Photo: Deanna Zandt

Racial allyship is a risky proposition. Though it cannot be compared with the inequities and dangers faced by members of marginalized groups, "[A]llyship means 'committing to pushing past the point of comfort to take effective and impactful action to change things' - even if that action is messy or dangerous.

This Race and Equity Reading Group discussion will raise questions of allyship within a framework of community care and wellness, with the objective of moving toward a model of sustained allyship in the environmental community. 

Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020

Time: 9:30 - 10:30 am PT / 12:30 - 1:30 pm ET

To register: contact Laine Kuehn

Please see the Switzer Foundation website for more information, and for links to the readings associated with this discussion.

If you are not a member of the Race and Equity Reading Group and would like to be added, please contact  Laine . The group is open to all fellows, and Switzer Foundation staff and trustees.

Photo: Rebecca Siegel/Flickr

Recently, we announced the launch of a new Slack online community space to address the specific circumstances and needs of fellows of color. The Slack space has been set up by Switzer Fellow Francisco Dóñez, who will help fellows of color join, provide technical assistance, and help facilitate early discussions and brainstorms as needed. Please email Francisco ( [email protected]) for more information! 

We know that some of you will be at the following conferences - please let Erin know if you plan to attend! If there is a critical mass of fellows (even a small one), we can provide some funds to help you get together for a meal or other activity. This is a great way for us to help facilitate in-person time for fellows so you can get to know each other and perhaps plant seeds for future collaboration (possible Network Innovation grant?) or ongoing coaching and support of each other. And, it will be fun for you. Win-win!

Some climate-related projects start local and stay local - but in other cases, there may be an opportunity to expand the initiative to broader scales. Over the course of just four years, Amber Pairis has brought together more than 280 organizations, agencies, and groups of people keen to address climate change adaptation.

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For the Yurok tribe, fishing isn't a recreational weekend activity to be paired with cold beer. It's a way of subsistence, a way of life. Keith Parker's groundbreaking biological research regarding a new subspecies of Pacific lamprey, recently published in the science journal Molecular Ecology, may be the key to saving his tribe's way of life.

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Ekow Edzie is a recent graduate of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the graduate school of international affairs at Tufts University. The summer after his first year at Fletcher, Edzie conducted field research on the land restitution process in Colombia. He analyzed the unique challenges facing victims of land displacement in Colombia in their return to rural livelihoods and the structure of government aid intended to ensure their future success.

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