Becoming An Affiliate
COCO is a nonprofit organization that serves coalitions and collaboratives. We were founded in 2014 as a way of increasing on-the-ground, stakeholder-driven conservation.
COCO defines an affiliate as an organization that has entered into an agreement to collaboratively work with COCO. These organizations respond to our world’s largest environmental problems. By learning and sharing together, we can implement the best practices within the conservation field. COCO affiliates collaborate with a broad range of stakeholders to effect landscape level changes to benefit our environment, economy, and communities.
For our purposes, coalitions and collaboratives are stakeholder-driven organizations that include stakeholder representatives from government entities, other nonprofit organizations, and the public.
- We define coalitions as formal 501(c)3 organizations, and collaboratives as informal organizations.
- A collaborative may be a stepping stone to a coalition; it may be a short-term informal organization that lives only for the time of a specific project or program, or it may remain in existence for years but not feel compelled to become a formal nonprofit corporation.
To become COCO affiliate the organization shall commit to the following tenets of collaborative conservation and the principles:
- It must be highly accountable, transparent, and ethical.
- It must be inclusive (for example, not just made up of government entities, though government entities must be directly invested; various nongovernmental stakeholders must also be represented).
- It must be driven by strong consensus.
- It must work on a watershed, ecosystem or landscape basis.
- It must employ best-available science and adaptive management.
- It must work for people and the planet within its selected area.
- It must engage and educate citizens in issues.
- It must not be, in its own right, a strong advocacy group, though stakeholders within a coalition or collaborative may be strong advocates through their respective positions and the groups they represent in a coalition or collaboration. When it does engage in advocacy, it must be based on a strong consensus with input from all stakeholders.
Access to COCO resources:
- Networking – Participation in an extensive network of practitioners and experts and invitations to participate in National, State and local Learning Networks
- Funding – Affiliates are eligible for funding and grants, travel and training reimbursements.
- Recognition – Increased visibility of your organization’s work – you will be highlighted on our webpage, your stories shared on our blog posts and other social media platforms
- Technology – Access to COCO developed technology solutions and services, such as Mobile Mapping and staff timekeeping programs.
We focus on building relationships and increasing capacity of organizations working on community and landscape level conservation efforts. Entities we support must work with a broad stakeholder base that includes local community leaders, NGOs, fire departments and government agencies. As we grow, we will work to continually identify potential affiliates and partners that work within our areas of interest.
COCO does not accept unsolicited requests or proposals.
We strive to maintain open and clear communication with potential affiliates. If you have any questions about our process please contact us. If you believe your organization fits with our mission and our requirements, please contact COCO’s Collaborative Conservation Specialist.
Your Point of Contact
Cassidy received her M.S. in Forest Resources and her B.S. in Environmental Health Science from the University of Georgia. Her studies focused on collaborative partnership building and conserving and restoring forests for adequate supplies of clean drinking water. She grew up on the banks of the North Fork of the Gunnison River near Paonia, Colorado. She has guided multi-day river expeditions on some of America’s biggest whitewater, worked on fishing boats in Hawaii, and explored Southeast Alaska as a fly-in lodge’s adventure guide. Her wanderlust has taken her to the jungles of Borneo and the canals of Venice. These experiences have given her an invaluable perspective on human interactions with landscapes and the anthropogenic stressors our societies create.
Today, Cassidy works to deepen our understanding of and relationships with native ecosystems and improve cooperative efforts to better protect them for generations to come. She envisions a future where natural and built environments interact in a way that is protective of human health and ecosystem function. Cassidy has extensive experience bringing together diverse stakeholders to address complex natural resource concerns. Prior to joining COCO, she developed and implemented the Oconee River Watershed Partnership in Northeast Georgia and coordinated the Appalachian Trail Landscape Partnership on behalf of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and National Park Service. Her motto is “Education through recreation.”