In honour of CharityVillage®’s 15th anniversary, we celebrate this sector’s changemakers, individual men and women who have made significant contributions to the nonprofit and charitable arena, making change and a difference in the lives of many.

Due to their hard work and innumerable accomplishments (sung and unsung) we have seen this sector grow and evolve in the past 15 years, establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with. They make us so very proud and for that we salute them.

When it comes to promoting Canada’s environment and alternative sources of energy, the name Marlo Raynolds certainly comes to mind. As executive director of the Pembina Institute — an organization that conducts research and advocacy work and provides consulting services to companies, governments and nonprofit groups — Raynolds has earned himself a formidable reputation. In fact, his hard work and dedication to the green movement led his to recent recognition as one of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40”.

CharityVillage®: What inspired you to take the road of an environmentalist or sustainable energy activist?

Marlo Raynolds: My younger sister had a lot of influence on me, that’s for sure. She was an environmental activist right from the get-go, starting high school clubs and stuff like that. She really sparked some good kitchen table conversations. And so, in a lot of ways, that got me interested in some of the issues. Then I ended up spending four months in southern Germany working for a wildlife society and that got me further interested in the issues. And it just spiralled after that.

CV: When studying in university, did you already know this was the direction you wanted your career to take?

MR: No, quite frankly, I was very ignorant about environmental issues going into university. I had obviously been exposed to some of the pieces and had some good conversations. But I went into university not really knowing what I wanted to do. I went into systems design engineering because it was one of the more flexible fields of engineering and allowed me to explore the options. It really wasn’t until mid-way through where it clicked for me, that the connection between energy and environment was really where I wanted to spend my time.

CV: You were recently honoured with the “Top 40 Under 40” designation; how did that make you feel?

MR: It was exciting, encouraging. I was recognized with a pretty neat group of young Canadians, all doing a lot of hard work, very likely to be pretty influential people in the future. So it was quite an honour — and a lot of fun.

CV: Pembina is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. You’ve been there since 1995 so you have perspective on this question: has the mission evolved over the years?

MR: I think our vision about a far more sustainable world, and especially, a sustainable energy system, hasn’t really changed. I would say our approach hasn’t changed either – we’re still very much a bridging organization between the government sector, other environmental organizations and the corporate sector. We find ourselves most comfortable in that murky middle. Sometimes I call it the Bermuda Triangle. A good day for me is when I’m getting slings and arrows from all three sides.

But I think, over the years, our need to focus and our ability to focus on a smaller subset of challenges with energy and environment [has evolved]. We’ve really refined our focus onto improving the oil sands, advancing climate change policies and renewable energy and improving our transportation system. So we don’t work on toxic issues as it relates to ?broad toxic?, but as it connects to energy issues. And we work on water issues as it connects to energy issues so we’re not focused on broad water programs. I think over the years, there’s been a fine refinement of our focus which has been very healthy.

CV: What are the accomplishments you are most proud of?

MR: I think the biggest thing for me is the team we managed to build and keep together. When I joined as executive director, we were going through some pretty tough times as an organization and we were 35 staff. Now we’re at 50 staff and [have more than]over doubled our gross revenue. It wasn’t a mission about growth — we grew with the demand that kind of emerged. And that’s a lot of growth to go through for an organization; it really changes roles and responsibilities and the type of systems you have to have in place. So I’m quite proud of the organization we’ve been able to build together and that we instilled a real sense of community in the organization. We have offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and other places. It came together as such a networked organization, it was a challenge but we’ve been able to do that. So I guess the organizational capacity and influence is what I’m most proud of.

CV: You also recently opened an office in Washington and had the opportunity to speak with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. How can these efforts inspire steps forward?

MR: Well the “office” is the same size as my car but yeah, it’s been critical. The Pelosi meetings was a very intense day in Ottawa. It really paid off to have a Washington DC presence because it helped make that come about, so I think it was a really good investment.

Our federal government had tactfully said they’re going to follow the US. I think, in large part, their calculation was based on [their belief] that the US is not going to be moving on this — in terms of passing legislation — any time quick. Unfortunately, our government is ignoring everything else the US is doing in terms of massive investments in renewable energies, energy efficiency, electric vehicles etc. They are very committed to a shift off of fossil fuels and I think that’s an economic risk for Canada. We are building an over-dependence on our oil sands and that could really hurt us in the not-too-distant future.

CV: Do you think there’s any hope for a shift in government policy?

MR: Some governments follow and others lead; it really depends on the issue. Unfortunately this is a case where we have a government that really doesn’t want to lead on this issue, despite all political, economic, environmental arguments that exist. I wake up every morning working with whatever government is in power and what we need to move on public policy. I still think there’s a huge political opportunity for the federal Conservatives to actually move on this issue. In a lot of ways it’s a Nixon goes to China story: the public is least expecting them to move. But we don’t see it happening so far.

CV: In terms of your own personal vision, has that changed at all since you arrived at Pembina?

MR: I think it’s been fairly consistent. At heart, I’m kind of a bridge builder. I’m not afraid of conflict, I’m not going to back down and run from a fight but I’d much rather find a way to collaborate and find solutions that really do work. I think that approach has been consistent and will continue to be consistent with whatever I do.

CV: Talking about what you do…what are your future steps?

MR: Well I’m leaving the Pembina Institute…Three years ago my son Kael was born and at that point we decided that four years later we would be taking a year sabbatical before he goes into kindergarten. So I’ve been doing salary deferrals for the last three years and will continue to do so for the next year. And we’re moving to France to learn French. I think it’s time for me to learn French; I learned German and Spanish and it’s neat to be bilingual for things I want to do in the future.

And that really sparked some reflections on what’s best for Pembina. After seven years of leading the organization, I think it really is healthy for changes in leadership. So as of January 1st there will be a change in executive director and I will remain as a senior advisor to the new management team until June 30. I will then disappear for a year to re-emerge a year later, not necessarily with Pembina.

Looking forward, it would be pretty hard for me to leave the nonprofit sector – I have a lot invested in it. And I think it’s such an important sector that, in a lot of ways, gets undervalued in Canada. And so I will probably stay but one never knows. I’ll need some downtime to unplug from all this. I’m sure there will be a few options, some opportunities, and if not, I’ll create my own. I’ll just see what happens.

CV: So with or without you, what do you see as Pembina’s next steps?

MR: I think at this stage we’re really going to be focused on staying the course. None of the issues we’ve been working on have been resolved; these are long-term issues. So we’re not going to digress from that. The new leadership may decide to tweak some things in terms of emphasis or approach. But we’re going to be full-steam ahead.

Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance journalist, producer and communications consultant living in Toronto. She is also president of Elle Communications and can be reached at: info@ellecommunications.ca.

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