2016-11-04T17:03:34-07:00 2015-12-31 Crosby & Kaneda CPAs 1970 Broadway STE 930 Oakland CA 94612 990 2015-01-01 680359676 Occidental Arts and Ecology Center OCCI 7078741557 15290 Coleman Valley Road Occidental CA 95465 Dave Henson Executive Dir. 2016-11-04 true Adele Kaneda P01664922 5108352727 2015 2017-02-10 21:41:12Z Dave Henson 15290 Coleman Valley Rd Occidental CA 95465 4450467 false false X www.oaec.org X 1997 CA Preserve & restore native & agricultural biodiversity & healthy ecosystems, create & model sustainable, regionally appropriate, practical economic & governance alternatives to global corporatization & the economic paradigm that is dependent on grown & consumption. 11 7 67 100 0 3697327 3064169 488626 486694 1796 -143837 26013 4014 4213762 3411040 11725 0 1356228 1411437 0 258722 681745 856233 2037973 2279395 2175789 1131645 3753927 4848791 327910 316592 3426017 4532199 X The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC) is a nonprofit organic horticulture, arts and ecology education and community organizing training center in Northern Californias Sonoma County. OAEC is located on an 80-acre site with organic gardens and orchards, coastal prairie grass- land meadows, and oak, fir, bay laurel and redwood forests. OAECs mission includes working to: Preserve and restore native and agricultural biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, with a particular focus on the northern California bioregion, Preserve and propagate biodiversity in open-pollinated and heirloom varieties of food, fiber and medicinal horticultural and agricultural crops, Support appropriate-scale ecological agriculture and sustainable local food systems, Cultivate ecological literacy, especially within watershed communities, social change movements and public schools, and Create and model practical, sustainable, regional-scale alternatives to global corporatization and the economic paradigm that is true false 391039 19750 California Climate and Agriculture Network Programs Exempt Purpose Achievements in 2015 include:(A) Cap-and-trade revenue for sustainable agriculture CalCAN and its allies were the leading voices advocating for cap and trade auction proceeds investment in sustainable agriculture and farmland conservation solutions to climate change. In 2015, we used a combination of tactics to educate policymakers about the value of investing in agriculture's climate solutions, including sign on letters with other advocacy organizations, coalition letters from CalCAN, testimony at hearings, meetings with legislative and agency staff, and media articles making the case. We successfully advocated for an increase in funding for the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation program from an initial $5 million in 2015 to $40 million in 2016. We sponsored a bill (SB 367) that would have funded and given policy guidance for a new cap-and-trade funded program called the Healthy Soils Initiative. Though supported in both the Senate and Assembly, the bill was held over. We also worked on two policy papers, both intended to influence the implementation of state programs funded with cap-and-trade revenue. One was a progress report on the State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program, and the other made recommendations for diversifying funding to reduce methane emissions on dairies. (B) Renewable energy CalCAN's work on renewable energy is focused on California's net energy metering (NEM) program. CalCAN's represented the interests of small and medium-scale growers to the California Public Utilities Commission.(C) On-farm water conservation. In 2015, we worked closely with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to influence how $30 million in water bond (Proposition 1) money would be granted to improve on-farm water efficiency. We also met numerous times with staff at CDFA and submitted recommendations for improving in their cap-and-trade funded State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program.(D) State Climate Plans. CalCAN provided input on California's Cap-and-Trade Auction Proceeds Second Investment Plan which outlines how the state will focus its investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next three years. The investment plan is intended to inform California state budget-makers in their annual decisions on how to focus climate investments.(E) Network building and leadership cultivation. In addition to our policy campaigns, CalCAN uses a number of tactics to build our base and cultivate new leaders from the agriculture, environmental and food systems arenas to take action on our initiatives. These include maintaining a website, blog and monthly newsletter; hosting a conference in March 2015; organizing farm field trips; profiling farmer leaders; producing fact sheets and reports; placing media stories; and, organizing a lobby day, meetings and comment letters to educate policymakers about CalCAN issues and positions. 189657 81827 The Mother Garden Biodiversity Program's Exempt Purpose Achievements in 2015 include:(A) The OAEC Mother Garden stewards a large and rare collection of open-pollinated and heirloom ornamental plants and food crops, while serving as an open-air classroom to demonstrate organic horticultural diversity. To ensure that all future horticultural operations at the site are free of synthetic chemicals, and in participating in the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) certification program, we placed a permanent agricultural easement on OAECs organic gardens in 1994, monitored annually by the Sonoma Land Trust.(B) OAECs primary horticultural research work is in the area of bio-intensive gardening. We aim to cultivate healthy diverse soil and garden ecosystems that are highly productive and less susceptible to harmful insects, viruses, fungi and bacteria. OAEC has shown that the fertility of marginally productive soil can be enlivened and enriched without mechanized farm equipment and chemical inputs, and with a minimum of organic inputs from outside the system. The site demonstrates, for students and the visiting public, an array of horticultural methodologies that are sustainable and enhance the vitality of the land where they are implemented.