It's All Connected

Affiliates, Programs, Partners, oh my! This episode will dig into some of the structures of NWF, namely affiliates and HECHO (Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors). Join guests Juliet Slutzker and Camilla Simon as we explore how these different parts of NWF are approaching equity and justice and learn how it’s all connected.

Speakers

Camilla Simon – Executive Director, HECHO
Juliet Slutzker – Director Conservation Partners, Northeast Regional Center
Kaila Drayton – VP of Operations
Nicole Litwiller – Equity and Justice Storytelling Fellow

Transcript

♫ Theme Music ♫

Camila Simon
I really felt a calling to work with people who have that existing connection to the outdoors, but that we need to protect that and make sure that people who have that spark are part of the movement and aren't turned away. And so when I found out about HECHO and what they were doing, I said, ‘Sign me up.’

♫ Theme Music ♫

Kaila Drayton
Hello, everyone and welcome back to Seeds of Culture Change, a podcast where we are discussing the National Wildlife Federation's journey towards equity and justice. I'm Kaila.

Nicole Litwiller
I am Nicole,

Kaila Drayton
And we are your co-hosts guiding you along on this journey. This story. This discovery. Nicole, how are you doing?

Nicole Litwiller
I'm doing okay, we're recording on a Monday. Mondays just like, it seems like there's this pattern of all the crap happening at once. So I feel like I've recovered from that I had nachos for lunch. That was, that helped. Definitely helped.

Kaila Drayton
Good for you.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah. Yeah. How are you doing?

Kaila Drayton
I similarly, I ate a salted caramel cookie for lunch.

Nicole Litwiller
Wow.

Kaila Drayton
Yep. You're welcome to everyone who's spoken to me today after the hours of 12pm. From 12pm to five, if I've been an asshole, that's why. The pure unmitigated sugar. So. So this weekend, it was super hot outside, which meant I used that as an excuse to sit inside and maybe do a little online shopping. And so I was wondering, Nicole, if you had all the money, and could spend it frivolously,

Nicole Litwiller
Oh, my goodness.

Kaila Drayton
What would it be on? Would it be on salted caramel cookies?

Nicole Litwiller
If it was something food related, and cookie related specifically, there would for sure be dark chocolate in it. But this question is very hard for me to answer. And I'm sure if my dad is listening to this episode, he will be laughing because he knows how hard this question is for me to answer because as a kid, I never spent any of my money. I always saved up my allowance. And I never like I was always like, I am going to just save it up for a future big purchase. And those future big purchases just never really happened. And so-

Kaila Drayton
I was like, Can I have an advance? Can I find my allowance cuz I only have $5 and I need 15.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, my brother was the opposite. He always had like a certain toy that he was looking for. But for me, I just like I've always been a saver. And so it's hard for me to spend big amounts of money. But I think I would maybe, you know, we are we currently live in a pretty small apartment. We don't have any yard space. So if unlimited amounts of money, I would find a house near downtown where we live, and that has a nice yard. And maybe by that it would be a good use of funds. Right? And then maybe some travel thrown in there too. Right?

Kaila Drayton
Yeah, I mean, sprinkle it in, but mostly, I love this. Yeah. Okay. Well, now I don't want to tell you what I would- cuz you're like to know. What's your zodiac sign, Nicole?

Nicole Litwiller
I'm a Leo. Tell me what it means.

Kaila Drayton
I ask because I'm a Taurus and I am very classically Taurus.

Nicole Litwiller
Okay, so tell tell the listeners who may not know what that means what that means... slash me.

Kaila Drayton
It means if you give me money I'm gonna spend it on things that make my house very cozy. If you haven't noticed, yeah, I'm very classically like, I want to buy all the material things to create my little nest.

Nicole Litwiller
I love that.

Kaila Drayton
And I have different nests in different rooms of my house. But what's funny is that's not my answer at all. My real answer is that I would just keep getting tattoos.

Nicole Litwiller
I have heard, I do not have a tattoo, but I've heard from friends who have gotten tattoos that it's a very addictive thing. Once you get one you just want more.

Kaila Drayton
Well, you're gonna visit me soon to like your first one? Yeah? I don't know. Think it over talk.

