The New England Environmental Eduation Alliance was formed in 1980, but its roots go back to 1966. That year a handful of  educators in the region decided to meet on an annual basis. Conferences were chaired by Chuck Roth and  hosted by a group of colleagues within the six New England states on a rotating basis. The conferences were small and the agendas were informal but the goal was to facilitate communication and friendship among colleagues. In an effort to increase participation, in 1977 the responsibility for the conference was placed in the hands of a steering committee composed of two representatices from each of the six states. Conference attendance jumped from 30 people the previous year to 160 people in 1977. In 1980 the steering committee decided to incorporate the New England Environmental Education Alliance. The board of directors continues to be composed of two members from each New England state. The Alliance is interested in EE on a regional level and does not duplicate the contributions of the state organizations. The conferences continue to emphasize colleagueal interaction and collaborative learning. We invite you to become involved in your state organization and to get to know the state representative on the NEEEA board.

NEEEA Welcomes a New Administrative Manager
In August of 2007 Meg Edstrom was hired as NEEEA’s Administrative Manager, the regional EE organization’s first ever staff position. Utilizing the resources of Ecology Education, Inc. as the contracted organization, Meg will be assisting the 6 state EE organizations in their mission to support environmental education throughout New England.

NEEEA board members spent considerable time in the creation of this position, deliberating over which tasks would best support collaboration throughout the region, in addition to freeing up state and NEEEA board members for additional capacity building responsibilities.

If your state board has other ideas, please let us know. Email Kris Scopinich, NEEEA’s Board President, at kscopinich@massaudubon.org with additional suggestions for the Administrative Manager. Let NEEEA know how we can support your state!

What does NEEEA do for you?

The six New England state EE organizations support the work of the NEEEA board by hosting the conference, which is the primary means by which NEEEA raises funds every year. The money raised by the conference covers the basic costs of running the organization.  The many hours put in by board members are all volunteer. The board strives to be supportive to the state running the conference, providing the basic framework, while also working on region-wide projects and capacity building. In return, environmental educators throughout New England benefit from the following NEEEA activities:

• A yearly conference
• Recognition of outstanding educators through annual awards
• A bi-annual State Organization Leaders’ Retreat
• A bi-annual Administrators’ retreat
• NAAEE representation for New England
• The electronic publication of NEJEE
• A website and email listserv that serves the New England EE community
• Networking and information sharing between the organizations in the region and state boards
• Conference scholarships

The NEEEA Board is comprised of members from each New England state.