Case Study: Booz Allen Hamilton and Wolf Trap Foundation
Booz Allen provides pro bono support to the first-of-its-kind effort to incorporate eco-friendly practices and policies into the arts, implemented by the nonprofit Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.
The Opportunity
In March 2007, Wolf Trap Foundation president Terrence D. Jones announced two ambitious goals towards “greening” his nonprofit organization: become carbon neutral, and generate zero waste. “Wolf Trap had visionary goals in green activities just as they do in the performing arts and education, but they needed technical expertise and operational guidance to meet those goals,” says Booz Allen Hamilton senior associate and program manager David Erne.
Booz Allen Hamilton’s Pro Bono Investment
In September 2007, Booz Allen started developing the foundation’s baseline and strategy for its greening initiatives in collaboration with Wolf Trap’s senior leaders and volunteer greening team and the National Parks Service (NPS). The firm has the extensive expertise needed for such a bold project, having contributed to numerous high-profile efforts that span environmental performance measurement, renewable energy and energy efficiency, green procurement, waste management, green buildings, and strategic outreach and communications.
On July 14, 2008, Wolf Trap, Americans for the Arts, and The Aspen Institute held the first summit on arts and the environment. Held at Booz Allen’s campus in McLean, Virginia, it raised awareness about sustainability issues in the arts community and identified strategies to link the arts with eco-friendly practices. The Booz Allen team facilitated discussions to help the foundation and NPS develop a strategy and action plan with near- and long-term objectives, initiatives to achieve those objectives, resources, projected benefits, metrics to measure progress, and a communications plan.
The Impact
Wolf Trap’s National Summit on the Arts and Environment may have been the most visible sign of the birth of this new movement within the arts community, while also serving as an official call to action. Booz Allen delivered Wolf Trap’s action plan in April 2008 with recommendations that will help the organization achieve its greening goals. Wolf Trap has started implementing some of these suggestions and making near-term changes. The next phase for the Booz Allen team involves helping Wolf Trap prioritize its options and develop a cost-benefit analysis with procedures to help the organization make substantial headway.
At a February 2009 luncheon at Washington D.C.’s National Press Club, Booz Allen Hamilton and The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts were honored for Wolf Trap’s Go Green initiative with a PRNewswire Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award in the Environmental Stewardship category.
About the Wolf Trap Foundation
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization founded in 1971 by Catherine Filene Shouse that presents and produces a full-range of performances and education programs in the Greater Washington, D.C. area, as well as nationally and internationally. Wolf Trap is home to three performance venues: the Filene Center and Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, and The Barns at Wolf Trap. It also programs and operates the Wolf Trap Opera Company, a premier residency training program, as well as arts in education programs for people of all ages. The Center serves as a national, arts-in-education resource for children, parents, educators and performing artists. Visit the Wolf Trap Web site at www.wolftrap.org for more information.
About Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading global consulting firm, serves clients on six continents. Integrating the full range of consulting capabilities, Booz Allen is the one firm that helps government and commercial clients solve their toughest problems with services in strategy, operations, organization and change, and information technology.