Nicole Litwiller
Are you inviting me to get a tattoo with you?

Kaila Drayton
Yeah!

Nicole Litwiller
Is that what's happening?

Kaila Drayton
Or, like you, you just watch me get another one because apparently that's all I want to do. So

Nicole Litwiller
I think I think that's totally fair.

Kaila Drayton
All right, well, shifting from having all the money and just getting tattoos and not taking care of my retirement or anything financially stable. Into the subject of our next episode. Nicole, do you want to tell our listeners what they are going to be treated to?

Nicole Litwiller
Yes, yes. Great interview today, everybody. Today we are going to be talking to Julia and Camilla. And we're going to be focusing on affiliates, which Juliette will tell you all about what that means if you're unfamiliar. And then Camilla is a part of HECHO. And she will tell you all about that as well. And we get to learn a little bit about some of these groups' equity and justice strategies, we get to learn about how all of these things are interconnected at this organization and why they matter. And I'm really excited to share the interview with you all.

Kaila Drayton
Yeah, absolutely. One other note is that during the interview, I had both a sinus infection and bronchitis, which, you know, did not at all stop me from contributing my own thoughts and opinions to the interview. But if you're wondering why I sound, perhaps a little different, that is why. So, without further ado, here is our wonderful interview with Juliet and Camilla.

♫ Transition Music ♫

Kaila Drayton
All right, everyone. Today we have both Juliet and Camilla with us. So I'm wondering if both of you could start just offering your name, pronouns, your role at NWF, and either your favorite flower or favorite plant? Juliet, I'll start with you.

Juliet Slutzker
Oh, my. Okay. Well, hi, my name is Juliet Slutzker. I use she, her and hers pronouns. I am the Senior Coordinator on the Affiliate Partnerships team. And my favorite flower. You know, I live in Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan has this really beautiful 100 year old Peony garden. So that's on the top of mind right now. So so I'll say peonies.

Kaila Drayton
Awesome. And Camilla?

Camilla Simon
Yes. Hi, I'm Camilla Simon. I am the Executive Director of HECHO, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors. And my favorite flower slash plant would have to be an artichoke. If you let it kind of continue growing without taking the artichoke, it really blossoms into something really beautiful. And in fact, someone gave me a, like a bouquet of three of those, and it was really special.

Kaila Drayton
See, now I'm gonna have to Google what this looks like. This is-

Camilla Simon
Yeah, yeah, a bouquet of artichokes.

Kaila Drayton
Yeah, that's awesome. Well, now, now I'm just curious Nicole, what is your favorite flower? Are you about to blow my mind and tell me that it's like-

Nicole Litwiller
I don't think so.

Kaila Drayton
Okay good. You tell me that your favorite flowers like an asparagus that you've let go to seed I'm gonna have to Google.

Nicole Litwiller
I, no, I don't think I would say that. Although I will say there are yucca plants around my neighborhood that I didn't know flowered. And they're so cool looking.

Kaila Drayton
You're gonna get yelled at. So they're "yuh-kah" plants.

Nicole Litwiller
Did I say it wrong? Yucca plants. Sorry, listeners. Please don't yell at me. Or you can hold me accountable, we welcome that too.

Kaila Drayton
Please email Nicole directly. And note that I corrected her.

Nicole Litwiller
Thank you for the correction, Kaila.

Juliet Slutzker
I, Juliet, corrected her.

Kaila Drayton
Okay, sorry for interrupting you. I keep interrupting you please answer.

Nicole Litwiller
No, I would say I really love when the, there are some I don't know if they're wild or have they've been planted there, But we have these really gorgeous vibrant poppies that show up in like this mountain overlook that I go to near where I live, and they're just like this vibrant pinkish red, and they're very beautiful. But they're very impossible to pick and bring home because the petals are so like, dainty. So I just have to leave them and enjoy them where they're at. But Kaila, I know you're a lover of plants, too. So I want to make sure you have the opportunity to answer this question.

