We are excited to announce that Rosana Francescato is the top individual fundraiser for the Bay Area Solarthon two years running, raising a total of $6,330 for GRID Alternatives! With four more Solarthons happening between now and November 5th, other individual fundraisers may be wondering “how does she do it”?!
Well first there’s her great passion for sustainability in general as evidence by her two blogs: projectgreen-a2z.com and howgreenwasmycondo.com, and second it’s her keen understanding that each of us can make a difference, as she describes in one of her recent blog post “The Power of One”:
 

At a recent EcoTuesday gathering in San Francisco, Sue Amar, Sustainability Officer at salesforce.com, referenced what Malcolm Gladwell calls the “law of the few” (aka the 80/20 principle), according to which 20% of the people will bring about 80% of the changes in the world. She’s a prime example of this herself, having single-handedly started a robust sustainability program at salesforce.com. This kind of focus has made salesforce.com a leader in sustainability among high-tech companies. And their commitment to sustainability has been solidified and advanced by one employee, Sue, who started their sustainability program as a volunteer (in addition to doing her regular job) and now leads the effort full-time.
EcoTuesday itself is another excellent example of the power of one or two people. Just a few years ago, this networking group for sustainability professionals didn’t exist. Now, thanks to its two founders, Nikki Pava and Oren Jaffe, it’s spread to cities throughout the U.S and is providing a wonderful and inspiring venue to learn about what people like Sue Amar are doing.
Over a year ago, Erica Mackie spoke at EcoTuesday about GRID Alternatives. Since then, I’ve volunteered at their Solarthon and convinced my employer to sponsor a workday where my colleagues and I spent the day installing solar panels on someone’s house. Not only that — a good friend of mine learned about the organization from me and is now working for them. If I hadn’t heard about GRID at EcoTuesday, perhaps she wouldn’t have thought to apply for the job, and they’d be out a great employee. But wait — there’s more! GRID was started by just two people who wanted to make a difference and saw a need that they could fill. They started small, but 10 years later, they’re growing by leaps and bounds. They’ve installed solar systems for over 1,000 families, preventing over 100,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and providing job training in the growing solar industry.
These examples all show what the vision of one or two people can create. Though we all rely on others and we need to work together to achieve our sustainability goals, each one of us can do a lot. Any of us who worry that we can’t make a meaningful difference should look at what people like Nikki Pava, Erica Mackie, and Sue Amar have done. That should be enough to restore our faith in the power of one.
 

And lastly, it’s her commitment to helping GRID Alternatives bring the economic and environmental benefits of solar to more communities in need. So we would like to add Rosana to her own list of people making a difference, and oh did we mention that she also asked all of her friends and family to make donations to GRID Alternatives in lieu of birthday gifts this year. Thanks so much for being a champion for GRID Alternatives and a great example to us all of the power of one!