Our Vision: We dream of a more resilient and connected world where all humans sustain healthy relationships with ourselves, one another, and our planet.
Our Mission: We empower nonprofit, private, and public sector institutions driven by people-centered values to transform their ecosystems toward justice, fairness and belonging. We do this through strategic planning, facilitation, assessments, coaching, learning experiences, curriculum development, toolkits, and resources.
Partner
Partner
CJ Goulding (he/him) is passionate about facilitating growth in three things: people, community, and leadership. In his work with the Children & Nature Network and Fresh Tracks, CJ trains, mentors and supports a national network of over 330 leaders who are changing systems and creating equitable access to nature in their communities. This work draws from experience leading outdoor trips, conservation crews, and youth internship programs for the National Park Service. He completed a MaED in Urban Environmental Education with IslandWood and Antioch University, where he studied the power of community and its connection to nature in urban settings. CJ has been featured in the Outdoor Industry’s inaugural “30 Under 30” list highlighting game changers in the outdoor industry, and his essay “Why I Wear Jordans in the Great Outdoors” has been published and featured in culturally relevant outdoor curriculum across the country. He is an eager writer, photographer, and lover of sharing and supporting stories.
Partner (on sabbatical)
Partner (on sabbatical)
(currently on sabbatical)
Sophie Dipti Sarkar (she/her) is a facilitator, coach, and artist based in Lenapehoking (Philadelphia, USA). Born under a full moon on the centennial of International Worker’s Day, her work is deeply informed by her love for justice and the night sky. She has spent nearly a decade organizing communities to heal from systemic oppression and reconnect with the natural world. She co-founded PGM ONE, one of the largest racial affinity spaces in the environmental movement, and Interwoven, a Black and Asian solidarity series and zine. She sees her art practice as a continuation of this work, supporting those around her to tell their stories, deepen their solidarity, and live in loving relationship with their land, water, and sky kin.
Sophie offers coaching support to folks at any level/rank within an organization who are interested in developing their leadership to create healthy, just, and creative workplace cultures. She has developed her coaching style through years of practicing mindfulness meditation, peer counseling, and experiential education. Using a heart-centered approach, she supports individuals to:
Founding Partner
Founding Partner
aparna (she/her) is a cofounder of the Avarna Group. She is a former natural resources and environmental lawyer who transitioned to organizational development work that centers justice, fairness, and belonging in 2010. aparna is an artist, storyteller, facilitator, and advisor who thrives at the confluence of justice, youth, and the outdoors. aparna has made it her life's work to catalyze the radical reimagination of human relationships to land, water, and wildlife to center values of reciprocity, humility, compassion, and interdependence. She does this through writing, speaking, strategic consulting, listening, data gathering, facilitating workshops, coaching, and facilitating affinity spaces within this sector. aparna has also spearheaded initiatives that amplify BIPOC voices, including Expedition Denali: Inspiring Diversity in the Outdoors and People of the Global Majority in the Outdoors, Nature, and the Environment. aparna serves on the boards of the Living Oak Center for Applied Decolonization, Brown Girls Climb, and Dirt Maidens, serves as Vice Chair of the Oregon Commission for Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs, and is a member of the Oregon Environmental Justice Council. Through the two Oregon state commissions and councils, she advocates for measures at the state and local level that support justice and fairness for environmental justice communities and BIPOC communities throughout Oregon, including measures related to K-12 education, youth mental health, and public health.
When not nerding out reading books on the topics such as the complex and intertwined histories of people and land, you can find her writing, drawing, hiking, running, climbing, and biking in the homelands of the Kalapuya people, where she lives with her partner and son.
Listen to more from Aparna on Rebooting Capitalism Ep #8: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Ava Holliday and Aparna Rajagopal, co-founders of The Avarna Group, The Caroline Gleich Show Episode 30: Disrupting Implicit Bias in the Outdoors with the Avarna Group, and She Explores Episode 13: Diversity, "Beyond the Buzzword".
Read more by Aparna in Flip the Script: Opportunities for the environmental movement to better engage Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (Earth Island Journal), The Power of Affinity Spaces in Issue 7 of Sisu Magazine, and the Avarna blog.
Founding Partner
Founding Partner
Ava Holliday, M.A.: Ava (she/her) believes a sustainable future is dependent on simultaneously working towards social and environmental justice. She has devoted the last eight years to researching and working in this field. As a graduate student at the University of Washington in the department of Anthropology, Ava was able to deepen her understanding about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts and challenges in environmentalism, conservation, and outdoor recreation. At UW, she taught courses covering topics such as power, identity, environmentalism, health, and wilderness. She left graduate school to put theory into practice at the Avarna Group. In addition to her work at the Avarna Group, she has supported the LGBTQ Outdoor Summit and serves on the Next 100 Coalition. Throughout her academic and professional career, Ava has supported thousands of people and hundreds of organizations in service of deepening understanding of and cultivating skills to address oppression in environmentalism, conservation and outdoor education.
Partner
Partner
Cianna (she/her/ella) is an equity and inclusion consultant who is driven by her passion for social justice, community organizing, equitable food access, and youth empowerment. Since 2016, she’s partnered across sectors to develop sustainable equity and inclusion strategy and programs. Cianna specializes in integrating DEIJA principles at the foundational level to develop equitable infrastructure that supports an inclusive and thriving organizational culture. This includes policy and process audits and recommendations, data collection and analysis, work plan development with objectives and key results, workshops, and program development (i.e. employee resource groups, community building opportunities, diversity, equity and inclusion committees, etc.). She has supported a range of organizations as they navigate their DEI journeys from small nature-based organizations and national K-12 nonprofits to high-tech start-ups. Cianna also served as a facilitator and advisor for the PGM ONE summit. Outside of her work in DEI, Cianna can be found on a trail with her humans and dogs, at a local playground, or building community on Mvskoke land where she currently resides. She has a BA in Sociology from San Francisco State University and a MA in International Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility from Escuela de Organización Industrial in Madrid, Spain.
Partner
Partner
Heron Brae (she/her) is a community builder, educator, and facilitator with over 25 years experience in grassroots movements to support racism justice, queer liberation, and decolonization. She holds a BS in botany and ecology, and worked as an educator at the Columbines School of Botanical Studies for 12 years, where she developed Indigenous-centered curriculum to link environmental work with social justice and decolonization.
In her work with the Avarna Group, she uses tools of deep listening and emotional empathy to hold space for difficult conversations about social change and culture transformation. She also draws on her background in Indigenous-centered curriculum to support clients in building holistic environmental education curriculum that is culturally responsible. In addition to her work with the Avarna Group, Heron also supports Live Oak Consulting in co-facilitating Decolonization 101 trainings and complementary affinity groups to coach aspiring allies with emotional resiliency and skill building to face decolonial work.
Heron envisions a world where human society is organized around reciprocity and cooperation with the land and each other. When she’s not doing social change work, you can find her harvesting wild plants, making delicious food, watching birds, and marveling over life’s many mysteries
Government:
Partnerships, associations, and coalitions
Funders:
Environmental & Climate Organizations:
Land trusts:
Outdoor organizations:
Colleges & Universities:
