This is the story of GreenLight Solutions Foundation;
our origins, major milestones, and latest progress.
GreenLight has been collaboratively co-created by hundreds of passionate contributors who align in purpose.
Enjoy the journey, we certainly do!
This is the story of GreenLight Solutions Foundation;
our origins, major milestones, and latest progress.
GreenLight has been collaboratively co-created by hundreds of passionate contributors who align in purpose.
Enjoy the journey, we certainly do!
Our Story…
Fall 2012
GreenLight Solutions was started by a group of students at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability (SOS) who were contacted by an alumnus who said, “I have a crazy idea,” and the students said, “we like crazy ideas!” The idea was to start a grassroots movement to solve two problems: 1) college students lack applied project management in their education; and 2) businesses lack approachable methods to evolve operations to be more sustainable and create a positive impact.
January 2013
(true story: our original logo design was mocked-up on the back of a napkin – classic!)
These original students worked with the World Wildlife Fund of the UK to produce two case studies on creative green businesses for the WWF’s Green Gamechangers: Sustainable Business Innovations Report. The students found this applied learning opportunity to be the experience that their education was lacking, and they wanted to share the opportunity with other students. That semester at ASU, the GreenLight Solutions student organization and movement was born!
Spring 2013
During the Spring 2013 semester, GreenLight Solutions grew to 15 passionate and talented students. This original cohort collaborated on sustainability projects with the City of Phoenix Public Works Department, Orcutt|Winslow, and Carbon Nation.
Fall 2013
GreenLight Solutions thrived on campus during its first year, receiving the “Most Promising New Student Organization Award” from ASU’s Pitchfork Awards; while co-founder Kevin Keleher received the “Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for his work co-founding GreenLight Solutions.
Summer 2014
The GreenLight team hosted their first retreat on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. A small group of students went camping together to bond and plan the next year, and this is where co-founder Nathan Gassmann came up with the term “Solutioneer” which GreenLight uses for their college students creating solutions for the business community. Since that summer, connecting back to nature during retreats became a biannual tradition for GreenLight.
A few projects later, the team discovered a high demand for their work, so they applied for and received a significant scholarship to participate in the SEED SPOT Social Entrepreneurship Business Incubator program. The team entered the program as a grassroots movement with a vision, and finished with an action plan and $5,000 in awards, the second-highest funded startup in the whole cohort!
August 2016
The team used the SEEDSPOT award money to form an Arizona nonprofit and receive 501(c)3 status with the IRS. The GreenLight Solutions student movement evolved into an educational nonprofit, the GreenLight Solutions Foundation, which exists to provide the organizational structure, institutional memory, mentorship support, curriculum, training, and resources that students and professionals utilize to make their projects successful.
November 2016
September 2016
Throughout the GreenLight movement, community members expressed that they want to help support GreenLight and celebrate their successes. In the fall of 2017 GreenLight hosted their first ever Community Mixer to connect with their friends, supporters, and potential students & partners. GreenLight mixers are hosted on the last Thursday of most months of the year. Visit our Events Page to find out when the next mixer is.
GreenLight received an invitation from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to submit a workshop proposal. Upon acceptance, Ashley Weisman and Ryan Mores attended and led a workshop at AASHE’s Student Summit workshop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. GreenLight goes on to be presenters at this annual conference in 2019.
GreenLight was connected with Nanzan University in Japan through ASU Global Launch to deliver their first international project (aside from the very first project for the WWF in the UK), partnering students from Nanzan with AZ StRUT in Mesa, AZ. The project team researched and implemented multiple solutions for AZ StRUT’s recyclable printer plastic and rural community connections.March 2020
August 2020
The GreenLight family grew with the addition of our second student chapter opening at the Maricopa Community College District. The team had been cultivating connections at a few local community colleges, and is excited to broaden our impact and bring opportunities to more students.Now
There is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future. Despite all the current hardships and changing times, one must believe that the best is yet to come, and that sustainability is only just beginning to bloom. GreenLight will continue to fulfill their mission and continue helping businesses learn about and adopt sustainability initiatives.
