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Restoring the State’s Biodiversity With Maine Audubon’s Winning “Intrapreneurship” Proposal
ADVOCACY AND MOVEMENT BUILDING
Photo credit: The Roux Institute
Last year, 12 environmental nonprofits embarked on an intensive journey to conceptualize and operationalize a revenue-generating idea for their organization. Together, the nonprofits formed the second cohort of Northeastern University’s Roux Institute’s Intrapreneurship for Nonprofits program.
The program offered participants the opportunity to work with Roux instructors and business mentors to create earned-income streams to support their mission-based work. And in April 2025, it culminated in a showcase in which eight of the participating nonprofits pitched their ideas to a panel of judges for the chance to win one of three cash prizes.
Earning first place and $10,000 to jumpstart its project: Maine Audubon, a staple conservation organization in the state.
About Maine Audubon
Founded in 1843, Maine Audubon has grown to operate eight public centers and seven chapters, connecting with more than 250,000 Mainers and visitors each year. Committed to protecting wildlife and their habitats throughout the state, Maine Audubon hosts a number of environmental programs, including:
- Experiential nature programs for more than 8,000 students per year
- Nature walks and expeditions
- Loon counting initiatives
- Piping plovers and least terns monitoring
- Advocacy for conservation-focused policies
- Educational projects in schools, towns, and communities
About a decade ago, Maine Audubon launched the “Bringing Nature Home” program, inspired by Dr. Doug Tallamy’s book about the importance of native plants in supporting insect and bird populations. “The focus of the program is to restore and rebuild Maine’s natural biodiversity by planting wildflowers and trees to support the widest array of wildlife,” says Andrew Tufts, the program manager of Bringing Nature Home.
What initially started as a native plant sale has grown to include efforts to expand the native plant industry in Maine and advocate for the role of native plants in habitat restoration. To help achieve these goals, Tufts and Maine Audubon board member Jim Hancock used the Intrapreneurship Program to develop a winning revenue-generating idea.
Growing an Intrapreneurial Spirit
Going into the Intrapreneurship Program, Tufts and Hancock wanted to expand their existing plant sale initiative into a brick-and-mortar retail location. But after working with their mentor, Warren Adams, director of the Climatetech Incubator at the Roux Institute, they adapted their idea.
“Warren helped us see that what’s really growing every year is our online sales platform,” says Tufts. “We decided the better option is to rebuild our website and scale up our ecommerce platform, which will justify the move to an in-person location and vastly reduce the risk of doing so.”
By investing in a new and improved ecommerce site, the Bringing Nature Home team would be able to expand partnerships with plant growers and optimize their inventory management processes, ultimately increasing their ecommerce revenue. While Tufts anticipates bringing in just under $200,000 in native plant sales in 2025, he projects more than doubling that number by 2029 with a higher-quality ecommerce platform. The team would then invest their profit back into the educational and advocacy programs that help Maine Audubon achieve its goals.
The Intrapreneurship Program afforded Tufts and Hancock the opportunity to fully conceptualize their idea, while gaining expert advice and peer insights on minimizing risk and refining their plans. “That’s one of my big takeaways. The success of this program is evident in the fact that it took what we thought was truly our best idea and transformed it into a much better idea,” says Tufts.
An Environment for Learning
The program also offered benefits beyond the chance to build business acumen. “It was a great opportunity to meet other folks in the nonprofit community and work with like-minded individuals on different mission-based ideas,” says Tufts. “There’s a lot of energy around this work right now.”
During breakout sessions, participants workshopped ideas and got direct feedback from their peers, helping each other think about the best way to present and operationalize their plans. The camaraderie and support the nonprofits offered one another extended to the culminating showcase, as well. Participants cheered each other on as they pitched their proposals and answered questions from the judging panel.
“As opposed to the typical Shark Tank environment, this program wasn’t cut throat at all,” says Tufts. “Everyone was super supportive and committed to helping each other think about how they could make their ideas better. It was a cool ecosystem of organizations.”
The program’s culture of collaboration and peer learning enabled Tufts and Hancock to refine their proposal into something that would drive benefits for all of Maine. “We want to get as many plants as possible out there into the landscape because they are directly contributing to restoring biodiversity,” Tufts says.
In addition to the effect this expansion will have on the environment, it will also create more opportunities for Maine Audubon volunteers and offer more ways for people to “connect with native plants and learn about the roles plants play in our environment,” according to Tufts.
Bringing Nature Home to Maine
What will Tufts and the Bringing Nature Home team do with their $10,000 earnings? They’ll be putting it to good use by rebuilding their website over the course of the next year, with the goal of launching it in 2026.
As they roll out their revenue-generating idea to become the premier supplier of native plants in Maine, the team will continue offering educational workshops, engaging communities, and advocating for environmental restoration. According to Tufts, winning the Intrapreneurship showcase was just the first step: “In five years time, I would love to see this plant sale be a robust operation that allows us to really focus on true conservation of horticulture and getting more native plants into the landscape.”
With big goals and now an even bigger support system, Tufts and the Bringing Nature Home team are well on their way to accomplishing their goals.