An Earth Day Message from Ian Kline, President and CEO

Over the past several years, we have faced significant adversity and uncertainty, as individuals and as a global community. The pandemic led to the loss of millions of people and upended our lives in countless ways, from how we interact with others, to where and how we work, even to how our children learn. Geopolitical events around the world, most recently in Ukraine, have destroyed lives, disrupted economic systems, and upended social constructs that many people took as a given. Tragic acts of violence and systemic bias spawned movements that demand that we eradicate racial and social injustice. Climate change continues to impact people and geographies across the globe, creating ever more destructive extreme weather events and wildfires, threatening communities and ecosystems through rising sea levels and more intense heat waves, and posing increased health risks for vulnerable populations by worsening air and water quality and increasing and expanding the spread of disease.

All of this has happened in a breathtakingly brief window of history. And yet human society has long learned, grown, and thrived in the face of such uncertainty and adversity. We’ve come to understand that from such upheaval considerable opportunities for innovation and evolution often emerge. We’ve realized that when people with a shared vision bring their unique skills, capabilities, and perspectives together, we can produce positive change in response to immense challenges. Right now, in this moment, we all have an invaluable opportunity to consider the world we want to live in and to do our absolute best to bring that world into being.

“In this moment, we all have an invaluable opportunity to consider the world we want to live in and to do our absolute best to bring that world into being.”

At Cadmus, we’re working hard to do just that by collaborating with our clients to achieve their critical missions. We are using our collective capabilities to build stronger and more resilient local, national, and global communities and to protect and strengthen the natural world, thereby constructing a sustainable future for our children and for the generations to come. Sustainability has been both a key consideration and a fundamental motivation for Cadmus in our own operations and in our work for our clients. At every point, we’ve pursued growth in service of creating a more sustainable and equitable future. While this commitment has never wavered, never in Cadmus’ history have we been better positioned to expand our impact and never has the expertise we offer been more in need.

We pursue our mission not just through our work, but also through our relationships with other organizations serving our communities. Our longstanding partnership with The Nature Generation (NatGen) and our support of the Green Earth Book Award give us an opportunity to invest in future generations. The Green Earth Book Award is an especially powerful program, harnessing the power of storytelling by lifting up and celebrating authors and books that highlight the importance of environmental stewardship. I’ve seen NatGen’s initiatives change a child’s idea of what’s possible simply by putting a book in their hands or empowering them through their participation in a program funded by one of our STEM seed grants.

Think about that for a moment-through the diversity of the stories that are told, whether fiction or non-fiction, children see others who look like them, communities that look like theirs, and realize that they, too, can make a difference and help create the world they want to live in.

We must grasp the opportunity we have been given to rise up and meet the complex challenges that are in front of us. We have it within us to forge a future that is equitable and where all people feel connected, respected, and valued. A future where economic opportunities are created while natural systems are strengthened by ensuring access to clean water, accelerating the transition to a more resilient and decarbonized power sector, facilitating the electrification of the transportation system and the built environment, and driving progress in many other areas of innovation. I’m excited to work with my Cadmus colleagues, our collaborators, our clients, and our community partners as we continue to strive for a sustainable future-on Earth Day and every day.