Black Lives Matter Commitment and Resources

Our country’s 400-plus year history of violence against Black lives has built a system of racism that runs deeply through America’s laws and financial, healthcare, education, housing, and policing institutions. We are saddened by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and the countless others before them and infuriated by the use of violence against those peacefully protesting their deaths. 

Our country is in pain. There is work to do everywhere and by every person to heal this pain and repair the damage.

At Conservation Lands Foundation, our focus is on leveraging the richness and beauty of America’s National Conservation Lands to help ALL people, communities and our planet to heal -- and to become more resilient for the future. 

We stand in solidarity with Black lives. As an organization whose mission is to protect, restore, and expand the National Conservation Lands, we believe that all people have the right to experience, enjoy, and feel safe in the outdoors. Our work is grounded in the belief that conservation starts in communities and communities thrive when they have the knowledge, access and power to make decisions on their own behalf.

We recognize that our mission cannot be fulfilled until our country offers the same freedom, joy, and opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color that are afforded to White communities, whether they are at home, in their neighborhoods, or in the outdoors. 

As a conservation organization working within a movement that has its own history with racism and white supremacy culture, our journey has not and will not be perfect. And we’re committed to the effort and journey to dismantle systemic racism and to take actions to create a just nation, including:  

• USING OUR PLATFORMS and PRIVILEGE to amplify the voices and perspectives of our fellow Black Americans. We will celebrate the leadership of the many organizations, leaders, and artists working to upend racial injustices.
• LISTENING and EDUCATING OURSELVES to better understand our privileges and the role we can play to realize justice for Black lives, Indigenous people, and other People of Color. We recognize that our privileges and the health, economic and educational disparities between White and Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color communities are not coincidental, they are intentional and a result of living in a white dominant culture. We will continue to check ourselves and share resources about allyship, including this Ally Resource Guide, which is guiding our learning.
• TAKING ACTION by advocating for policies that bring equity, justice and improved access to the outdoors, so no person has to experience what Christian Cooper did while birding in Central Park. We are collaborating with partners in communities where we work and those on the frontlines of racial violence to identify how we can best support them - a step we believe our country as a whole must take to formalize and achieve a process of healing and reconciliation.

If you’re considering taking action, we encourage you to visit 8CANTWAIT.org, a project by Campaign Zero to decrease police violence in our communities. If you have the financial resources, we invite you to support the fight for racial justice by donating to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

As Americans suffer in this moment from three massive and overlapping crises affecting public health and the disproportionate losses of life from COVID-19 in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, the toxic damage that racial injustice and environmental recklessness inflict on our communities of color, and the increasingly severe impacts of a changing climate that hit communities and local economies, the Conservation Lands Foundation will continue to listen to and support communities to help drive the changes needed to bring an end to racial violence and racism. 

Only when we have true justice will all people be able to experience, enjoy, and feel safe in the outdoors.

Brian Sybert, Executive Director

Suzanne Connors, Senior Development Director

Amanda Deem, Development Associate

Kris Deutschman, Senior Communications Director

Andres Esparza, Grassroots Engagement Director

Lisa Eyler, Alaska Program Director

David Feinman, Government Affairs Director

Bertha Gutierrez, Associate Program Director

Danielle Murray, Senior Legal and Policy Director

Charlotte Overby, Senior Program Director

Beth Poole, Individual Giving Director

Maricela Rosales, California Associate Program Director

Elyane Stefanick, California Program Director

Julie Thibodeau, Senior Finance and Operations Director

Jocelyn Torres, Senior Field Director

John Wallin, Deputy Director

Jamie Wienk, Administrative Assistant

Erika Winton, Foundation and Corporate Giving Director