Decolonizing ENGO-First Nation Partnerships
Decolonizing ENGO-First Nation Partnerships will build ENGO staff awareness and literacy about the structure of settler colonialism to avoid reproducing it in partnerships with Indigenous communities. Dr. Damien Lee of Gimiwan Research and Consulting has developed and will lead delivery of seven, 3-hour weekly virtual sessions, held over two months to cohort participants (max: 60) twice each year for 2024, 2025 and 2026. Topics will include:
• Settler Colonialism 101
• Positionality
• Inherent Indigenous Governance 101
• Building Better Relations
• Understanding Territorial Sovereignties
• The Nonprofit Industrial Complex
Cohorts register on a first come, first served basis here. The Organizational Change Program
The Organizational Change Program will help conservation NGOs take a hands-on decolonial approach to organizational change and address current challenges in supporting Indigenous-led conservation. We are collaborating with Chloe Dragon-Smith (Conservation Through Reconciliation) and Don Carruthers Den Hoed (Canadian Parks, Protected and Conserved Areas Leadership Collective) who are developing a curriculum that combines an e-residency, monthly virtual workshops and an on-the-land gathering.
This work is currently being piloted by staff teams from World Wildlife Fund Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Ducks Unlimited, and Nature United/The Nature Conservancy. The pilot began in the fall of 2023 and will conclude in the summer of 2024 when Sustainability Network becomes the program host.
