Our History - The CLEO Institute (2024)

In 2010 Caroline Lewis with support from Dr. F. Lynn Leverett, and others, founded The CLEO Institute, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on climate education, engagement, & advocacy. CLEO stands for Climate Leadership Engagement Opportunities.

ABOUT CAROLINE

BIO I RESUME

As the Founder of The CLEO Institute, Caroline promotes climate literacy, climate justice, and support for bold action. She is currently CLEO’s Senior Advisor, working with a stellar team to advance climate action as the urgent imperative it is.

Her board positions and service roles include the National Environmental Education Advisory Council; American Public Garden Association; Miami-Dade Executive Board for Science Curriculum & Instruction; the White House Summits on Climate and Energy and Women & the Environment; the Conservation Fund’s Advisory Panel on Children and nature; Congressman Curbelo’s Climate Advisory Team, VAI-Changing The Current Advisory Council, Miami-Dade County Living With Water Committee, and others.

In 2013, Caroline Lewis was nationally recognized as a White House Climate Resilience Champion of Change. In 2017, she was a featured speaker at the Miami March for Science and The People’s Climate March, Miami, and the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce recognized her as a Global Change Maker. In 2018, Caroline was named by Time Magazine as one of 31 individuals making a difference in the South. And, in 2019, she was featured in National Geographic’s Documentary: From Paris to Pittsburg.

Caroline knew that engaging kids needed to be a key component of CLEO. Thus she helped launch the Climate and Me summer program in Liberty City with Paulett Richards and formalized CLEO Councils in Schools, known today as our Climate Resilient Schools program.

Our Climate Resilient Schools program is teaching and mobilizing thousands of students across and beyond Miami-Dade county (the 4th largest school district in the United States) to become resilient, articulate, and passionate about civic engagement in support of science, impacts, and solutions to the climate crisis. Our program also includes our Teachers Network, which helps teachers K-12 across Florida incorporate climate into their curriculum regardless of the subject they teach.

“Ms. Caroline, you saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself when we first met. You took your time to guide me, educate me, mentor me. (Literally walked me through my first EVER climate workshop: Design, Recruitment, and Facilitation).

And as my leadership is growing I still call you with questions and you still take have time and patience with me. I’m so grateful for you Ms. Caroline! Your leadership and work is so impactful and Inspiring. Thank you for always believing in our communities and our collective resiliency.”

– Valencia “Vee” Gunder

Caroline was one of the first people to bring the social justice groups into the climate conversation, bridging the gap between climate science and social justice. Caroline conducted listening sessions, town halls, and climate presentations and helped CLEO become a trusted partner in underserved communities.

In 2015 Caroline was a founding member of The Miami Climate Alliance (MCA), and in 2017, Caroline was a key figure in ensuring that RCAP 2.0 had a social justice equity lens. Waking up the sleeping giants who live and work in frontline communities has been pivotal in catalyzing the climate justice movement in Florida.

“Caroline has been a dear, dear friend, but I think a quote from the movie, Jerry McGuire, says it best: Caroline completes me. As a climate scientist, so much of what I do only has an impact when people can turn the science into action – and that’s what Caroline does; she unleashes the power of climate science via education which turns into action and advocacy.”

– Dr. Ben Kirtman

As CLEO’s scope of work, funding, and impact grew, Caroline saw the need to bring in fresh leadership to this ever-growing nonprofit. We were poised to scale beyond South East Florida, thus in 2018, Caroline hired Yoca Arditi-Rocha to become CLEO’s new Executive Director and formalized CLEO’s leadership team. With a fresh new look, CLEO rebranded to focus on climate solutions and expand programming. Caroline continuess at CLEO as the Founder and Senior Advisor.

In 2019, with the help of the VoLo Foundation, The CLEO Institute became a statewide organization with its HQ in Miami, and offices in Orlando, Tampa, and Tallahassee.