In August of 2019, the Conservation Legacy Diversity Team came together out of a desire amongst Conservation Legacy staff to focus on DEI initiatives throughout the organization.

The Conservation Legacy Diversity Team envisions an organization that is a beacon and safe space for all individuals. The anxiety, uncertainty, or fear some people may feel regarding DEI is replaced by the desire to grow, educate and keep one another and ourselves accountable, while honoring and upholding the space to make and learn from our mistakes.

The Conservation Legacy Diversity Team will foster an intentional space to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion. In tandem with the Director of Diversity and Recruitment, the team will be a resource, sounding board, and advisory body for DEI matters, working to brainstorm solutions, answer questions, and collaborate on new initiatives.

Conservation Legacy's Diversity Team presents our land acknowledgment at our All Staff Gathering

Since introducing our group at our All Staff Gathering this past March, our initial team of 10 has grown to 22 members (and we welcome more!). We meet monthly, fostering an intentional space to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion and to plan action steps. June felt like a turning point for racial justice throughout the country, throughout the environmental sphere, and throughout Conservation Legacy. As a team, we are hopeful that the anxiety, anger and sadness we are feeling today can be channeled into concrete change for our organization.

At our June meeting, we designed and piloted an Action Planning Session. The intention of this session was to crowdsource information from our own staff to identify actions we can take to further DEI efforts, both in our personal lives and as an organization. The team has adapted the facilitation after getting feedback and will be offering the session to all staff within the month. We are looking forward to continuing the internal work that we have all committed to in order to recognize our own privileges and prejudices as we work towards our best, most inclusive selves.

Keep your eyes peeled for more from us moving forward! We will be sharing monthly updates via Conservation Legacy's social media channels.

In Service,

The Diversity Team