Organizational Structure

The organizational structure of IDEAS consists of two distinct, yet connected bodies. The national chapter of IDEAS is the overarching governing body of the organization working under the tax-deductible fiscal sponsorship of “The Los Altos Community Foundation”. The second body consists of the individual chapters of IDEAS at university campuses around the nation.

National Chapter

The national chapter of IDEAS is a non-partisan organization entailing a Board of Directors and Staff. The Board of Directors serves as the ultimate leadership of the organization, providing long-term vision and goals for the organization. The Board selects Executive Director(s) that help implement the authority of the Board of Directors on day-to-day operations. In addition to the Executive Director(s), staff includes the directors of various teams that are determined by the Board (financial, technical, recruiting, etc.). These Team Directors work with the Executive Director(s) to help organize and grow the organization.

The national chapter recruits and manages chapters, provides assistance and administrative support, and serves as a liaison between different chapters. In addition, the national chapter works to organize annual conferences.

Domestic and International chapters

As the national chapter provides the infrastructure and resources to facilitate the mission of the organization, the individual domestic chapters are the backbone of our organization, translating our mission into a reality. The role of the domestic chapters were developed in order to provide extensive interaction with foreign partner institutions to mobilize these international communities. In addition, the domestic chapters work to actively raise money in order to fund these projects they help develop with their international partners. These national chapters will be paired up with our affiliate chapters in various developing nations. By working together, these partnerships will generate context specific movements, projects, and solutions to help promote our mission of environmental accountability and sustainability in these international communities.

For more information regarding the activities and projects of various chapters, please visit our Chapters page.