Specifically, we commit to:

1. Building a workplace more reflective of the diversity of the communities in which we work, where all staff feel valued and have a sense of belonging, and where we embrace the challenge and opportunity of growth on DEI issues at all levels of the organization.
2. Building lasting, trust-based partnerships with our grantees and community partners that advance DEI, amplifying the voices and perspectives of the most negatively impacted communities, and sharing our DEI goals and values with funders, grantees, contractors, and academic partners to ensure our collective work leads to a more just and equitable world.
3. Engaging in grantmaking that explicitly promotes DEI by using dollars to actively re-allocate power to those who have been marginalized and build long-term capacity within those communities.
4. Supporting and engaging in advocacy for public policies that spur new investment and opportunity and remove barriers faced by marginalized communities, enabling their members to live full and healthy lives.

Black, brown, Indigenous, immigrant, and low-income communities have been disenfranchised and disempowered in every sector, and especially in philanthropy, conservation, and environmental work. These communities are often hit the hardest by natural disaster, public health crises, pollution, environmental harms, and climate change, and receive significantly fewer resources to address such challenges.

We have a responsibility to understand the systemic inequities and injustices that permeate our field, and a duty to do something about it. Operating as an intermediary between our funders and impacted communities, we are uniquely positioned to bridge mainstream conservation goals with community-based goals to help resolve inequities at the intersection of environment, economy, public health, climate change, and infrastructure.

We endeavor to become a model organization that provides equal opportunity and a workplace free from discrimination—where all team members feel valued, respected, and a sense of belonging. We know that our work is enriched by the varied voices and perspectives of all staff members, so we are committed to recruiting, welcoming, developing, and retaining individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Advancing DEI is a moral imperative and essential to our mission. We cannot promote resilient environments and communities without recognizing that nature and people are intertwined, and that some communities suffer disproportionately from environmental degradation. When we focus our work through a DEI lens—from changing policy and funding to empowering new leadership—we create enduring results, precisely because they are equitable. Whether partnering to open new parks, engaging government on ocean protection, restoring watersheds, supporting Indigenous land stewardship, or empowering community advocates—we will work to engage marginalized communities, elevate diverse perspectives, and create a world in which everyone benefits from healthy, resilient environments and communities.