Kaila Drayton
I have so many, I do love peonies. I love lilies. I love tulips, which I have behind me so I do particularly the spring season and everything that it brings. So awesome answers. Camilla, I'm gonna Google that. And Nicole, pass it over to you.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, sounds good. I'm gonna pass the first question off to Juliet. And I, so I started at this organization in September of 2021. And one of the things I had the hardest time with understanding was this affiliate structure of NWF. So I'm wondering if you could give us kind of a basic overview of the affiliates, some, maybe some historical context, too, if you feel like throwing that in?

Juliet Slutzker
Yeah, it's a total mystery to me. Yeah, of course. So I'll take your way back to the beginning of the National Wildlife Federation. So yeah, in the early 1900s, while there were a lot of folks who cared about wildlife and conservation, there wasn't really any organized group where these people could come together and advocate for the causes that they cared about. So in 1936, there was this guy called Ding Darling, who also had an awesome name, I feel like it's a name straight from the 30s. He was a conservationist cartoonist, and he's also the head of the US Biological Survey at the time. And he convinced FDR to convene a summit of hunters, anglers, garden club members and conservationists at the first North American Wildlife Conference in DC. And so there, the attendees form the General Wildlife Federation, which was later renamed the National Wildlife Federation two years later. And those participants at that conference then went home and formed Federations within their own states, and those became the first affiliates of the National Wildlife Federation. So NWF was formed as a federation of these independent state organizations that are organized under the larger umbrella of the national organization. And since then, our affiliates have joined over time and vary quite a bit. So we have some of the more traditional hook and bullet hunting and angling organizations. And then we have state Audubon groups, we have more green and clean energy nonprofits. And so there's really quite a wide range of the state affiliate organizations. And according to our bylaws, affiliate membership is limited to one organization per state and territory. And that includes our US territories and DC. So we currently have 52, state and territorial affiliates. And our affiliates also have a governance function at NWF. So every year, each affiliate elects one person as its voting delegate to go to our annual meeting, and vote on conservation policy for the Federation, as well as elect our board chair and vice chairs, and our regional board members who often come from the affiliates themselves. So usually, they come up through affiliate boards, and are nominated to join NWF's board of directors. And so the majority of our board is elected directly by our affiliates at the annual meeting. So that's a bit about where we've come from. And I can also talk more about sort of their equity and justice journey, if that would be helpful.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, that was actually the next question I was gonna follow. So yeah, if you want to go right into that, that would be great.

Juliet Slutzker
Yeah, for sure. So back in 2017, our affiliates passed a policy resolution at our annual meeting that supported NWF leading in growing diversity, equity and inclusion in conservation. And they supported creating a leadership pipeline of young people who represent diverse backgrounds of each state. So based on the passing of that resolution, our affiliates really showed their support in growing our leadership as an organization as a Federation in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space. So after that was passed, in 2019 we formed an affiliate equity and justice Working Group, which was a space for affiliate leaders and board members and staff to come together and share resources and use each other as sort of a sounding board on projects and programs that they're working on in the space. So that working group is still going strong, still meeting every month, and is kind of being used as that more applied space where they can take what they've learned over the years and their own sort of individual learning journeys and apply that to their organizations. We had an affiliate leaders meeting back in 2020, right before the pandemic, where our affiliate leaders really said that they could use a space like the workgroup to have more peer to peer learning. And they also wanted a space for learning from NWF staff as well. And so we also began to use that working group as kind of that learning space. So interested affiliate staff could come to that working group and talk about concepts like identity, and privilege, and allyship, and unconscious bias, topics such as that to sort of further their own learning. And then, starting last year, we also introduced a monthly learning cohort for a whole new group of affiliates. After that original group, it's sort of graduated through this first learning space. So currently, we have a monthly working group, that's more of the application in working on organizational development in equity and justice. And we also have this monthly learning space where we work with the affiliates to further their their equity learning journeys. And that's kind of where we stand now. We also every year have a annual partnership survey that my team sends along to our affiliate leaders, essentially, to see how our relationship is doing over the years and what we could improve on. And starting back in 2019, we asked our affiliate leaders about their work on DEIJ, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in their organizations, and how they were prioritizing it, basically. And the most recent results from our 2021 survey had 46 responses. So 46 affiliates responded, and of those 56% said that DEIJ is currently a top organizational priority that they're working on and an additional 31%, said that they're working on it limitedly in some capacity, which means that 87% of our affiliates are currently working on DEIJ actively. So in that way, it's kind of one of the most cross cutting topics across the Federation. So that's really exciting, and something that we're happy to keep working with them on.

