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    Leverage

    Using your influence as an organization (access to resources, social capital, political clout) to promote diversity, equity and inclusion with other organizations, especially those who have historically been left out of organizations.

    One of the hallmarks of the modern conservation and land trust movements has been the ability to access funding, public policies, connections to public and private decision-makers and other influencers to protect the natural resources that are vital to the future of the country. Even the smallest land trusts often have access to resources, people, institutions and agencies that are otherwise inaccessible to many of the systemically excluded people and places with whom you might partner. This access may be direct, such as connections to local elected officials and agency professionals, or it may be indirect, such as state-level, regional and national funders and policies you might access through the Land Trust Alliance and other peer groups.

    As your organization works to connect and partner with people and places, it will be important to think about the access your organization has, learn about the access your external partners might have, and how you might strengthen collaborative projects, programs and services by bringing the information and other resources to the table. A few examples are below.

    Even the smallest land trusts often have access to resources, people, institutions and agencies that are otherwise inaccessible to many of the marginalized people and places with whom you might partner.

    Leverage information

    How can your land trust share information with groups who have been systemically excluded?

    Landowners may have never had access to conservation information, funding and practices; or they or family members may have had painful experiences, with many losing family lands due to racially discriminatory practices in public agencies and private entities. Examples of information you might share include:

    • Funding, technical assistance and other resources available through public conservation agencies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has identified historically underserved producers, including military veterans, socially disadvantaged farmers and landowners, limited resource farmers and ranchers and women.

    • Forest management practices and potential income streams on family lands, and working with a consulting forester. (Recognize that many landowners, especially poor people and people of color, may have had bad things happen when people they didn’t know came to talk to them about land.)

    • Conservation tools and practices, such as conservation easements. Are there creative ways conservation easements, for example, might be used to create affordable housing or community farms/forests that benefit systemically excluded people and places?

    In all the examples above, recognize that structural racism, sexism and socio-economic inequities may have impacted the landowners or communities, and all conservation tools may not work for their particular circumstances.

    Leverage access to

    Funding

    Your land trust might have a strong relationship with an environmental funder, for example, who is looking to invest in projects with racial, social or economic justice outcomes. How can you include your community partners in the planning process and decision-making, and in the budget, at a level that demonstrates the true value of their community connections, skills and wisdom? Or can you encourage the environmental funder to partner with a social justice funder who has been supporting the community, to support collaborative projects with equitable outcomes?

    Public policy advocacy

    Many public conservation policies and funding programs have been structured to provide targeted support to governmental agencies and nonprofits with a primary mission of land and water conservation. This has been a very effective strategy and key to the conservation successes over the years. At the same time, it has functionally excluded access to the funding, in many cases, for tribal governments or community and faith-based nonprofits that are implementing environmental projects while also meeting the many housing, education, food security, health and other needs in their communities.

    If you are engaged in public policy advocacy, have you explored the language of existing legislation or legislation being developed? Have you used an equity lens to see if public policy changes might enable broader environmental impacts and outcomes for all? Have you shared public policies being developed with your external partners or, better yet, invited them to the negotiations and public input sessions?

    Agency contacts

    You may have heard about the multiple class action lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, such as Keepseagle v Vilsack, Pigford v Vilsack and Garcia v Vilsack and assumed that discrimination within the agency has been eliminated. There are still challenges, though, for people and places that have been excluded or impacted, or for those who simply have never had access and don’t have contacts and may not even know where to start. In cases like this, it could be helpful to introduce landowners to your agency contacts, join them in meetings, help with filling out applications and helping external partners build knowledge and connections to carry into future interactions with the agencies.

    Resources for change

    Leverage your access or resources

    These essential resources will help you use your influence to benefit external partners.

    Next steps

    Questions for further reflection

    • Who are the systemically excluded people, organizations and communities in your organization’s service area?

    • What are their needs and have you been working to build relationships of trust?

    • What are the connections your organization has that could help share and shift power to external partners?

    Action

    What 2-3 actions can your organization take to start leveraging the access you have to benefit external partners?

    Identify 2-3 community organizations that you might be able to shift power to, by leveraging the access or resources of your organization.

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