Our Story…
Fall 2012
GreenLight Solutions was started by a group of students at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability who were contacted by an alumnus who said, “I have a crazy idea” and the students said, “We like crazy ideas!” The idea was to start a grassroots movement to solve two problems: 1) college students lack applied project management in their education; and 2) businesses lack approachable methods to evolve operations to be more sustainable and create a positive impact.
January 2013
(true story: our original logo design was mocked-up on the back of a napkin – classic!)
These original students worked with the World Wildlife Fund of the UK to produce two case studies on creative green businesses for the WWF’s Green Gamechangers: Sustainable Business Innovations Report. The students found this applied learning opportunity to be the experience that their education was lacking, and they wanted to share the opportunity with other students. That semester at ASU, the GreenLight Solutions student organization and movement was born!
Spring 2013
During the Spring 2013 semester, GreenLight Solutions grew to 15 passionate and talented students. This original cohort collaborated on sustainability projects with the City of Phoenix Public Works Department, Orcutt|Winslow, and Carbon Nation.
Fall 2013
GreenLight Solutions thrived on campus during its first year, receiving the “Most Promising New Student Organization Award” from ASU’s Pitchfork Awards; while Co-Founder Kevin Keleher received the “Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for his work co-founding GreenLight Solutions – out of over 70,000+ students!
Summer 2014
The GreenLight team hosted their first retreat on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. A small group of students went camping together to bond and plan the next year. This is where Co-Founder Nathan Gassmann came up with the term “Solutioneer” which GreenLight uses for students participating on GreenLight sustainability projects. Since that summer, connecting back to nature during retreats became a biannual tradition for GreenLight.
A handful of projects later, the team discovered a high demand for their work, so they applied for and received a scholarship to participate in the SEED SPOT Social Entrepreneurship Business Incubator program. The team entered the program as a student organization with a vision, and finished with an action plan and $5,000 in awards, the second-highest funded startup in the cohort!
August 2016
The team used the SEED SPOT award money to form an Arizona nonprofit and receive 501(c)3 status with the IRS. The GreenLight Solutions student movement evolved into an educational nonprofit, GreenLight Solutions Foundation, which exists to provide the organizational structure, institutional memory, mentorship support, curriculum, training, and resources that students and professionals utilize to make their projects successful.
November 2016
September 2016
Throughout the GreenLight movement, community members expressed that they want to help support GreenLight and celebrate their successes. In the fall of 2017, GreenLight hosted their first ever Community Mixer to connect with the broader community and invite the public to mix and mingle with the team. GreenLight mixers are hosted on the last Thursday of the month, excluding holidays. Visit our Events Page to RSVP for our next mixer.
GreenLight received an invitation from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to submit a workshop proposal. Upon acceptance, Ashley Weisman and Ryan Mores led a workshop at AASHE’s Student Summit workshop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ashley and Ryan go on to be presenters at this annual conference again in 2019 with Solutioneers Samantha Rosales and Chris Bodnar in Spokane, Washington.
GreenLight was connected with Nanzan University in Japan through ASU Global Launch to deliver their first international project (aside from the very first project for the WWF in the UK), partnering the Japanese students with AZ StRUT in Mesa, AZ. The Project Team researched multiple solutions for AZ StRUT’s recyclable printer plastic and rural recycling.March 2020
August 2020
The GreenLight family grew with the addition of our second Student Chapter opening at the Maricopa County Community College District. The team had been cultivating connections at a few local community colleges, and is excited to broaden our impact and bring opportunities to more students.
Now
There is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future of GreenLight. Despite all the current hardships and uncertain times, the best is yet to come, and that the sustainability revolution is just beginning. GreenLight will continue to fulfill its mission and continue helping businesses learn about and adopt sustainability initiatives.
