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What a rich and fertile mix of 2012 Grant Partners (GPs) -- scientists, educators, filmmakers, documentarians, journalists, photographers, social activists, artists, and locavores.  Now six years into my vision for creating Invoking The Pause, I continue to be inspired by the variety of creative, collaborative projects GPs birth.

This year's crop run the gamut, including a look at how climate change is impacting our lives in "real time" - from indigenous tribes in Brazil's Amazon to California agriculture on both smaller, organic farms as well as larger agribusiness in the Central Valley.

One of my joys over the past 2 years has been to help amplify the GP's impact and enable greater connectivity -- with each other, myself, and the larger public. Recently, I heard from the current GPs on their "pauses" to date.  Here, in their own words, is the latest 'dirt':

C2C (Change 2 Climate) - Bodhi Garrett
Documentary Film "The Organic Life" -   Casey Beck
Science House Foundation - Joshua Fouts
Inner Transition - Trathen Heckman
Center For Investigative Reporting - Mark Schapiro
Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment - Nicole Heller

“The overarching theme of this quest is sponsored in large part under the umbrella of Maggie Kaplan’s “Invoking the Pause” project, which provided the core funding for our journey. Invoking the Pause is part of Maggie’s philanthropic efforts to expand the awareness of the impact of climate change on our planet. Invoking the Pause supports a team to go to place of beauty to contemplate the challenge.

After one week in the Amazon among the Ashaninka people, today’s post will reflect on what I’ve learned so far from my Pause…”     Read more

“We did it!! Just before the close of 2011, XSProject received notice that the organization had been admitted to the WFTO Asia. WFTO Asia is a regional chapter of the World Fair Trade Organization, the global leader in certifying local producers as adherents to Fair Trade standards.”

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XS Leadership Transitions to Local Team

“A little over two years ago, when I started working with XSProject, the organization was close to going out of business. The non-profit was being run primarily by volunteers, product sales were not covering expenses, and there were limited prospects for new revenue. The situation was dire. Thanks to Invoking The Pause, a group of committed supporters, and the dedication of the team on the ground in Indonesia, we were able to turn the situation around.”

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After receiving many innovative proposals, Invoking The Pause is pleased to announce its 2012 Grant Partners. We look forward to a fertile relationship and abundant harvest with the following Partners:

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We take great pleasure in sharing the stories of our Grant Partners (GPs) and their projects in the Invoking The Pause (ITP) blog posts. What is most rewarding is to hear back that these stories have an impact on you. Libby Modern of the Super Power Magic Motion Machine (SPMM) shared that she found inspiration (and maybe a bit of comfort) reading the recent blog posts about the CityLab7 pop-up mushroom project and its circuitous evolution.

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The CityLab7 [storefront] Mushroom Farm opened on February 20th with a “healthy dose of surprises and delights” including an amusing wish granted by ITP founder Maggie Kaplan.

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In the past two months we’ve celebrated New Year’s Day (on the Gregorian calendar), Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, and now at ITP, we’re commemorating our own new beginnings: our 2012 grant cycle.

The 2012 deadline arrived at midnight February 1st, and the results are an incredible range of grant proposals. Teams from as far as Thailand, and diverse as students, professors, artists, scientists, photographers, and journalists have submitted proposals for their creative collaborations on climate change.

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