Kaila Drayton
Thanks for that Juliet. That's really, really interesting. I want to pivot over to Camilla for a second. Camilla, can you talk a little bit about HECHO? The work that you all are doing? How it relates to NWS, how y'all are integrated into the bigger Federation family? And then any way that you all work with affiliates as well.

Camilla Simon
Wow, yes, I'm happy to. Yeah, well, as I said before, we we are HECHO, which is Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors. It's a long name, but the idea is, is really to get across that Hispanics have been and are enjoying outdoor activities. And so the idea for HECHO came about in the advocacy space, in the conservation advocacy space. And it came about during some of the the advocacy work around national monuments in New Mexico, in order to get the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument and the Oregon Mountain Desert Peaks National Monument monuments designated the coalition really needed the support of folks on the ground. And the folks on the ground in New Mexico and northern New Mexico happened to be historic Hispano communities that had settled there hundreds of years ago and have this long standing connection to the land and have kind of inherent and lived connections and there's a word for it, it's called 'querencia.' And 'querencia' is belonging in the land, a sense of place, and inherent connection to to place. And so folks from this area became involved in the these campaigns to protect these lands. So the idea of HECHO began around that not just as kind of organizing around a campaign, but that this force should be, ought to be, incorporated into other aspects of protections of our land and water. So HECHO came about in 2013. We had started- it was a small group and an advisory board initially that was made up of local Hispanic elected leaders from New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona. And then I came on board in late 2014 to specifically build HECHO into an organization. I really felt a calling to work with people who have that existing connection to the outdoors, but that we need to protect that and make sure that people who have that spark are part of the movement and aren't turned away. And so when I found out about HECHO and what they were doing, I said, ‘Sign me up.’ And really the mission of HECHO is to empower Hispanic leaders to engage their own communities in the conservation of our public lands and waters and to be involved in that advocacy. I'll also mentioned that because Hispanic ancestry means you know, you can call yourself Hispanic, Hispano, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Latine, there's a bunch of- Chicano, you know, there's a bunch of different ways we've had this discussion about what to call ourselves. I think we still use Hispanic referring to ancestry, and also noting that it is just an aspect, it's not kind of exactly what defines you not necessarily. But I think the common thing there really is that we're sticking in a geographic region in the southwest that has a somewhat cohesive identity around their Hispanic ancestry. And it would be different, I think we would be working differently if we were in New York, or if we were in Florida. And so I think that's what's also unique about HECHO is that we're regional group in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. And these are kind of the western states that have a more, it's still very diverse, but somewhat cohesive ancestral identity and understanding of the lands in those states. But it's still complicated. And we have three main goals, we operate under a strategic plan, we're really working to one increase public land conservation policy wins, led by Hispanic leaders. We are also focused on strengthening the Hispanic voice and visibility in public lands decision making and advocacy. And the third one is really important; we are really working hard to ensure our financial stability and sustainability. And one of the ways that we're doing that, and I'll get into, I'll segue into the NWF, the National Wildlife Federation partnership, is that we could have spun off to be our own 501c3. In fact, we made a conscientious decision about what to do. We did an evaluation, we made the decision to stick with National Wildlife Federation for a number of different reasons, including the opportunity to not have to build an organization from scratch all of it, that we would partner with the National Wildlife Federation to leverage the existing infrastructure both on an operations level, but also from a reach level. And so we have some- we're a little bit different than some of the other programs at the National Wildlife Federation, in that we have a memorandum of understanding that outlines what exactly the relationship purpose is, and what our goals are, and outlines some of some of our autonomy, including keeping our own branding and decision making about the direction that we want to go in. And we still have our Advisory Board, which provides critical input into you know, making sure that we're remaining authentic and that we are working toward and realizing our vision. And then we've got steering committee that's made up of leaders at the National Wildlife Federation, and of the HECHO advisory board that helped guide that. We meet twice a year to talk about how the partnership is going, what the challenges are. And we've been doing this since 2017. And I can get into this a little bit later, I'll just say at first, it was a really tough type of situation where there, it was really hard to advocate for that autonomy that we needed, and to get that understanding. So we went through some difficult times with folks at the National Wildlife Federation. But we've been able to call out what some of those problems are, and then work on them. And I think I'm really just pleased to say that today in 2022, we've got, I think, a really incredible model for what authentic partnership looks like.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, thank you so much for all of that context. I think both Juliet and Camilla, both of you what you've shared, I should have talked to you both much earlier on in my time at NWF to help me understand both of the kind of groups that you're working with. Yeah. And so for folks who may not be aware, we've recently in the past number of years handful of years have been adding some different teams and programs and departments into NWF such as Environmental Justice or Tribal Partnerships and HECHO, as one of those as well. And so having both of you on this interview is intentional, because I think it's really important to think about how some of these programs intersect with the affiliates. So, Juliet, I'm curious if you could speak to how some of these programs have impacted affiliate work at the Federation?

