New York State-sourced ingredients and are available year-round.

Provides hands-on culinary education for youth aged 12–18 through the Junior Chef program, including summer camps and school-based programming, with a focus on underserved communities in Upstate NY and the Finger Lakes region. Approximately half of participants are engaged through community-based nonprofit partners.

Advocates for policies supporting sustainable aquaculture, healthy fisheries, and agricultural decarbonization, including shaping the bipartisan SEAfood Act and promoting conservation funding in the Farm Bill to support farmers and ranchers in addressing the climate crisis.

Runs campaigns to counter misinformation about electric vehicles and climate policy, including clarifying that the Biden administration is not banning gas vehicles and opposing Project 2025’s proposed dismantling of NOAA and FEMA.

Supports climate champion candidates in federal, state, and local elections through financial contributions, member mobilization, door-to-door outreach, voter contact calls, and targeted advertising in English and Spanish. Spent over $20 million in the 2024 election cycle, contributing to victories in multiple races.

Conducts sustained advocacy at federal and state levels to advance clean energy, climate action, and environmental protections, including lobbying Congress, generating constituent emails, running paid media campaigns, and organizing press and media events. Efforts have contributed to the passage of clean energy plans, national methane standards, congestion pricing in New York, and groundwater protections in the Southwest.

Distributes voter guides, hosts in-person and virtual volunteer events, and conducts social media outreach to educate and mobilize members on climate and environmental issues. Efforts include deploying field organizers, filling canvassing and phone banking shifts, and growing organizational membership to over 110,000.

Conducts public opinion polling on climate and energy issues and operates MethaneSAT, a satellite launched in 2024 to monitor global methane emissions and inform policy and enforcement efforts.

Designs and implements strategic advocacy campaigns to reframe public understanding of climate issues, including linking extreme weather events to climate change through initiatives like the “unnatural disasters” campaign and deploying triggered media buying technology during extreme weather events to increase public engagement.

Conducts large-scale research on public beliefs, attitudes, and messaging effectiveness related to clean energy and climate change across multiple countries, using methods such as message testing, randomized controlled trials, focus groups, and ad measurement. Findings are based on studies representing 70% of the world’s population, including testing of 18 climate policies with nearly 60,000 people across 23 countries, analysis of over 3 billion served ads, and nearly 2,000 hours of individual feedback.

Deploys human-centered, research-informed marketing and advertising campaigns to shift public narratives around climate change and increase support for climate solutions. Campaigns include educational advertising, media outreach, and narrative strategies such as the "For Our Daughters" initiative and the film "Later Is Too Late," reaching millions of moderate suburban women and generating hundreds of thousands of new climate supporters.

Develops and distributes practical, research-based communication materials such as messaging guides, playbooks, tipsheets, and digital resource hubs to equip nonprofit, corporate, and media leaders with effective climate communication strategies. These include unbranded, downloadable content and social-first materials used by over 100 climate organizations.

Provides grants ranging from $500 to $10,000 to small and mid-sized American farmers for projects they design, including equipment repair, infrastructure development, climate disaster recovery, and innovation. The program includes Foundational Grants ($500–$1,000), Land Stewardship Grants ($5,000), and Transformational Grants (up to $10,000), with funding decisions informed by member nominations, public voting, and farmer applications. In 2025, 102 farmers were funded from a pool of 370 applicants.