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Equity means supporting single identity spaces

Written by Aparna
May 24, 2017

a box of crayons with all brown crayons

We know diversity allows organizations to think out of the box, be more creative and innovative, problem-solve better and see around corners. But leading with diversity can undermine equity, especially when it comes to single identity experiences for people with marginalized identities. To be clear, today we're talking about single-identity…

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We’re expanding – welcome José!

Written by Aparna
March 9, 2017

Photo credit: Glenn Nelson at Trail Posse Friends and colleagues, We are thrilled to announce that José Gonzalez is joining the Avarna Group! We are so grateful to be able to learn from José, who brings a wealth of experience in conservation, outdoor and traditional education, and facilitation. José's name probably rings…

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Connecting the dots: what do immigration rights have to do with the environmental movement?

Written by Ava
February 8, 2017

poster with a construction crane displaying an image of a white bird with a peace sign hanging from their talons. A the bottom of the poster it reads,

Art featured above by Ernesto Yerena Montejano Grab some snacks. This is a longer than a usual blog post, but we think all of it matters. Last July, we wrote a blog post connecting Black Lives Matter to the environmental movement. In our second installment of the Connecting the Dots series,…

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What Does President Obama’s Memo Mean for You?

Written by Aparna
January 18, 2017

Image of President Barack Obama signing an executive order in the Oval Office

Implementing President Obama's Memo on Diversity & Inclusion in Public Lands & Waters Dear valued partners and friends: We’re writing to announce that we’ve created a new free toolkit that we hope will help all of you. As many of you know, last Thursday, President Obama made an impactful statement…

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Thank you for taking this trip around the sun (and nation) with us!

Written by Ava
December 19, 2016

image of the US with pins indicating travel locations

Map above: The Avarna Group's 2016 Travel Map; 38 cities, 19 states, 102 days Greetings and happy winter season esteemed partners, colleagues, and friends, This season we are filled with so many feelings, but the one feeling that rises to the top after our first year at the helm of this…

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Our post-election commitment

Written by Ava
November 11, 2016

We will return to regular posting at the beginning of 2017, but in the meantime, we wanted to share a letter we wrote this morning to our partners and share our current thoughts. Dear vauled partners and colleagues, In the wake of the elections, we know a litany of concerns…

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Connecting the dots: why black lives must matter to the environmental movement

Written by Aparna
July 12, 2016

image of Audre Lorde with a joyous smile while canoeing on a lake

There is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives. - Audre Lorde (photographed above) In the days since the police shot and killed Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, we’ve seen the gamut of reactions on social media: from outpourings of sympathy,…

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How do we move forward? Do the work.

Written by Ava
July 7, 2016

I was going to take the day off from work today, turn off my computer, and relax but I can't. I can't ignore the continued racist police brutality. So today I worked. My work today, as it is everyday as white-identified person, is to continue to navigate how I can…

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From the knapsack of privilege to the backpack of bias

Written by Aparna
July 1, 2016

cartoon of person with a heavy backpack in front of a college campus building

When we ask workshop participants whether they have done an activity called "the privilege walk" before, hands inevitably shoot up, accompanied by furrowed eyebrows, skeptical glances, and other hallmarks of concern. I can almost see the thought bubbles above their heads: Are these women going to make me do the…

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Why reverse -isms don’t exist

Written by Ava
June 15, 2016

cartoon image of black fish all facing to the left with one white fish in the middle facing to the right

We are in the middle of our busiest month, where we are scheduled to give 12 days of workshops for 10+ organizations. We're about half way through and have noticed one common theme in the questions we are asked. Many of our partners and participants want to know: do reverse…

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When in doubt, ask “in service of what?”

Written by Aparna
May 12, 2016

cartoon image of three people trying to untangle a huge ball of yarn

In one of our early workshops, I was considering whether to share my personal experience of taking the Implicit Association Test. In short, I discovered that I actually have unconscious biases that really surprised me, left me feeling dismayed, and quite frankly, a little horrified. Nevertheless, I thought it was…

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How to eat an elephant: tackling DEI work

Written by Ava
April 29, 2016

Last month we did another free webinar with Transforming Youth Outdoors. This time we talked about how to get started in DEI work. When we first started thinking about doing all of this work, we heard so many different approaches. Some organizations are highly focused on engaging a more diverse…

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