The Madrona Institute Awards Paula Sardinas the David Giuliani Climate Leadership Award
Paula Sardinas, Recipient of the 2023 David Giuliani Climate Leadership Award Recipient
The Madrona Institute Awards Paula Sardinas The David Giuliani Climate Leadership Award
Recognizing individual efforts in climate engagement to inspire others to action
San Juan Island, WA ... The Madrona Institute has awarded the David Giuliani Climate
Leadership Award to public policy leader Paula Sardinas, National Black Professional Lobbyists
Association (NBPLA).
This award, created in 2022, recognizes and honors individuals who have made significant
efforts to advance climate action, locally and regionally. Through this recognition, The Madrona
Institute seeks to inspire all of us to take the initiative for greater protection of our community
and our planet. Carbon emissions reduction is crucial this decade in order to avoid the worst
effects of climate change.
A Pacific Madrone tree will be planted in Ms. Sardina’s honor at the Ihiya Biological Preserve
on San Juan Island, in partnership with The San Juan Preservation Trust, as part of a “Climate
Grove” of Pacific madrones to be planted this decade. Ms. Sardina will also receive a $1,000
award and a carved wooden plaque.
Paula Sardinos will be the first speaker in a 3-part virtual speaker series, Women of Color in
Leadership, beginning in May. Attendees can watch the series at three events held at the San
Juan Island Library. Get on our mailing list to be informed about upcoming events by visiting our
website at www.madrona.org.
About Paula Sardinas
Paula Sardinas, NBPLA, is the Founder and President/CEO of FMS Global Strategies, LLC, a
#Black and other #BIPOC Governmental Affairs Advocacy firm, and The Purpose Driven Girl, a
501(c)(3) nonprofit, focused on empowering #BIPOC women and girls who are often unable to
use their voice— due to intersectionality and structural racism.
Her public policy career spans 28 years working in Telecom, Engineering, Banking, IT, STEM,
Cannabis, Social Equity, and Financial Literacy. She is a member of the National Black
Professional Lobbyist Association in good standing. She began her career as an intern on
President Bill Clinton’s campaign in 1992 and has gone on to serve as the Statewide political
director, Women for Change on the Obama Campaign in both 2008 and 2012. She has recently
served as the coalition builder for both Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden and Washington State
Presidential campaigns.
Sardinas earned her AA and BBA from Columbia College in Missouri and studied for her MBA at
the College of William and Mary. She has also worked with and for the Administrations of
Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden in various roles.
About the David Giuliani Climate Leadership Award
David Giuliani was a remarkable leader, founding Clean and Prosperous America, Clean and
Prosperous Washington, and the Low Carbon Prosperity Institute. He was a key stakeholder in
the passage of the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) in the Washington State Legislature in 2021,
legislation which has been called the “gold standard” of state climate policy, as well as
providing financial support for The Madrona Institute’s climate policy and governance research.
Giuliani was best known as the co-inventor of the Sonicare toothbrush and the Clarisonic skin
care system, and as co-founder and CEO of both companies. Giuliani was responsible for over
twenty patents, and in 1997 was honored as the “United States Small Business Person of the
Year” by President Clinton. Over the last 10 years, Giuliani turned his attention to solving the
problem of climate change.
David Giuliani received the first Madrona Leadership Award on January 26, 2022. With his
passing on March 3, 2022, The Madrona Institute named this climate action award in his honor
on March 12, 2022, with the planting of his honorary Pacific Madrone at the Ihiya Biological
Preserve. The Award will be made on an annual basis until 2030.
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The Madrona Institute is an independent 501(c)3 non-governmental organization based in the San Juan Islands of Washington. The Madrona Institute's Mission is to engage current and future generations in the conservation and stewardship of our local ecosystem, and to encourage community dialogue and leadership on climate-related issues. This mission is accomplished through youth conservation and stewardship corps in the San Juan Islands, and through initiatives on climate change.
Media Contact:
Ron Zee
(360) 378-6690
ron@madrona.org
More about the San Juan Islands
Special License Plate
The Madrona Institute has awarded $22,500 to local organizations in its first year of grantmaking based on revenues received from sales of the San Juan Islands Special License Plate.
You can sign up online to get registered for this beautiful license plate featuring San Juan Island Artist Nancy Spaulding’s painting, Evening Passage.
Save money when renewing your tabs early and getting new specialty plates
Find out more at: https://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/spsanjuan.html
If your tabs expire in 6 months or less, you can save money by getting your new plates and tabs at the same time. By renewing early, you won't have to pay the following plate renewal fees the first year, and $28 goes to support Madrona Institute grants:
● $30 for specialty plates
● $42 for personalized plates
Share your Favorite Island Drives
and tag us on Facebook!
#MadronaInstitute
@madronainstitute
#sjilicenseplate
#StewardshipNetwork
@stewardshipsji
How are the Grants Awarded?
Recent recipients include the San Juan Islands Conservation District for their San Juan Islands Youth Conservation Corps ($6,000); the Friends of the San Juans for their Youth Environmental Mentoring Program ($5,000); the Alchemy Art Center for their Young Environmentalists Art Intensive & Exhibit Program ($5,000); the Coast Salish Youth Stewardship Corps operated by The Madrona Institute ($4,000); and the Indigenous Education Institute for their Indigenous Speaker Series–A Sense of Place in the Pacific Northwest: Indigenous Perspectives on Land, Water, and Sky ($2,500).
Alchemy Art Center for their Young Environmentalists Art Intensive & Exhibit Program