(C) Over many years, we have gathered some 2,000 varieties of annual ornamental plants and food crops, and maintain a diverse collection of 1,000 edible, medicinal and ornamental perennials including hundreds of heirloom and unusual fruits. The seed saving efforts of the OAEC gardens have focused on preserving the genetic heritage of ornamentals and cultivars through trailing and growing out for seed and vegetative propagation varieties that are well suited to the temperate conditions of coastal northern California.(D) OAEC's research is shared with others through our public education efforts. Throughout the year, the Center teaches numerous daylong to 2-week long workshops in which participants learn practical skills on how to grow and save seed, garden design, bio-intensive techniques, plant selection, soil fertility management, and composting. OAEC instructors also provide presentations and workshops at major conferences, colleges and to horticultural groups around California. We are frequently invited to participate on radio shows and have been featured in many articles about horticulture and gardens.(E) OAECs horticultural biodiversity program disseminates extensive selections from our collection to thousands of gardeners at our dozen biodiversity plant sales hosted annually at OAEC, and at seed exchanges that we sponsor for hundreds more gardeners and farmers at annual national conferences (such as the Ecological Farming Conference and the Bioneers Conference). We also provide thousands of plants from our collection to dozens of public school and community gardens throughout northern California. 187280 124102 OAECs Permaculture Program's exempt purpose achievements in 2015 included:(1.) Organized and taught (3) two-week annual permaculture certification courses for the public at OAEC, with an average of 25 students in each workshop.(2.) Organized a program in 2015 to train and support five public education and food production urban garden programs in the East Bay. Each site worked with local community volunteers to developed a permaculture site design for their garden with the goals of cultivation ecological literacy, producing fresh organic produce for the community, and water, soil and biodiversity conservation.(3.) Partnered with the non-profit SOIL organization and the 11th Hour Project to support eco-sanitation projects in three cities in Haiti. OAEC hosted and provided permaculture training to three SOIL staff members in support of their project in Haiti.(4.) Facilitated a year-long major design process for a new land-grant style agriculture university for eastern Africa in Rwanda. We worked with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the Rwandan National Government, and other universities and NGOs from around the world to facilitate a planning and design for this new university.(5.) Completed more than a dozen public presentations to more than 2,500 people on permaculture and resilient community design methods.(6.) Provided permaculture design, consultation, and implementation training for more than a dozen land-based education centers, farms and ranches, public and private land agencies, and schools. 652605 11725 261015 1420581 true true false true false false false false false false true false false false false true true false false false false false false false false false false true false false false false false false false false false false false true false true false false false false true false false false false true 33 0 true 67 true false false false false false false false false 0 false false false false false false false false false false X 11 7 true false false false false false false true true false false true true true true true true true true false CA X Jenyng Wu 7078741557 15290 Coleman Valley Road Occidental CA 95465 David Atkin President 1.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Brock Dolman Secretary 43.20 1.00 X X 48500 0 0 Adam Wolpert Treasurer 14.00 1.00 X X 16975 0 0 Nick Allen Director 1.00 1.00 X 0 0 0 David Berman Director 1.00 1.00 X 0 0 0 Doug Gosling Director 44.00 1.00 X 52849 0 0 Martha Kowalick Director 1.00 1.00 X 0 0 0 Bob MacDonald Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Susan McGovern Director 1.00 1.00 X 0 0 0 Lauren Webster Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Dave Henson Executive Dir. 55.40 1.00 X X 86796 0 0 205120 0 false false false Hopkin Construction 195 Montgomery Rd Sebastopol CA 95472 Contractor 568568 1 18845 3045324 1039427 3064169 Fee for service 376141 376141 Sales 110553 110553 486694 24218 24218 0 0 0 871372 1039427 -168055 -168055 -168055 0 0 0 Miscellaneous 4014 4014 4014 3411040 486694 -139823 X 11725 11725 0 0 0 208861 112313 46015 50533 66575 49931 16644 954574 480016 356355 118203 0 72433 37665 23903 10865 108994 56677 35968 16349 0 100 100 18651 18651 25200 25200 0 0 233972 233972 7240 7240 219950 143278 52712 23960 10534 5478 3476 1580 0 49928 25963 16476 7489 72240 37565 23839 10836 0 5549 5549 2850 2850 0 120339 120339 15085 7844 4978 2263 Dues, license & service fees 38929 24160 14769 Equipment rental/ maintenance 35532 35532 Miscellaneous 134 134 0 2279395 1420581 600092 258722 1040386 775793 27401 18188 300000 550000 145840 117 0 0 0 0 0 3128742 404031 1006166 2724711 775937 0 0 0 1234134 4045 3753927 4848791 27910 11342 5250 300000 300000 327910 316592 X 1865966 2543438 1560051 1988761 3426017 4532199 3753927 4848791 1131645 -25463 X false true X true false X 965622 1512925 1270342 3697327 3064169 10510385 0 0 965622 1512925 1270342 3697327 3064169 10510385 3914702 6595683 692 3523 1702 1169 24218 31304 0 4014 4014 10545703 2209256 0.62540 0.75230 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED false false 2303 39096 41399 2237996 2279395 263970 65993 false 214995 232932 251899 263970 963796 1445694 31248 40710 35116 41399 148473 53749 58233 62975 65993 240950 361425 5911 10247 2349 2303 20810 2152830 98743 2054087 862584 213176 649408 113328 92112 21216 2724711 X 3385577 -25463 -25463 3411040 3411040 2279395 2279395 2279395 Part X : FIN48 Footnote The Organization has evaluated its current tax positions as of December 31, 2015 and is not aware of any significant uncertain tax positions