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The Rudd Mayer Memorial Endowment Fund

In 2002, WRA and many others suffered a great loss with the death of Rudd Mayer, former green marketing program director. Anyone who knew Rudd will tell you that she will not be forgotten, and it is true that her legacy continues at WRA. In late 2005, we gratefully received a lasting gift from Rudd. A generous financial gift that Rudd left to WRA has enabled us to formally establish the Rudd Mayer Memorial Endowment Fund. Rudd felt strongly that an endowment would help solidify WRA’s financial stability and therefore ensure that the important environmental work of WRA could continue in perpetuity.

It says a lot about an organization when an employee chooses to make such a gift, but it says far more about the giver. Rudd was simply amazing. During her ten years with WRA, Rudd developed a very successful approach to developing grassroots support for wind power. She led efforts to promote Colorado utilities’ wind power programs to businesses, schools, communities of faith, government agencies, and households. Rudd's vibrant personality and passion helped her to convince thousands of Coloradoans that wind power was the key to conserving resources for future generations. After her pioneering work in Colorado, Rudd set out to help others around the country who were beginning similar initiatives. She helped inspire or directly worked with Balanced Energy campaigns in the mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, and California. Her cutting-edge work earned national recognition, including a 1999 award from the President's Council on Sustainable Development, the American Wind Energy Association's Wind Energy Advocacy Award, a Green Power Leadership Award and EPA's 2002 Climate Protection Award.

Several of the people who were close to Rudd remain quite active with WRA. Rudd’s daughter, Brooke, is a WRA Board member who contributes marketing expertise and so much more. We were honored that Rudd’s family traveled to Boulder in November when we announced establishment of the Rudd Mayer Memorial Endowment at WRA’s 15th Anniversary event. Current green marketing director, Susan Innis, was mentored by Rudd and misses Rudd still, saying “Rudd was a true inspiration to everyone she worked with in the renewable energy field. She worked hard but always had fun.“

To learn more about the Rudd Mayer Memorial Endowment, or to contribute, please contact Anita Schwartz at 303-444-1188 x227. Giving to an endowment ensures the organization’s financial stability for years to come!

Mark Udall's tribute to Rudd Mayer in the Congressional Record

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