People over Projects: Paul and Marilyn Thayer
More than 25 years ago, Paul and Marilyn Thayer received a postcard from Trees, Water & People seeking donations for our clean cookstoves program. What started, in their words, as a “modest contribution” has grown into decades of close relationship and avid support.
Marilyn, as the director of the CSU Academic Advancement Center, and Paul, as the Associate Vice President Emeritus at CSU, both spent their personal and professional lives supporting students of underrepresented backgrounds and saw TWP as one way to continue serving communities.
Paul: We honestly loved our work. It was time to leave after 50 years, but it was hard to leave too. Work gives you fulfillment and purpose, if you're lucky. And we've been very lucky. But TWP restored an additional sense of real purpose. It helped us feel that we could make some contribution and be part of something bigger than ourselves.
Marilyn: When we retired, we looked at it as an opportunity to do the things that are really meaningful in our lives. We wanted to still be a part of what TWP stands for, the work they do, their commitment to the earth, their commitment to working with other communities. It's not just reforestation, the trees. It's just not water. It's not just people. It's the integration of all three that makes it so compatible with our own philosophy in truly making a difference.
Paul and Marilyn both served on the TWP board for more than 10 years, and built personal relationships with our partner communities over more than 8 trips with TWP tours.
Marilyn: One of the things that I really enjoy and value when we're in communities is that you get in a circle and you introduce yourself, and oftentimes you tell your story. Every person in that circle is acknowledged, their voices are heard. We are all together in this circle. We have common values, common goals. Sometimes the circle is really big and it goes on and on. But you take the time to find out who each person is….
Paul: …And that’s consistent with the way TWP operates. What that represents to me is everybody needs to be known. How can you really talk with people if you don't know who they are?
Values of compassion, equity, and care have woven through Paul and Marilyn’s lives and continue to shape the ways they show up for our communities, our staff, and our organization.
Paul and Marilyn – we’re so grateful to have you as part of the TWP family.
Paul: I was lucky enough to have a family that was so caring and loving, always. And I think that’s given me the pattern for how I wanted to live my life – to care about people in the way I was cared for by my family. To laugh together wholeheartedly, to share experiences, to feel deeply about things together. And that's a part of the way TWP operates. They’re doing really strategic work, but underneath that, their way of operating is familial. So that fits in with my deepest purposes, caring for people who I think of as family, and having a large circle of people who are included in that. Giving people the chance to improve their lives is just such a gift. It's the most fulfilling thing in the world to me.
