TENFOLD /ˈtenˌfōld/

adjective: ten times as great or as numerous

adverb: by ten times; to ten times the number or amount.

goal: to grow the number of young people working within civic structures to solve environmental problems by ten times.

This plan, entitled “TenFold”, outlines an aggressive growth strategy to expand our reach from roughly 15,000 young people annually to 150,000 young people annually.

In a time when communities face increasing environmental challenges, we believe it is critical that young people develop the civic skills necessary to be effective environmental citizens.

2026 Goals

300 organizations will be part of our Environmental Action Civics Alliance and engage 135,000 young people.
Our Youth Challenges will engage 15,000 young people each year.
Environmental Action Civics will be a recognized branch of environmental education.

Building a Community of Practice

Earth Force is at the forefront of the development of a new branch of environmental education called Environmental Action Civics. This branch combines the best of environmental education, project based learning and experiential civics to prepare young people to be environmental citizens.

Goal: 300 organizations will be part of the Environmental Action Civics Alliance (our community of practice) and engage 135,000 young people.

Funding Youth Action

Earth Force will offer programs that directly reach educators and young people. These programs combine a competition element with classroom pedagogy. These programs recognize the work of young people, support their projects through funding, and highlight the impact young people have on communities. Each program includes an educator professional development element.

Goal: Our Youth Challenges will engage 15,000 young people each year.

Raising Awareness

The breadth of leaders who know about Environmental Action Civics is narrow. Earth Force will begin a communication campaign designed to expand knowledge among key audiences (policy makers, education administrators, funding organizations) about the practice. Through this campaign we will advocate for Environmental Action Civics to be incorporated into policy and funding priorities.

Goal: Environmental Action Civics will be a recognized branch of environmental education.

Overriding Values

Centering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Quality is our Cornerstone

The foundation of a functional democracy is representation of citizens’ voices in decision-making processes. Earth Force is committed to ensuring that young people whose voices have been historically excluded in environmental decision-making have the tools and skills to make their voices heard.

From how we design our programs, to who we choose to partner with, and how we identify our leadership Earth Force is committed to centering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice in our work.

Review

We will complete a full review of our professional development, classroom materials and presentations to equitably elevate the voices of all groups.

Focus

We will expand our engagement of young people living in communities that have been subjected to marginalization.

Leadership

We will create a pathway to leadership that represents the diversity of the young people and educators we engage.

We are proud of our work and the quality of the products that we deliver to educators across the country. Our commitment to quality is reflected in three actions:

Continuous Evaluation

We are committed to deploying a system of educator and student surveys, participant interviews, and feedback from partners.

Review and Renewal

Earth Force commits to an annual review of data generated from our evaluation system to identify areas for improvement and elevate successful practices. As a core to this work, we will continue to engage partners and educators to receive their feedback on the quality of our work.

Transparency

Earth Force is committed to being transparent about the success of our programming. Results of our evaluation will continue to be available to our supporters, partners, and those interested in improving the results of their own programs.