Contestant's Case to Win
This is based on the number of votes received.Our world is how we make it. This is the story of Julie Davies O'Shea, mother and social entrepreneur, and how she and her company, Farmers Conservation Alliance (FCA) are doing transformative work that is being felt in the fields of farmers across the Pacific Northwest, and in the new “field” of social innovation and mission-based capitalism.
FCA is a social enterprise nonprofit that is quickly becoming a model for developing higher standards for performance in the nonprofit world. Julie is a leader in the movement of social innovation through her leadership in using metrics for management, setting and evaluating progress toward benchmark goals, and measuring social return on investments in economic terms.
FCA sells the Farmers Screen, a fish screen that is the first new fish screening technology to be approved since strict environmental and wildlife protection laws affecting irrigation practices were first enacted in the 1980’s. A fish screen is a device placed at points in a river where water is being diverted to irrigate crops, provide municipal drinking water, or generate hydropower. The screen keeps fish – as well as leaves, sticks, and other debris carried by the river, from entering the diversion.
With over 300,000 un-screened diversions in the western U.S. alone, the Farmers Screen is an exciting opportunity to save the lives of millions of fish while saving farmers millions of dollars in reduced operation and maintenance costs.
Based on a concept similar to Goodwill, FareStart, and Pioneer Human Services, FCA’s organizational structure is driven by social entrepreneurship and mission-based capitalism. The most exciting thing about this business model is that by developing a solution that addresses the root of the problem a win-win solution is created for all.
Each time a Farmers Screen goes into the ground, farmers save money, fish are saved, dollars are spent in rural communities, jobs are created, and funding through FCA will be used for the development of future technologies that will continue to benefit fish, farms and families.
Julie deserves to win the Leading Moms in Business competition for her leadership in social innovation, resource solutions for rural communities, and for finding and promoting a rare win-win solutions for agriculture and the environment.
