Blog

Before I joined the board of the Climate and Energy Project, when I was just beginning my work in environmental policy in Kansas, I attended a virtual session they hosted on how to write to the Kansas Corporation Commission in response to a proposed electric rate increase.

I expected a policy talk. Something dry, maybe technical, probably hard to follow. But what I found instead was a group of Kansans from every corner of the state: farmers, retirees, grandparents, students, and people living in cities large and small.

The session was clear and practical. People were engaged. They were asking questions, sharing stories, and learning how to take meaningful action together. It felt less like a policy workshop and more like a community gathering, built around a sense of shared concern and shared responsibility.

That is what stayed with me. Not just the information, but the way CEP created a space where everyday people could show up and be heard. A space where mutuality was not just an idea, but something lived and practiced in real time.

That was the moment I first really understood the kind of bridge-building CEP is doing across Kansas. They do not just inform people, they connect them. They empower them. And they remind us that the challenges we face and the solutions we build belong to all of us, together.

My name is John Shively, and I’ve had the privilege of serving on the board of the Climate and Energy Project since 2020. I’m also the Executive Director of Mission at Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, where part of my role is to help evaluate nonprofit partnerships that align with our mission and address some of the world’s most pressing challenges: poverty, hunger, human trafficking, homelessness, and the climate crisis.

Several years ago, I read a book called Crisis and Care, written in response to the pandemic. And while it speaks directly to that moment, one line has stayed with me because of how true it still feels today. The authors write:

“Communities are uncertain about how to respond to the challenges they face, and money marks the imaginative horizon about how individuals and communities imagine what is possible.”

That sentence continues to ring in my ears, especially in this moment of climate urgency. We are in a time of profound crisis. Not just ecologically, but also economically too. For many nonprofits, particularly those working in climate and environmental justice, the funding landscape has undergone significant shifts. In just the past year, many have seen a sharp decline in grants and institutional support.

But I believe, and I’ve seen, that the more profound the crisis, the more profound the possibilities for adaptation, for innovation – and that space for community grows.

Crisis and Care also poses a question that I believe is especially relevant tonight. It asks not, “What do we do next?” but “What do we see?”

And what I see, what I hope you see, is that organizations like Climate and Energy Project are not just reacting to the crisis. They are responding with imagination, with persistence, and with a deep-rooted belief in community. CEP brings people together. Just as importantly, CEP embodies the values of mutuality and interdependence, understanding that none of us can go it alone. 

This is a time when philanthropy, both individual and institutional, must rise to meet the need. And this is where you come in.

If you’ve already given, thank you. If you’ve given your time, your expertise, your energy, thank you. And if you’re able to give tonight, or even stretch your giving, I invite you to do that too.

Because what we give is more than money, it is a belief. In a future where the success of rural and urban communities is shared, where smart policy and grassroots wisdom meet, where children grow up breathing cleaner air, and farmers are equipped for the future.

Every dollar you invest in CEP is a dollar toward that future. Toward shared solutions that serve both our communities and the common good.

In the end, I believe it’s only in community that we can face challenges of this scale. No single nonprofit, no single leader, and no single act of generosity will be enough. But together? Together, we can reshape the imaginative horizon of what’s possible.

Thank you for believing in that possibility and for making it real in the past, tonight, and in the days ahead.