Sustaining change

Elaina Tattersdale believed that any person could make a difference. An enterprise project manager for Canada-based real estate firm Morguard Investments, Elaina’s dream was to improve the impact buildings have on our environment by working in sustainability. After a short battle with cancer, Elaina passed away at the young age of 35. To honor her passion, Elaina’s parents, Rick and Cheryl Gray, launched Elaina’s Sustainability Fund by donating to the IREM Foundation in 2019.

Grants from Elaina’s Sustainability Fund encourage innovation or adoption of sustainability and occupant wellness initiatives that impact the buildings where we live, work, shop, and play. Her legacy lives on in the work being accomplished through these recently funded projects. 

“Through Elaina’s Sustainability Fund, we are not only honoring Elaina’s dreams but also sparking innovation and transformation around the globe. From empowering youth to lead green projects to creating community recycling solutions, these grants are making an enduring impact—one that nurtures the next generation of environmental leaders while making our world healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable. Elaina’s legacy is alive in every project, student, and community that benefits from these remarkable initiatives,” says IREM Past President Cheryl Gray. 

The Sanksar Solar School Project 

The Sanksar Public School in Kamlapur, Lucknow, India, is a cornerstone for education in the area, yet it faces daily power outages exceeding eight hours, severely disrupting educational activities. With a $5,000 grant from Elaina’s Sustainability Fund, The Solar Village Project is installing a 2kW solar array to address critical electricity shortages affecting 270 students and the broader community. This reliable renewable energy source will enable uninterrupted learning, enhance educational resources, and reduce the carbon footprint of Sanksar Public School. Elaina’s Sustainability Fund grant supports the school’s immediate needs and is an educational tool to raise students’ awareness about sustainable energy solutions. Furthermore, it demonstrates the viability of renewable energy in academic institutions in rural settings, setting a precedent for future sustainable projects. 

EcoRise Youth Innovations 

EcoRise Youth Innovations plays a crucial role in supporting students in schools disproportionately impacted by environmental stressors. Working at the intersection of sustainability education, climate resilience, and environmental justice, EcoRise elevates youth voices and advances student-led solutions to real-world challenges. A recipient of two Elaina’s Sustainability Fund grants, EcoRise helps students develop environmental literacy and 21st-century skills, adopt sustainable living practices, and become community leaders and creative changemakers.  Projects such as schoolwide water-conservation efforts, air purification installations, and outdoor classrooms make schools and communities more sustainable.

National Student Innovation Fund

With support from a $5,000 Elaina’s Sustainability Fund grant, at least 3,586 students and their school communities in Washington, D.C., benefitted from EcoRise’s National Student Innovation Fund. The grant funded eight green projects led by 335 students in low-income and historically marginalized communities that are hardest hit by the impacts of climate change. These student-led projects brought together students and community members to conserve energy and water, improve air quality, reduce carbon emissions, produce healthy food, convert public spaces into eco-friendly spaces, and divert waste from local landfills. Funding students’ green projects created memorable, real-world learning experiences that inspired students to realize and use their agency to act as sustainability leaders and creative changemakers in their communities. Participation in these projects fostered a stewardship mindset in students, and they gained a deeper perspective of environmental issues in their community. Students developed valuable skills, including problem-solving and critical thinking, by evaluating campus conditions and innovating sustainable solutions.

Building resilience through student innovation

For the 2024–2025 school year, EcoRise will build resilience through student innovation with a $5,000 grant from Elaina’s Sustainability Fund. The grant will support approximately 10 student-led projects in several Texas communities focusing on school building improvements, prioritizing EcoRise schools that are disproportionately impacted by environmental stressors. These 10 projects will directly involve approximately 40 students and positively impact at least 7,000 students and community members via school building improvements, cost savings, and environmental benefits. 

The grant will also support the expansion and enhancement of EcoRise’s Green Careers Academy Internship program, which offers hands-on experiences, mentorship opportunities, and exposure to green careers for underrepresented students. EcoRise staff will explore careers at the intersection of sustainability and real-estate management, creating opportunities to create a new internship track that introduces students to this industry and its role in making the planet more sustainable. 

Hydroponic Venture project

The Hydroponic Venture project (HVP) provides a pathway for youth education and engagement by bringing indoor hydroponic growing systems to Chicago public schools and local communities. The project will expose students across the city to sustainable methods of growing fresh produce with limited resources and encourage learning about the operation and sciences in sustainable agriculture. After one year in operation, the HVP program has helped save more than 1 million food miles and 14,743 gallons of water, and produced 478 pounds of fresh produce, benefiting 2,163
students. (“Food miles” refers to the distance food travels from where it is produced to where it is consumed.)

An $800 grant from Elaina’s Sustainability will enable the purchase of a hydroponic system that provides a valuable hands-on activity for students, allowing the entire class to grow and interact with a garden. The project exposes students to sustainable methods of growing fresh produce with limited resources and encourages learning about the operation and sciences in sustainable agriculture. Students literally and figuratively “grow together,” sharing their harvest by donating fresh produce to community members in need and gaining crucial experience in team building, communication, and relationship skills. This hydroponic system will change the lives of children by producing healthy food indefinitely. 

Elaina’s Sustainability Fund eligibility

Anyone ready to take steps to improve the environmental footprint of commercial/institutional real estate in one or more communities may benefit from Elaina’s Sustainability Fund. This includes, but is not limited to, IREM members, real estate managers, building owners, tenants, residents, students, community groups, and faculty of academic institutions. Funds must support initiatives that advance the adoption of sustainability measures within the built environment. Individuals applying for funds related to a personal dwelling (single-family home or individual condo) may not qualify. However, projects involving commercially managed residential buildings may be eligible, particularly when the project can make a positive community impact.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. For more information, visit iremfoundation.org/causes/sustainability or contact the Foundation team at foundation@irem.org.