Juliet Slutzker
Yeah, for sure. So the Environmental Justice team, for example, has recently provided some amazing learning opportunities for our affiliate leaders and staff as part of their environmental justice analysis process that they've undergone over the last few years. So they've been hosting trainings to guide NWF staff and affiliates in integrating environmental justice principles into their work. And I know for a fact that a number of affiliate staff have been attending those and that they've really gotten a lot out of those training sessions. And similarly, the Tribal Partnerships team has been working with consultants to develop a Tribal and Indigenous partnership enhancement strategy. And as part of that whole rollout, they've hosted trainings for NWF affiliates and staff to go over the foundational principles of working in partnership with Indigenous communities and tribes. So those programs have really incorporated affiliate learning and engagement into their planning processes, which has been awesome to see an HECHO, too, has been a wonderful partner to affiliates. One example being teaming up with the Kansas Wildlife Federation a couple of years ago and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to translate and release the state's hunting and fishing regulations in Spanish, which was the first state to do so. And it was a big step in making the outdoors more accessible for all and I'm sure Camilla has more examples of how HECHO has worked with other affiliates in the southwest. But that was just one that came to mind. But yeah, all those programs have been really instrumental in helping our affiliates really become authentic partners with communities in their states.

Kaila Drayton
As a follow up to that question, Camilla, I'm wondering if you've seen an impact to your work with the creation of the Environmental Justice team or Tribal Partnerships?

Camilla Simon
Oh, sure. Yeah, one of the ways that we've been able to partner with the Environmental Justice Team and program early on in the pandemic, we worked with them to create a series of listening sessions when the COVID packages were being discussed, you know, federal funding and federal programs for supporting communities in that time of need. And really, the Environmental Justice Team is so strong in certain geographies of the country, but HECHO really has that foundation in the west and in the southwest in particular. And so we were able to bring in several leaders from southwestern states, including Indigenous leaders, and representatives of those tribal governments. So we had the president of the Shiprock chapter of the Navajo Nation come to that. We had various Hispanic county leaders join in and just share what their communities were going through and provide recommendations that ultimately got into a report that EJ team put together. And then we kept going from there, we worked with the environmental justice team to put together another series of sessions to talk about the clean economy. And we contributed a few things. And more recently, that after those listening sessions and putting some documents together to give to the administration to consider, we also just put together like 11 examples of how to build back better that came directly from those from those sessions. Those are some examples for the environmental justice program. And then yeah, with affiliates, and Juliet mentioned that the regulations in Spanish which is really important, and we continue to help work on that we worked on those in New Mexico and Colorado. And then we've worked with the Arizona Wildlife Federation quite a bit on several issues, including protection of the Grand Canyon from uranium mining. We've worked with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation on several issues, including looking at the Caja Del Rio, which is an area near Santa Fe, New Mexico that you know, the community has really been coming together to seek additional protections for. And so we've been partnering with them on on, one of the one of the issues that needs to be protected is that there's a lot of trash being dumped there and people bring their sofas that they don't want anymore or TVs and then they go use it as a shooting range and that's like the sport. Well, this area has amazing petroglyphs and is a really special area for wildlife and has long standing connections for the Pueblos there, as well as some of the historic Hispanic communities and land grant communities. So we're working with New Mexico Wildlife Federation to relocate and find a place for people to go shoot not, don't bring your junk into the place and leave it there. So those are just some of the examples in you know, we continue to partner on all kinds of different things. And there's such an opportunity really, especially since we kind of work at the intersection of like, kind of what really local and bringing those local voices to federal conversations. So there's so much opportunity.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, definitely. I feel like so much of what I'm taking away from this conversation is the just interconnectedness of how these programs intersect with the whole organization and how affiliates intersect with the work that like my team, the Equity and Justice Team is doing, and how affiliates intersect with some of these more local challenges and issues that need to be tackled. And it's helping me understand how NWF functions more as an organization, and how equity and justice is not just a sticker that you're gonna slap on to check that you've done something. It's something that needs to be really incorporated into all that we do, because everything that we do is so interconnected.

