Shaping a new culture and practice for conservation
While we come from different backgrounds, land connects us all. North Carolinians from all walks of life should help shape conservation efforts. We should all shape how to protect the water we drink, the land where our food grows, the open spaces where we play, the sites that hold our history and the neighborhoods we call home.
Although nearly 40% of North Carolinians identify as a person of color, the conservation sector remains overwhelmingly white. This lack of racial diversity and cultural inclusion makes it nearly impossible to confront the complex challenges facing North Carolina’s communities. For these reasons, CTNC emphasizes an explicit racial equity lens in all our projects, programs and support to other organizations. We commit ourselves, as an organization that seeks to be of and for all people, to delivering our work and developing partnerships in ways that help heal the wounds inflicted by racism.
We're seeding racial equity throughout our sector.
CTNC has centered discussions and work related to racial equity, diversity and inclusion in conservation for 20 years. We bring a unique and specific conservation lens to racial equity. We understand the racialized history of conservation and the challenges and opportunities conservation organizations face in advancing equity within their organizations and work - because we have lived them too.
Transformation starts within our own organizations. Conservation’s legacy of inequitable practices means that collectively, our sector’s work does not benefit all people as we intend it to. By working with our partners to examine our relationships with communities we serve, the link between land conservation and racial equity, and biases inherent in our organizational cultures and structures, we can evolve the way we do our work to create a more equitable sector for all.
Furthering equity in conservation:
If you are interested in talking to us about how we can work together to realize a transformational change in our culture and practice by working at the personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels, we encourage you to connect with us.