for which a reserve would be necessary. true KOWS PO Box 1073 Occidental CA 95465 465637990 501(c)(3) 11725 0 To form independent 501(c)(3) 1 0 Grantmaker's Description of How Grants are Used OAEC is not a grant-making organization. This rare grant was a payment to an OAEC project that established its own 501c3 status. The amount granted was the total remaining fund balance (funds gifted to OAEC for the KOWS Community Radio project) at the time the project was awarded its c3 status. For this "grant", OAEC and the new KOWS signed a grant agreement stipulating how the funds would be spent and requiring a 'final report' after the funds had been spent. OAEC's Director of Finance is in charge of monitoring the compliance of this grant agreement. Kendall Dunnnigan ED family member 66575 Employee Comp false X 2 1039427 FMV false false false Form 990, Part III, Line 2: New Services OAEC launched two new programs in 2015:1. California Water Reuse Policy Council a network of water, building and environmental health regulators and engineers and policy advocates from around California. The Council works to bring new code and policy options to cities and counties throughout California in the areas of grey water, storm water, roof water and black water management with the goal of saving Californias limited water and energy resources, and reducing climate de-stabilizing greenhouse gas emission.2. A Compost Toilet Research Policy Project working with regulators in the public health, environmental health, planning and building departments in Sonoma County, with CalRecycle and the Sonoma County Water Agency, and with labs at UC Davis and Stanford University, OAEC has secured a research permit to test three models of composting toilets at the OAEC facility for efficacy in elimination of bacterial pathogens in the therm0philic composting process within the toilets. Form 990, Part III, Line 4d: Other Program Services Description OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Other OAEC program exempt purpose achievements in 2015 (none of which are as large as the three largest programs) included eight other major program areas:1. Resilient Schools Program2. WATER Institute3. Ecological Agriculture Program4. Intentional Communities Program5. Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Program6. Performance Arts Program7. FIGR Traditional Environmental Knowledge Program8. Wildlands Biodiversity Program.Each of our programs uses the same methods and strategies to achieve our public benefit mission, including:(1). OAEC conducts participatory research and demonstration to model community-based solutions: We research and demonstrate ecological, cultural and economic sustainability in human settlement patterns, including land management, water management, agriculture, food systems and built infrastructure. We strive to practice what we teach, making our research and program work transparent, open for critique and adaptive to change.(2). OAEC educates individuals, but focuses on training and supporting whole communities: OAEC 's programs train and build capacity in diverse communities so they can self-organize to solve their own complex ecological, economic and cultural problems. Through our courses, training programs and campaigns, we also teach thousands of individuals each year practical sustainable living skills they can integrate into their workplaces, communities and lives. We use many different participatory training and evaluation methodologies to most effectively stimulate deep changes in the actions of individuals and communities.(3). OAEC builds coalitions to organize and advocate for positive social change: We organize people and communities around strategic campaigns to support the restoration and stewardship of healthy ecosystems, biological diversity and human communities. We bring together diverse sectors of communities into coalitions to craft community-based, ecologically and economically viable solutions to pressing bioregional problems. We choose the issues for our campaigns based on those that are most likely to affect deep and lasting change; those that will stop persistent problems and create sustainable alternatives. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 5: OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 6: OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 7: Form 990, Part VI, Line 11b: Form 990 Review Process OAECs Director of Finance and OAECs Executive Director compile then provide to an independent CPA all financials, documents, and narratives for the 990. The CPA drafts the return, and works with OAEC leadership to answer all questions. The draft 990 is then reviewed by the Executive Committee (headed by the Board Treasurer), as well as by other board members. After any questions are resolved by staff and the CPA to the Executive Committees satisfaction, a final 990 is submitted and made available to all board and staff members. Form 990, Part VI, Line 12c: Explanation of Monitoring and Enforcement of Conflicts All staff and directors are required to notify OAECs Director of Finance and OAECs Executive Director if they might engage in any activity that might involve a conflict of interest. Form 990, Part VI, Line 15a: Compensation Review & Approval Process - CEO, Top Management Annual compensation for all staff is determined by the Executive Committee which annually reviews published data about compensation with comparable non-profits in OAECs issue and geographical areas. Notes are kept on the process, deliberations and decisions. Form 990, Part VI, Line 15b: Compensation Review and Approval Process for Officers and Key Employees Annual compensation for all staff is determined by the Executive Committee which annually reviews published data about compensation with comparable non-profits in OAECs issue and geographical areas. Notes are kept on the process, deliberations and decisions. Form 990, Part VI, Line 19: Other Organization Documents Publicly Available Upon written or verbal request Sowing Circle LLC 15290 Coleman Valley Rd Occidental CA 95465 680338491 Leasor CA N/A false false false false false false false false false false false false true false false true false true true false false