Kaila Drayton
It's also bringing to light the fact that what we do for people we also do for wildlife, right? Or vice versa. I think that a lot of comments that we got at NWF when we first started talking about equity and justice and the important role that those values have in our work. And people were like, 'We're a wildlife organization, why would we focus on equity and justice?' And I think this conversation is illuminating the exact reasons why we do that.

Camilla Simon
So that's a really good point, it gets back to this idea of, we are a part of nature, I think one of the changes in mindsets that we're hoping will come about is that it's like there's there's nature over there and we're over here, and it's really separate, and you can go in and out of it. But we really in order to have and really feel in your heart that conservation ethic, you really have to think about how it's all connected. And in that way, not having access. And you know, the hunting and angling community talks about access a lot, but not having that access, it really creates that separation. And if we all understand we need to protect certain places from, like the example of in the Caja Del Rio where people are bringing out and using it kind of as this weird dump slash shooting range, you know that there's something missing there in the connection to, to the land. And so there's kind of like two solutions we need to work on. One is the education piece. Some people have lost that connection. And so we need to reconnect. And then two is like how do we make sure that that stays around. And I think that that ethic in order for us to continue to build upon that ethic and pass it down from generation to generation is we need to be involved in the work. We don't just take from the land, we don't just take the water, it's we give back to it and it has to be this reciprocal relationship. And that does involve everybody.

♫ Transition Music ♫

Nicole Litwiller
I think that is a pretty good segue into our last question that we have for y'all today. And that is: how do you hope to see NWF continuing to shift and lean into equity and justice specifically related to your roles and the people that you're working with?

Camilla Simon
Yeah, I think there are a couple of opportunities with regard to HECHO in that HECHO is a group and a team that focuses on the protection of public lands and waters and NWF has an existing public lands program and team, yet we work separately. So there's an opportunity for us to weave together the efforts that both teams are making and for also for us to reconsider what the National Wildlife Federation's public lands work looks like going forward. Does it include Hispanics, does it include African Americans does it include the faith community, does it include veterans? And I think the answer needs to be yes. And needs to go up to even another level with NWF's Tribal Partnerships Program, that we're all kind of working in similar areas, and but not necessarily coordinating. And I think that there's a lot to be gained there. So that's one kind of weaving together, the number of programs working on similar issues. And then the second piece would be, especially with regard to affiliates, and what NWF, the national organization, can offer and add to the space that we're not duplicating efforts. And we don't need to build out, like, a state based presence in each state, but how do we add capacity to the work that is ongoing with affiliates in a way that brings different voices to the table. So I could see us having better coordination on various campaigns with affiliates. And you know, not just bringing kind of another aspect of the sporting community into it, but bringing other voices. And so I think that those are some of the areas with regard to our work that I really hope to see NWF shifting into.

Camilla Simon
Yeah, thanks for sharing that Camilla. I think those are definitely great opportunities for NWF to continue working towards in the future. And yeah, same question over to you, Juliet?

