The San Cristobal Ranch Foundation is currently in the process of changing its name to the Center for Energy Efficiency. However, for the purposes of this web site, the organization will be referred to as the San Cristobal Ranch Foundation, as that was the name of the organization when it received the MIRA grant.

The mission of the San Cristobal Ranch Foundation is sustainability. This mission begins with the preservation, restoration and stewardship of the San Cristobal Ranch. It then reaches out to the local, regional and global communities by promoting healthy community development. The Foundation uses research, community education and communication links to address educational, economic, environmental and cultural challenges.

As a MIRA CSO, the Foundation's goal was to help mainly Hispanic neighborhood associations use technology as a tool to strengthen the democratic discussion and decision-making process of their neighborhoods. This in turn would strengthen the environmental well-being, cultural integrity and economic development of the neighborhoods and Taos County.

The Foundation achieved its goal by developing the Electronic Neighborhood Association Program in eight sites. The program provides community members another forum for participating in the discussions regarding many issues facing Taos County. The Foundation began their program by providing each site with a computer available for public access. These computers were setup for Internet access and e-mail use. Next, the Foundation trained two individuals from each site in basic computer skills, e-mail use, Internet use, neighborhood web site development, and electronic conferencing. The chosen neighborhoods agreed to ensure the computer was available to their entire neighborhood association, to participate in an online mailing list for the program and to submit reports to the Foundation on how the neighborhood association utilized the technology.