aparna rajagopal

Aparna Rajagopal, J.D.: Aparna (she/her) is an agitator, amplifier, and advisor who thrives at the confluence of equity and justice work and the outdoor, environmental, and conservation sectors. An Indian immigrant and mother, Aparna longs for an outdoor, environmental, and conservation movement that works for everyone. 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, facilitating workshops, coaching, and facilitating affinity spaces within this sector.  She 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 board of the Living Oak Center for Applied Decolonization, Brown Girls Climb, and Dirt Maidens. When not nerding out reading books on the topics such as the complex and intertwined histories of people and land, you can find her 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.

e: aparna@theavarnagroup.com