August is for Neighbors

August has been a busy month for Root + Branch. We sponsored and helped organize two neighborhood block parties for the South Side of Columbus, Ohio, and boy are we bounce house-ed out!

Root + Branch gets involved with projects like this because creating spaces for community members to gather, meet each other and celebrate the neighborhood are vital to creating connected, thriving neighborhoods. Enjoy these pictures of all the fun we had. And come join us next time!

 

 

One party was put on in partnership with Restoration Hope, South Side Thrive Collaborative and the United Way. The second event was hosted in partnership with the Schumacher Place Civic Association, with help from the United Way. All the thanks to every volunteer, participant, vendor, non profit and attendee for helping put on these fantastic events!

Three Startup Lessons

We’re only a few years into our mission, and so in many ways we still view ourselves as a start-up. We live that lean startup life with small but strong committed team, including members working from other cities, and advisors giving their expertise in their own time. We work in office spaces and coffee shops, and we have an office dog that serves as hour HQ mascot! We are always looking to other start-ups, to share best practices and lessons learned. And when we find a couple of good tips, we like to share!

Over at Ellevate, a network of boss ladies collaborating and supporting each other (and a fellow Benefit corps, B Corps shout out!), Moha Shah a ScaleUp Advisor at TiE-Boston shared three lessons she learned at a Start Up. In essence she found that skills, founders and learning culture make a difference!

Read more on the Ellevate Blog.

 

Sharing the Benefits of Solar in DC: Georgetown University

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our first project through the Neighborhood Solar Equity initiative. We have partnered with community centered solar developer, Community Renewable Energy to install 1.1 mW on Georgetown’s campus, making it one of the largest on site solar arrays in Washington, D.C.

Through an innovative project model the system will produce renewable energy for the University and amplify the benefits of solar for the District of Columbia.

We created the model to serve the energy needs of the University, while also ensuring the surrounding neighborhoods benefit from the renewable energy. Profits from the system have been dedicated by the partners toward reinvestment in DC neighborhoods, including through a “Community Investment Fund” which, in collaboration with Georgetown University, will support clean energy projects in low-income areas of the District.

The project is expected to generate about 1.5 million kilowatt-hours of power each year, contributing to a cleaner electric grid and offsetting an estimated 25,506 US tons of CO2 in it’s lifetime, which is the equivalent of planting 593,300 trees in D.C. Installed at no cost to the university, the project is expected to save the university over $3 million on energy costs over 20 years.  Furthermore, it’s anticipated to catalyze over $1.5 million more in local community investment.

Read more about our Neighborhood Solar Equity initiative, access the Georgetown University Solar- Press Release 4.22.17, or read more from our friends at Georgetown.

 

 

Ellevate Podcast and B Corps

As a women run business, we are big fans of the Ellevate Podcast: Conservations with Women Changing the Face of Business. Ellevate hosts real women having a real impact to discuss the their experiences and takeaways from their careers.

We especially enjoyed this week’s podcast discussing Benefit Corps and their role and mission in the business world: “B Corps, Using the Power of Business to Create Social Change.”

Highly recommend having a listen!