The NorthWoods Stewardship Center stands in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) seeking justice and equality. We recognize that our mission to connect people and place is not separate from this pursuit. We have been listening and learning from our local and national community as we seek to turn outrage over the unjust murder of George Floyd into progress in dismantling systemic racism. We believe this is not a political stance, but an affirmation of our commitment to human rights, essential to building vibrant human and natural communities – our work.
We are continuing to listen and learn from advocates and research such as The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations which shows how the dominant culture of environmental organizations can be alienating to ethnic minorities, the poor, the LGBTQ community, and others outside the mainstream.
We are committed to amplifying BIPOC voices and perspectives on access to the outdoors and environmental conservation initiatives, and to standing up to injustice and racism wherever we encounter it.
We are committed to continuous learning about how we can provide this access as we recruit new employees, seek racially diverse collaborations, review and rewrite our strategic plan, and examine our own unconscious biases as a staff, board and organization.
Black Lives Matter.