Juliet Slutzker
Yeah. You know, in response to the reaction that Kaila raised earlier that maybe some think it's mission drift if a wildlife organization focuses on people. One of our amazing affiliate leaders actually put it so well in a meeting recently that you could argue that we've always been focused on people as conservation organizations. Wildlife don't make up our membership. People do. So what we do as organizations is for the benefit of wildlife, but it's also for the benefit of people, so that everyone can enjoy wildlife and wild places, and feel welcome and safe while doing so. And it's also important to note that, to note who wasn't at the table, when NWF was founded: Indigenous and Tribal partners, Hispanic and Latinx communities, environmental justice groups, frontline and fenceline communities. And so if we really want to be a 21st century organization, I would like to see NWF continue to support our affiliates in their equity learning, recognizing that we're all at very different places in our learning journeys, and help us all move forward together as a Federation in that regard. And I'd also like to see us assist those affiliates, who are ready and eager to build authentic partnerships with new communities in their states by helping them make those introductions and build those connections, and really bridge that gap so that they can, as Camilla mentioned earlier, really build capacity to work in their states on their programs with those communities.

Nicole Litwiller
Awesome. Yeah. Thank you so much for all of those thoughts. I think those are great calls to action for our organization to consider and invest in moving forward. Kaila, anything else you'd like to add?Kaila Drayton
No, I think just want to open it up to both of you. And Camilla, I'll start with you just anything that you want to leave our listeners with any advice or words of wisdom that you want folks to walk away with?

Camilla Simon
Wow, what a what a great question. And what a great note to end on. I think that I think there is a lot of work to do. There's, I think it will be a journey, we shouldn't think of it as a destination. I'm trying not to be cliche. But you know, I think that's true. But I think that there's a lot of, there have been a lot of positive things that have happened. So I'm really optimistic about kind of where we are now how far we've already come and feeling that we just have such a positive future ahead of us. But we just have to do the work to get there. And so I invite people to really think about, you know, what you want to do today, tomorrow, and in the next several months and years and just start putting things in motion to get there.

Kaila Drayton
Yeah, absolutely. A lot of this work is about playing the long game, right? You're not really going to see the fruits of your labor tomorrow, but maybe five, even 10 years from now. Juliet over to you.

Juliet Slutzker
Yeah. I mean, I'll echo everything that Camilla just said. You know, I've been with NWF for about three years now. And I've even seen so much progress within our organization even in that time. I mean, the amount that our Equity and Justice Team has grown in its own says a lot. The fact that we're doing this podcast with the full support of NWF leadership I think is awesome. I think it's also easy to forget that everyone within our Federation, and we have so many different types of people within our Federation within NWF staff, affiliates, members, everyone is at very different places in our equity journeys and I think it's important to always sort of keep that in mind. While we continue to make progress, we need to make sure that we can also help folks along in their journeys, so that we can all move forward together. And I think as long as we keep doing that, I think we're, we're in a really good place. And I'm really happy and proud to be working for an organization that's really taking the lead on this.

Kaila Drayton
I think that's a really good point that you bring up Juliet about everybody being at a different pace or at a different place in their journey. And I think that brings up for me, the importance of community in this work, and what it means to bring people along with us. It doesn't matter if you have read all the books and done all the trainings, if you're isolated on an island by yourself, what does it all mean? And so I really appreciate that that last comment. It's been amazing having both of you on the podcast today. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and perspectives. And Nicole, any closing words?

Nicole Litwiller
No, just ditto to what you just said, Kaila, thank you, so much gratitude to both of you for your time and all that you've shared and all the work that you're doing this organization. It's making the organization a better place and it's really wonderful to learn more about what y'all are doing. So thank you.

♫ Transition Music ♫

Kaila Drayton
Wow, so what an informative interview with lots of information about our structure, our affiliates, the organization and of itself and how we interact with different entities. Nicole, what are your reflections?

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, I think one of the things that really stood out to me was Juliet's sharing about some of the equity strategy with the affiliates. And I just find that strategy so compelling, because it makes sense. It builds off of itself. And as she was sharing, I kind of was reminded of like, why we chose to name the podcast what we did, 'Seeds of Culture Change,' because they plant a seed, and then it grows. And then you see the fruits of that labor down the road. And I think, too, the method of having like, various learning cohorts and working groups that can then educate each other and educate others that they're around, just makes a lot of strategic sense. And so I was really inspired by that model. And I was also struck by how well they monitor and evaluate and track their progress. Like, how well are folks learning and taking in this information? Where there's still gaps? I just find that really inspiring and something maybe that we could think about as broader NWF or other folks as well to model some equity work off of. Yeah, I just found that way of doing equity work really fascinating.

