Our JEDI Statement, Actions and Goals

Our Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Inclusion Statement


We recognize that the United States is a colonial system fundamentally built upon values of supremacy which privilege white people over others. This manifests as racism, classism, and cis-heteropatriarchy throughout our culture and political institutions.

We acknowledge the past and ongoing devastating impacts of injustice and marginalization throughout the world and work as accomplices in solidarity with Black, Brown, and Indigenous Communities, LGBTQIA2+ and other marginalized communities.

We are dedicated to deepening our understanding and taking concrete action as an organization and as individuals, for dismantling racism and other forms of oppression that persist throughout our lives.

We are committed to values rooted in a sacred connection to the Earth, reciprocity and co-liberation, centering our hearts, spirits, and bodies and co-creating a culture of care.

We strive to create safe spaces for all expressions of cultural and gender identity, (including transgender, gender fluid, non-binary, and agender).

Solidarity is an action. We ask you to join us in our commitment to transforming injustice in our work, our homes, and our communities.

Our Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Inclusion Actions and Goals

We have been actively transforming our institute into a more inclusive, diverse, decolonial organization since early 2020. We know that this is an ongoing process of continued listening, learning, creating connections and taking courageous actions for justice.

 

Actions we are taking:

1. Centering BIPOC leadership and voices

    • Developing and teaching exclusively BIPOC Ecotherapy trainings, created and taught by BIPOC teachers, with equity pricing for all participants and additional outreach to students to foster connection and inclusion.
    • Ongoing recruitment and support of BIPOC teachers, plus additional income to reflect the complexity of teaching in a multicultural environment.
    • Highlighting the voices of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in our classes and newsletters, including anti-racist, Landback and other materials that speak to racial injustice, cultural appropriation and decolonization.

2. Honoring indigenous people

    • Donating 2% of our profits to the Sogorea Te Land Trust for reparations of the past and continuing colonization and genocide of indigenous peoples as well as their revitalization.
    • Honoring the original stewards of the land by offering land acknowledgements at all our gatherings and trainings, and including statements on our EBI website and teacher emails with encouragement to learn more about and donate to indigenous peoples.
    • Encouraging our students to learn about and support the indigenous peoples of the lands they are living with.

3. Promoting education and dialogue about social and environmental justice issues

    • Naming and welcoming honest discussion about the current social, political, spiritual and environmental issues of our times within the curriculum and classroom.
    • Writing monthly newsletter that includes articles and poems from BIPOC writers, specific actions to take for justice, relational nature practices and professional resources.

4. Making our programs more accessible

    • Offering Equity Scholarships for our BIPOC classes
    • Offering four partial scholarships in each of our regular trainings, for BIPOC, LGBTQIA2+ and other marginalized communities, with all scholarships totaling $15-20,000 a year.

5. Developing an inclusive and decolonizing organizational culture

    • Classroom guidelines that center the inclusion of all voices in a respectful way and encourage being mindful of intent and impact.
    • Teaching about multicultural considerations in practicing Ecotherapy, naming that the modern-day Ecotherapy field was created by euro-centric white founders, and highlighting the wisdom of BIPOC voices and perspectives.
    • Staff training for development of an inclusive curriculum, and encouraging teachers to bring their cultural backgrounds and whole selves to their teaching.
    • Including more visual diversity in our materials, website and advertising.
    • Ongoing professional DEI consultation for teachers and staff.
    • Decolonizing our organization through the above actions plus transparency of finances and discussion of policies and curriculum among all teachers.

6. Other Active Projects

    • Create a reparational fund for BIPOC and underrepresented groups to support equity prices and equity pay.
    • Continue to center BIPOC voices in our staff, teachers and curriculum and programming.
    • Creating a collaborative, inclusive, and horizontal leadership team.
    • Specific outreach to Black communities and organizations

Future projects:

  • Create an ombudsperson position for EBI for any issues that come up in the trainings.
  • Create an Advisory council with multiple voices represented.
  • Including more visual diversity in our materials, website and advertising.
  • Develop specific policy and protocols around diversity.
  • Develop a five-year vision for the organization with teacher and staff feedback.
  • Network with local businesses to create community and collaboration.