Dear NCN Community Members,

Thank you for the work that you do, the ways in which you inspire, educate and advocate for all our more than human kin. We hope this email reaches you on a day when the optimism of spring is evident in the emergent plant beings. The chickadees and squirrels seem unfazed by all the news, perhaps simply grateful to be nesting and preparing for another season of new life?

We would love to re-introduce ourselves as the current iteration of NCN’s leadership. We are each working for the Network on a volunteer basis for the time being, and use weekly working meetings to move forward what we can, while being honest about our capacity limits.

• estephanie started as a conference presenter, joined the Programming Circle, and has been serving on the Leadership Circle since 2023. They are the founder of Mycorrising, supporting nature connection and environmental organizations and land trusts to consider their structures, team work, and accountability mechanisms.

• Lisa joined the NCN Leadership Circle in 2020, after supporting the Nature Connection Leadership Conference planning team for two years. She serves as Board President of the Guelph Outdoor School in Ontario, Canada and the Kiva Center in Colorado, USA.

• Maggie joined NCN in 2018 as a new Executive Director at Two Coyotes Wilderness School in Connecticut. She was part of the Nature Connection Leadership Conference planning team for three years and joined the NCN Leadership Circle in 2020.

In the last year, our focus has been to create a solid foundation for NCN. We’ve developed new relational working agreements to guide the leadership team, and have found a secure financial and legal home with our new Fiscal Sponsor, the Climate Justice Hive! Based in Boulder, CO, CJH is building “a well-coordinated and collaborative ecosystem for organizers working in solidarity with frontline community leaders in a world centered in climate justice.” We’re excited about how this partnership will support our work in tangible ways (financial and legal) as well as aspirational (future member collaborations and benefits).

The Leadership Circle is committed to stewarding the mission of NCN: “to encourage and support the healthy growth of nature connection organizations and their leaders in building resilient, regenerative, and just communities.”

In considering the role of NCN today, we are more certain than ever of the need for strong advocates for nature connection and healing justice. Our primary objective is supporting the work of nature-based schools and programs with intentional spaces that bring people together to share information, build connections across our biospheres and inspire action. 

During this phase of renewal at NCN, we will wait to ask organizations to renew their membership until we have reconnected, rebuilt trust, reaffirmed our commitments to be in community, and redefined the terms of membership.

In the meantime, as we re-emerge alongside the rhythms of Spring, we are excited to invite you to a series of conversations with our member community! Beginning with a 2 part series on these themes:

• Wednesday May 21, 2:30-4pm Eastern/1:30-3pm Central/12:30-2pm Pacific: How are the current US administration’s proposed restrictions on funding and activities of nonprofits impacting your organizations?

REGISTER HERE

• Thursday June 12th, 2:30-4pm Eastern: What is the impact (of job and funding cuts, immigration actions, and the erosion of human rights) on your organizational community, including the local community and families you are serving? How are you responding? What would support look like?

REGISTER HERE

We encourage you to share this invitation with the rest of your organization. Inviting field staff, administration, and/or board members will support deeper and richer conversations. If you know of others in your community doing similar work in this sector, they are welcome to join these conversations! 

We look forward  to seeing you soon!

With hope, care, and gratitude,

estephanie, Lisa, Maggieion