In an effort to better provide energy conservation education and outreach to San Francisco Bay Area communities the philanthropic program REACH (Reduce Energy and Contribute to Humanity) created by Elemental LED less than two years ago became an independently owned organization on September 1, 2012.
Elemental LED, A San Francisco Bay Area-based LED lighting company, and Reach the Future announced the completion of Elemental LED’s philanthropic REACH program into an independently owned community outreach organization called Reach the Future. Elemental LED remains a champion and supporter of Reach the Future.
After the inception of Elemental LED’s REACH program in January of 2011, Michael Gutman, former Marketing and Sustainability Consultant at Elemental LED, has been working with Elemental LED leadership to incubate a program within Elemental LED that enhances the original model to expand organizational influence and community impact.
“Reach the Future is more than just a source of free sustainability and energy conservation education,” said Gutman. “It is about greasing the gears of the green market by encouraging community collaboration between schools, businesses, nonprofits, municipalities and other San Francisco Bay Area communities.”
Gutman led REACH program efforts at Elemental LED to organize and host educational workshops and facilitate subsidies and donations within the local community. Gutman will now lead Reach the Future as an independently owned organization to more effectively direct community outreach efforts beyond the scope of Elemental LED.
“With the program’s new independence, Reach the Future’s positive impact in the community increases and pushes the green economy forward,” said Gutman.
As a program of Elemental LED, REACH conducted 30 free educational workshops, developed over 20 community partners consisting of cities, nonprofits and local businesses to help promote REACH’s mission, and donated over $6,000 worth of energy efficient LED lighting into the community. Workshop evaluation forms report a satisfaction rating of 90% and post workshop surveys report a significant increase in sustainability and energy conservation knowledge among attendees.
“The success of the REACH program at Elemental LED far exceeded our expectations. Mike’s leadership and vision proved to us that REACH could be so much more than a company program—it could be a leading energy-conservation organization in the Bay Area,” said Elemental LED Marketing Manager Charlotte Dick.
Gutman is in the process of creating the REACH Alliance, a network of local, sustainably minded businesses as an initial step in Reach the Future’s growth. Elemental LED is Reach the Future’s first alliance member and is the exclusive lighting business in the REACH Alliance. Gutman is looking to carefully select local businesses to exclusively represent other industries in the Reach Alliance such as solar, energy efficient HVAC, insulation, energy management software, green landscaping and more. Gutman has plans to double the size of Reach the Future and triple the organization’s community impact in his first year of business.
Gutman has eight years of marketing experience and has spent the last three years focused on promoting sustainability for nonprofits and local businesses. His passion for sustainability was ignited four years ago after coming to a conclusion on his travels to developing worlds that efficient use of natural resources, responsible consumption and waste management could be greatly improved across cultures.
“In a world with finite resources, something has to give,” said Gutman. “It’s up to us to develop a new, more sustainable dream to sell the rest of the world and what better place to develop that dream than in the San Francisco Bay Area and what better time than now?”
To learn more about how your business can benefit from joining the REACH Alliance, visit www.ReachTheFuture.org. To learn more about Elemental LED, visit www.ElementalLED.com.
