Director’s Letter
Dear colleagues and friends:
When I took Graham’s helm in 2018, I inherited an impressive legacy that began in the early 2000s with one powerful idea.
Our key benefactor, Don Graham ’55, ’56, ’09—loyal alumnus, successful businessman, lifelong sustainability advocate, and generous supporter of units and initiatives across the university—recognized the necessity of taking an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to tackle existential challenges like climate change. Read the entire letter »
Vision
A just and sustainable world where policy and practice are powered by science, collaboration, and creativity
Mission
Mobilize the expertise and passion of scholars, partners, and decision-makers to work together and bring world-class research to real-world sustainability challenges
Values
Purpose-driven | We know that society, the environment, and the economy must thrive together. We pursue this ambitious goal with unwavering focus and determination.
Collaborative | We build interdisciplinary and cross-sector partnerships in search of well-informed solutions. We are committed to sharing information, decision-making, and responsibility.
Inclusive | We intentionally engage diverse and representative perspectives because they are essential for just and equitable outcomes now and into the future.
Science-based | Positioned within one of the world’s great public research institutions, we ensure that rigorous analysis provides the foundation for our work.
Impactful | We foster solutions that are practical, measurable, and widely applicable today while developing the sustainability leaders of tomorrow.
Strategic Priorities
These strategic priorities guide the work of the Graham Sustainability Institute. They include areas where we intend to grow and new areas we are eager to explore. They are intentionally broad, flexible, and directional.
Advance the discovery of science-based strategies to combat climate change and its impacts by growing critical partnerships, programming, and financial support for engaged research.
Engage all stakeholders, but particularly historically underrepresented and underresourced communities, in policy- and management-relevant processes that contribute to restoring, enhancing, and sustaining the water and water-dependent resources that benefit them.
Foster the next generation of sustainability leaders from across the university, providing them with opportunities to tackle real-world challenges in collaboration with external partners.
Build the Institute's capacity to integrate leading-edge academic research into policymaking to generate real-world decisions that are science-based and sustainable.
Help faculty increase their impact by seeding new research, providing engagement expertise, and improving communication products to extend the reach of research findings and their real-world applications.
Levers of Change
Facilitating Engaged Research
We work to advance a wide range of research efforts that share a common commitment to partnering with communities and decision-makers. Together, we seek practical approaches and pioneering solutions to the sustainability issues that threaten our collective future.
Developing Sustainability Leaders
We strengthen and train the next generation of sustainability leaders through real-life, experiential learning opportunities. Our programs help build professional skills, model inclusion, and foster an interdisciplinary approach.
Informing Policy & Practice
We believe that research and education must move beyond the university’s academic environment and into the everyday world. We’re focused on making sure that policy and practice are grounded in the best available evidence of what really works.
Strategic Decision Filters
While the strategic priorities provide key goals for the years ahead, these decision filters are designed to help evaluate opportunities for growth and new initiatives.
- Fills a critical gap, or offers a new solution, that addresses real-world need
- Consistent with Graham core values (collaborative, purpose-driven, inclusive, science-based, and impactful)
- Leverages U-M expertise and contributes to scholarship
- Reflects external partners’ priorities
- Aligns with funder interest and capacity
- Compatible with U-M strategic initiatives
- Balances effort with potential impact
- Builds on Graham’s staff knowledge and expertise or is a strategic opportunity to grow our capacity in new directions
An Invitation
With this strategic plan, we renew our commitment to co-creating goals and actions in collaboration with others across the University of Michigan, throughout our communities, in our region and nation, and across the globe. We invite you to partner with us so that we may together solve sustainability challenges great and small, and lay the groundwork for a better future.