We are creating a community-led group of committed individuals from up and down the Willamette to implement the four learning priorities identified by our Indigenous Leadership Council. This team will co-create pathways for our network to learn and grow together and guide our leadership into our next phase.

We want to create an intergenerational, interdisciplinary, and regionally diverse group of thought leaders to guide network learning. Expertise in the following areas is a high priority for our new Leadership Team:

Equity and Social Justice
Understanding of Environmental Racism
Lived Experience in Environmental Justice and River Stewardship
Financial Management
Fundraising
Community Outreach and Engagement
Human Resources
Environmental Law

NETWORK LEARNING PRIORITIES

Understanding our histories

Importance connected to those histories and relevance to today
Connection of history of the Willamette River and impacts on everyone who lives here

Creating effective relationships with Tribes & Tribal communities

How to self educate
Building relationships
Building capacity with Tribes
Moving beyond performative actions
Meaningful consultation with Tribes
Reasonable access to culturally important restored spaces

Health of the Willamette River

Impact of industry and agricultural practices
Source of toxins and forever chemicals found in the river and the impact on living organisms
Impact of drought and climate change
Healing the River is Healing Ourselves

Respecting Indigenous Values

There are many valid perspectives outside of Western thought
Traditional Ecological Knowledge/Indigenous Science is grounded in generations of research and observations
Creating a pathway to getting these ideas to funders
Land Back - normalizing a return of homelands to the original stewards leading with trust

Now, we would like to learn more about you!