Heron Brae

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