Building Our Strength By Facing Our Weaknesses

SMCC’s Equity in Conservation Cohort supports environmental organizations and individuals with broadening our understanding of how diversity, equity, and inclusion relate to our work in conservation. The program developed initially with support from, The Fund for Maine Land Conservation providing funding to support a variety of trainings, workshops, and activities as part of this program. The first workshop series SMCC hosted had 23 people from 15 different conservation organizations who participated in the Maine-Wabanaki REACH Workshop. In this workshop, volunteer leaders facilitated discussions and interactive experiences to deepen our knowledge of the Native Tribal experience in Maine past and present. The next phase had a 3-part webinar series with the Avarna Group. These sessions provided us all with language, framework, and tangible strategies to help us as individuals and as organizations become more resilient, responsive, and inclusive. The deep work of acknowledging the privilege and barriers is essential for conservation to remain relevant