During the summer, I had the opportunity to partner with The Nature Conservancy’s MNDK chapter, which encompasses Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. I had the privilege of joining The Nature Conservancy’s work at a very special and important moment when they were beginning the process of hiring for a new position: Tribal Nations & Indigenous Communities Partnership Director. The decision to hire someone for this new position was based on the need to further relationships with the tribal nations in the chapter and center indigenous voices in the conservation work. As a Black Brazilian woman with indigenous roots, being part of this journey was exciting, challenging and extremely rewarding.
My work was entirely focused on tribal engagement in the chapter, although I had the opportunity to connect with different staff and learn about other topics of interest to me such as climate change and conservation. As part of my work, firstly I designed a set of quantitative and qualitative questions and conducted interviews with staff in the chapter to craft an inventory of current tribal engagement. After collecting this data and gaining further insight into the work conducted in the chapter, I created a Best Practices Guide Around Tribal Engagement. This document is made of three sections: An introduction explaining the need for a guide and how it should be used, a list of ten things to remember when working with tribes, including historical information, outside resources and personal perspectives, and the location, contact and other key information on each of the tribal nations present in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Furthermore, I wrote a 10-page report with detailed information on the work I conducted, including graphs and anonymous quotes from my interviews with staff. Lastly, I shared my work with the chapter in a 45-minute virtual presentation followed by questions. Our hope is that this data can facilitate the work that will be conducted in the near future, with the hiring of the Indigenous Partnerships Director.
Conducting work that is both challenging and meaningful was essential for my growth and development as an individual and professional. During this summer, I also participated in various other activities and initiatives, such as developing a project that aimed to further anti-racist practices in public schools in Rio de Janeiro, as a recipient of the funding from Davis Projects for Peace. Managing my time was a difficult task and I am grateful for the support and understanding I received from my supervisor, Eleanor Trenary, Professor Lavery and the Chuck Green Cohort.