Honing a Vision: 2014-2016

Driven to learn more about organizational sustainability and resilience, Hazel and Joe both enrolled as graduate students at Antioch University New England--Hazel taking on a Professional Science Master’s in Resource Management and Conservation, and Joe taking on both a Master’s of Business Administration in Sustainability and a  Master’s of Science in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Environmental Education. At Antioch, Hazel and Joe took a deep dive into the theory of systems thinking, human resource management, financial sustainability, innovation, entrepreneurship, triple bottom line business management, and leadership for change. In both of their courses of study, Hazel and Joe absorbed course content through the lens of starting MOS and in turn devoted all of their assignments to that end. While Hazel mapped social and ecological data for Downeast Maine in her Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class, Joe was creating financial projections for MOS. When Hazel was building partnerships with mission-aligned nonprofits in Downeast Maine, Joe was developing a business strategy for MOS. Above all, Hazel and Joe learned how to efficiently and effectively balance the business and mission priorities of people, planet and profit. 

In the culmination of their time at Antioch, they successfully incorporated MOS as an L3C hybrid organization, developed a business model, found donors and allies, and implemented a pre-program evaluation that shaped their first programs.