Institute for Sustainable Communities

The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) is an independent, tax-exempt, nonprofit organization that provides training, technical assistance and financial support to communities, nonprofits/nongovernmental organizations, businesses and governments. Founded in 1991 by Madeleine Kunin, ISC has managed 68 projects in 18 countries, including the United States, and is funded by private foundations, corporations, individuals and government agencies.

Based in Montpelier, Vermont, ISC has offices in Washington, DC, in China (Beijing and Guangzhou), Serbia (Belgrade), Ukraine (Kyiv) and Macedonia (Skopje). ISC works with local partners to design and implement projects that mobilize communities to clean up polluted rivers, adopt energy efficiency measures, or rebuild sustainably after a hurricane.

ISC’s early work connected civic participation with environmental management in the countries of the former Soviet Union. In the years since, ISC’s work has grown to include large-scale civil society programs funded by USAID. ISC’s other main line of work, climate change, includes a community-based energy efficiency program in the industrial province of Guangdong, China and a new effort to help communities along the U.S. Gulf Coast become more sustainable and resilient in the face of extreme weather events. ISC’s programs include environmental management, energy efficiency, community development, citizen participation, governance, advocacy and leadership training and institutional development. ISC’s goal is to build local capacity and skills. It has helped found or mentored organizations in the countries in which it has worked, including the Fund for Sustainable Development in Russia, the Successful Communities Institute in Ukraine, and FOCUS, a new grassroots organization based in Mississippi.

Approximately 86% of ISC's $11 million budget in FY 07 supported programming.

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