Center for Political Ecology is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (77-0254129) based in Santa Cruz, California.
Incorporated as the Center for Ecological Socialism in 1989 with an endowment from its founder, economist and social theorist James O’Connor, investment income allowed the development of a critical social network that sought to educate and inform a larger public through the publication of newsletters, discussion papers, books and the journal Capitalism, Nature, Socialism. In 1994, the Center reorganized as the Center for Political Ecology (CPE), a change reflecting the increasing involvement of its members in knowledge production as a means to inform and shape action.
In addition to endowment and journal income, funding for Center for Political Ecology action-research initiatives over the past decade has been provided by the generous contributions of individual donors and foundations including The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fund, The Christensen Fund, Urgent Fund for Woman’s Human Rights, and the Swift Foundation. Work has also been sustained through alliances with agencies (for example, UNESCO-IHP water and cultural diversity initiative and the United Nations University Advanced Studies Institute Traditional Knowledge Initiative); and organizations (for example, the Chixoy Reparations Campaign partnership between CPE, International Rivers, Reform the World Bank-Italy, and Rights Action with support from the Ford Foundation, Global Greengrants Fund, Grassroots International, Global Fund for Human Rights, Moriah Fund, Sigrid Rausing Trust, and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation).
TO VIEW our most recent Statement of Financial Position and IRS report (7/1/2014 – 6/30/2015) click here: CPE 990-N 14-15 fiscal year
FISCAL POLICY: We are a flexible, resilient cyber-based organization. We pay no office rent, as our CPE files and archives are maintained by Board Members at no cost and the collective work of researchers and collaborators largely takes place in cyberspace with communications through internet and skype. We have no fulltime administrative staff. Officers, board members, and researchers serve as pro-bono advisors except when their work is specifically defined as part of the annual operating costs of the Center, or in project-specific budgets funded through private donors and foundation grants. In these instances, CPE members develop and manage their project-specific grants and receive funds as independent sub-contracted consultants. Our finances are managed through contract-specific agreements. This minimalist approach allows us to direct the vast majority of incoming funds in support of project-specific needs.