What is EcologyShifts?
EcologyShifts is a community-learning and change-making experience focused on personal growth and organizational change as critical elements to creating shifts in the environmental field toward equity and justice.
EcologyShifts will be based in emergent and participatory design as well as experiential learning theory and practice. This means that while some of the outcomes and outline of the program will be pre-determined, the program will be significantly shaped by the participants. EcologyShifts will weave together guest speakers, conversation and dialogue, personal and organizational reflection, and time for play, quiet non-programmed time, creative expression, storytelling and open space in order to experience and explore equity and related concepts from the “inside out.” Through this cohort-based experience participants will challenge assumptions, explore questions, lean into discomfort, develop strategies for shifting power, and explore how to heal and change systems-level inequities with creativity, honesty, and justice.
Throughout the experience, participants can expect to:
Explore issues of power and equity including, but not limited to, colonization, racism, and patriarchy.
Develop processes and strategies for shifting and transforming power in organizations and the environmental field.
Engage in conversations, contemplation, and reflection.
Practice equity through taking action within organizations, communities, and at the larger systems-level.
By the end of the experience, participants will:
Develop and deepen relationships in the environmental field.
Strengthen skills which nurture more powerful, authentic connections with people and the environment.
Build relationship with a community of people with whom they can connect and collaborate to lead continuing change in the environmental field toward equity and justice.
Develop a sense of how they and their organizations will continue to contribute to a shift to equity-centered change in the environmental field.
Imagined outcomes of EcologyShifts are that people, organizations and the environmental field will:
Be centered around issues of equity, particularly racial equity.
Engage in equity-focused policy and field-based shifts.
Share resources more equitably.
Have more diverse, inclusive, and equitable leadership.
Who is EcologyShifts For?
EcologyShifts is designed for people in the environmental field in Maine who have a desire for and a commitment to equity individually, organizationally and at the systems-level. We define the environmental sector broadly to include, but not limited to, people working in food systems, climate action and justice, environmental protection, land access and protection, recreation, and environmental and nature-based education.
The cohort will be intentionally diverse with attention paid to the make-up of the group in terms of identity, life experience, and power dynamics. The cohort will include participants from a wide diversity of racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, geographic, socio-economic, and organizational roles.
Who is Offering EcologyShifts?
EcologyShifts is offered by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, a philanthropic organization seeking to create a healthier and more equitable Maine, where all people, animals, and the environment thrive. With an equity-first approach to all it does, the Foundation works to build mutual, trust-based partnerships spanning socioeconomic, cultural, and geographic boundaries. The Foundation works to connect organizations to each other and to the resources they need, through grantmaking and other tools. The Sewall Foundation works with nonprofit partners and others to transform systems, expand access to power, and strengthen communities for a just, healthy, and sustainable future.
The essence and outline of EcologyShifts was created over a long period of time, emerging from many conversations, as well as the focused work of a design team which provided the initial shape of EcologyShifts.
The cohort will be supported by a hosting and facilitation circle who will model collaborative and participatory approaches and will hold a high-level commitment to continual reflection and evaluation throughout the process.
We are excited to announce that Sherri Mitchell will be joining our Host Circle and providing key facilitation to the cohort and experience. There will be additional members of the Host Circle that we will share about in July or August.
Learn more about the Sewall Foundation here. To read about the Foundation’s equity journey, click here.
Why is it Being Offered?
Large-scale changes happening in Maine and across the country will have far-reaching implications for generations to come. The climate crisis, racial reckoning, COVID-19, income inequality, threats to democracy and more are accelerating the rate of change and are calling for transformative action: action which recognizes the interconnection of these issues; action which recognizes systemic racism and extractive ways of being and action which seeks to heal and change unjust systems.
This work is the work of generations and the degree of shift needed requires the effort of many. We acknowledge that EcologyShifts exists as part of larger and long-existing movements for equity and justice and we seek to learn and create change alongside many other people, organizations and programs who are, and have been doing this vital work in Maine, regionally and nationally.
The Sewall Foundation honors the thoughts, time and honesty of the Design Team members: Amara Ifeji, Nicole Mokeme, Stefan J. Jackson, Megan Taft, Olivia Griset, Heather Augustine and Deb Bicknell
Learn more and Apply
EcologyShifts Learning Community
A program of the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
2022 Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
