Vancouver-based Ecotrust Canada announced Monday that it is exporting its unique model of environmentally-conscious business development to Australia with the launch of a sister organization in Sydney.
Ian Gill, the long-tome president and founder of the 15-year-old non-profit, is returning to his native country to lead Ecotrust Australia as its founding executive director.
Brenda Kuecks, who has been with Ecotrust Canada for seven years, will take the reins of the Canadian organization as its executive director.
Ecotrust's mandate is to build the "conservation economy" in coastal B.C.
It focuses on supporting and financing community development projects aimed at reducing emissions and creating renewable energy supplies.
Last May, it joined two aboriginal capital corporations to launch the $7 million First Nation Regeneration Fund to finance native equity stakes in run-of-river developments.
In a release, Ecotrust's chair Jacqueline Koerner, said of Australia: "Opportunities for Indigenous communities and the environment strongly echo experience in our corner of the Pacific."
Ecotrust Australia will be chaired by noted Indigenous leader Patrick Dodson and will work primarily in the Australian north.