Earth Island Institute was fashioned, in one sense, to encourage people to be bold. The name Earth Island came from Margaret Mead, who urged respect for “The Island Earth.” Her famous admonition, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has,” could be the organization’s motto.

But it takes more than thoughtfulness and commitment to repair this abused planet. To make a real difference, a group, sometimes an individual, needs support in a variety of areas – a place to work, for example, money to pay the bills, a website, maybe help with press relations or advice on the political process, help in keeping the books in order, and a myriad other tasks, large and small, that can too easily detract from time better spent on the real work, whether that means combating climate change or saving an endangered species.