Our Founder

Jayni Chase

A deep-seated awareness that everything has a natural origin and a driving recognition of the limits to growth has motivated Jayni Chase as a tireless advocate for conserving and protecting the available resources on this earth. Acting on the belief that positive environmental change must begin with the education of our children, Jayni founded the Center for Environmental Education in 1988. For eleven years the Center operated out of Antioch NE Graduate School in Keene, NH. In 2008, it moved to Unity College in Unity, Maine.

Jayni created The Center in order to provide K -12 teachers and students with the resources and materials necessary to build strong environmental education in our nation's schools. The Center has grown into one of the strongest and most vital outreach programs for educators world-wide, distributing resources and curriculum materials, connecting educators through careful and informed networking and providing consulting services free of charge.

In 1995 Scholastic published Jayni’s book, Blueprint for a Green School, a compilation of over 7,500 sources of environmental information, resources and ideas for schools that want to 'Go Green.' From food service to cleaning materials, curricular references to accurate environmental information, the book empowers teachers and students, administrators, architects and maintenance crews to build healthy and conservation-minded schools.

Jayni has served on numerous Boards, including, Friends of the Earth, the Antioch New England Institute, Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet, Global Green USA, Californians Against Waste and The Coalition for Clean Air. She served a two-year term 2002-2003 as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Friends of the Earth and in 2004 she was awarded an honorary degree in Environmental Studies from Antioch New England Graduate School for her work in the field of environmental education. Her extensive awards include recognition from the National Resources Defense Council, The Environmental Media Association, the Crittenton Center, Women For, the Rainforest Alliance, the U.S. Environmental Film Festival and she shared the Celebrity Fight Night Humanitarian Award of 2005 with her husband, Chevy Chase. In 2004 and 2005 Jayni received the Audubon Women in Conservation Award and the Thorne Ecological Institutes Environmental Award respectively.

Jayni credits her husband Chevy and their three daughters, Cydney, Caley and Emily, with providing the force behind her dedication to environmental health, safety and education.