Kaila Drayton
Yeah, and really strategic to be able to measure progress to be able to look back to be able to look at what isn't working, and what is as far as engagement and learning. Really interesting. I think that I was also struck by what Camilla mentioned, in the formation, not so much the formation of HECHO because that was already formed. But how HECHO came to be in relationship with NWF and creating that kind of memorandum of understanding between the two entities and good for Camilla for being like, 'no, no.' Like, 'you're not just gonna bring us in as one of your programs like there needs to be some real authenticity to this partnership and here's how we're going to do it.' So as Camilla mentioned, I think that really laid some framework around what it looks like to be in authentic partnership. And I'm interested to see if the organization will try to replicate that kind of partnership model in the future.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, definitely spoke to how clear communication and boundaries and needs are all very important elements to just connecting as humans but also when you're integrating a smaller organization into a bigger one.

Kaila Drayton
Right. And not just that the expectations and then the expectations around what it means for the folks on the ground, particularly if they are people of color, and what partnership means to them and how that's going to show up with NWF as a whole. And so I kind of, if you know me, then you know that I love like the kind of the underdog story or, you know, like, I love that Camilla was able to kind of blaze that trail and be like, this is how it's gonna go.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, sticking up for yourself and what you know is going to be best for you and your people.

Kaila Drayton
Right. Exactly, exactly.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, I think kind of having these two people on this interview together was really fascinating too, because it just reaffirmed how much of an influence some of these programs can have on our internal culture, even though they're much more external facing. So I'm thinking both about HECHO, but then also our Tribal Partnerships Program and the Environmental Justice Team and so many others that are doing a lot of like on the ground work. A lot of the programmatic folks that work within NWF have such an amazing influence on the internal culture of how we understand equity and justice issues, or how we tie together these topics that a lot of people try to claim are very separate issues like people and wildlife. But these teams help us understand that it's people and wildlife. We're all connected. And I really appreciate that about, about this interview.

Kaila Drayton
And I think that it is yet another conversation, to your point, Nicole that kind of drives home, why we would also center humans and human lives and human health and human influence in what we're doing, and that we really can't view humans and wildlife as two separate issues anymore.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, absolutely. Kaila, do you have any reflection questions that you'd like to extend to our listeners for this episode?

Kaila Drayton
Yeah, I'm wondering if there are folks both inside the organization and outside who work with external partners who, you know, is it time to reevaluate the partnership? Have you been soliciting feedback? Are you sure that the partnership is as authentic as it can be? Or are you feeling like it's still stuck in this kind of like transactional phase? Is it something that's been in the back of your mind to kind of reevaluate or audit? Maybe this is your sign to really take a look at your partnerships and make sure that you're showing up for your external partners the same way that you need them to show up for you.

Nicole Litwiller
Yeah, and I guess if you aren't in a position where you're partnering with people externally or across your own organization, maybe think about how you could formulate some unexpected or creative partnerships, because I think there's always some really unique and exciting things that can come out of those kinds of partnerships. And I feel like we've heard some ways that that has happened from our guests, and today's episode, so. Be sure to check out our show notes for some resources that are associated with today's episode, and we'll talk to you all next time.

Kaila Drayton
Thanks, y'all.

♫ Outro Music ♫

Nicole Litwiller
This podcast is created and hosted by Kaila Drayton, and Nicole Litwiller. It is produced by Nicole Litwiller. Stephen Angelo is our editor and audio engineer. All the music you hear throughout the podcast is composed by Luke Litwiller. Thank you to the Equity and Justice Team and many others within the National Wildlife Federation for your support in the creation of this podcast and for your work towards equity and justice. If you have any reflections or comments you'd like to share with us, please send an email to seedsofculturechange@nwf.org. Please visit www.nwf.org and click the donate button if you'd like to financially support the National Wildlife Federation's work. And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe so that other agents of organizational change can find this podcast. Thanks for listening, now go plant some seeds of change

♫ Outro Music ♫

Kaila Drayton
And I won't eat sugar right before we record next time. Thank you for tuning in. We'll talk to you soon.