Workshop Description

Diversity Workshop

Diversity in the Environment for the Next Generation:
A Call to Action

The workshop brought together a small, diverse set of young environmentalists from a broad spectrum of organizations, foundations, academic institutions, and agencies to discuss and better understand how diversity issues affect the environmental movement and to strategize ways to improve the situation. The workshop included dismantling racism training and a strategy session.

Led by DR Works trainers, the workshop involved separate sessions for people of color and white allies and joint sessions to create support mechanisms for working within the often complex arenas of the environmental movement. It also included a strategy session to address the complicated and difficult diversity and racism issues inside organizations and institutions. An additional purpose of the workshop was to provide a networking and information sharing venue for young environmental professionals working on diversity issues.

In order for the environmental movement to make substantial progress on diversity issues and to provide a more inclusive culture, the participants recommend the following:

Local and national venues where open honest dialogue about diversity issues in the environmental field can occur on a regular basis need to be created.
Support networks for people of color and people who support diversity issues need to be created, available and accessible.
More diversity and anti-racism training needs to occur across the environmental movement, especially among the current leaders.
New models of leadership (including shared leadership models) need to be developed, encouraged, and funded.
Most importantly, environmental foundations and other funding sources need to make diversity a priority in their grantmaking programs (i.e., provide substantial funds for diversity work.)