Tahoe-Baikal Institute

Formed in 1990. "The creation of the Institute in California -- and of a parallel organization in Siberia -- was unique among Russian-American partnerships when initiated. The idea and proposal originally came from US and Soviet students at a 1988 international youth conference in Helsinki, Finland, which they managed to present to Presidents Gorbachev and Reagan in person, Secretary General Perez de Cuellar, and Governor George Deukmejian of California.

"As a result, a California Resources Agency delegation visited Lake Baikal in 1990 and negotiated an agreement with Siberian authorities calling for the creation of the Tahoe-Baikal Institute. The Institute was then established as an international non-profit venture, in cooperation with a parallel organization in Russia, founded in the city of Irkutsk (population 700,000), capital of the Irkutsk Region.

"With generous support from Chevron Corporation, the Grateful Dead, individuals, foundations, and organizations such as the California Conservation Corps, the University of California, the California Tahoe Conservancy, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, and Direct Connection: US-USSR World Youth Communications, the first exchange took place during the summer of 1991. The nine-week program involved thirty-two Soviet and American students and staff spending four weeks at Lake Baikal and five weeks at Lake Tahoe."

• Jennifer C. Smith-Lee - TBI Executive Director

Funding

"TBI's programs have historically operated with a mixture of in-kind support; individual, organizational, and business donations; and foundation grants. From 1999 to 2006, TBI's total revenue has risen from $132,000 to $216,000.

"In 2006, about 32% of TBI's annual revenue was generated from foundation grants. This support came from the:

• Trust for Mutual Understanding,
• Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund
• Arthur B. Schultz Foundation
• Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation
• Open World Leadership Center,
• USFS Office of International Programs.

Board

Accessed December 2010:

• Bruce Ledesma, Chair - General Counsel, SunPower Corporation
• Thomas Mertens, Vice Chair - Krause Taylor Associates; League to Save Lake Tahoe
• Darcie Goodman Collins, Treasurer - Habitat Restoriation Director for Save the Bay
• Robert Harris, Secretary - Retired Forest Supervisor, LTBMU
• Nazir Ansari - Professor Emeritus, University of Nevada, Reno
• K. C. Bishop - Chevron Corporation
• Blaise Carrig - Executive VP, Vail Resorts
• Richard M. Frank - UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment
• Charles Goldman - Professor, U.C. Davis
• John Gussman - Attorney, California Tahoe Conservancy
• Susan Kocher - University of California Agric. and Nat. Res.
• Gary Litton - Professor, University of the Pacific
• Glenn C. Miller - Professor, University of Nevada, Reno
• Bill Morgan - Former Dir., Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
• David Muraki - Director, California Conservation Corps
• J.T. Ravize - Photographer
• Geoffrey Schladow - Director, U.C. Davis Tahoe Env. Research Center
• Larry Sevison - Chair, California Tahoe Conservancy
• Bud Sheble - Former Dir., California Conservation Corps
• Jeremy Sokulsky - President, Environmental Incentives (TBI ’95)
• Lester Snow - Secretary of Resources, State of California
• Lkhagva “Lucky” Tundev - President, Sacramento Mongolian Community Association

Advisors

Accessed December 2010:

• Ryan Davis
• Tony Brunello
• Gary Cook
• Frankie Sue Del Papa
• Terri Marceron
• Patricia Ronald
• Helen Pickering
• Harold Singer
• Patrick Wright

TBI-Russia Board of Advisors

Accessed December 2010:

• Zaituna Y. Abdrashitova
• Maria P. Safonova
• Vyacheslov V. Tokarev
• Victor B. Vorotintsev
• Andrey A. Lyapin
• Alexsey I. Shekhovtsoe
• Tatyana A. Strizhova
• Vladimir A. Fialkov
• Elina A. Rjepka
• Tatyana A. Bakshaeva
• Erjen Xamaganova
• Olga A. Bakshaeva
• Elena Zelenskaya
• Svetlana Filinskaya
• Leonid Markusovich Koritny

Contact

URL: http://www.tahoebaikal.org