Who should be part of my organizational cohort?

Participation in Walking the Path of Right Relations is by organization. We ask you to form an institutional cohort of 2-3 individuals. This group should include people who fill the following roles:

• Project and/or department leaders who can apply the learning in the core work of the organization, who will be in day-to-day partnership with Indigenous groups and in doing so can facilitate organizational learning by doing;

• Top leadership that holds the vision of the organization, makes decisions about prioritization and direction, and can provide support and space for the project leaders. It can be helpful to have staff leadership or board participation. Because we will be speaking with Indigenous leadership and tribal chairpeople, these individuals may be looked to in order to articulate the commitment to right relations and the seriousness with which your organizations are approaching these issues;

• People who, regardless of their title or position within your organization, are active and courageous network weavers and pollinators who will help disseminate the learning and build organizational understanding and capacity to sustain the work.

 

We recognize that your institutions are very different sizes and have different constraints. If you would like to participate but would need a smaller or larger cohort, let us know and we will work with you and the overall numbers to try to accommodate your needs.

 

Understanding that the participation of leadership is critical, but these are likely not the people who will be holding the day-to-day relationships with Tribes, we have created two tracks of participation: Executive Track and Full Track. Each organization must have at least one person participating in the Full Track. Executive Track participants are welcome to attend the Listening Sessions, but it is not mandatory.

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A strong cohort will include people who fill these diverse roles, articulated above, and who approach the work with curiosity and commitment. We ask the participants commit to engage in these ways: 

1. Approach the experiences and materials with an open mind and an open heart; 

2. Ground in the deep caring for the lands, waters and coastal systems that Indigenous Peoples and you share, and get curious about the similarities and differences; 

3. Look for your personal role and organizational role in the larger dynamics of the system;

4. Uphold the guiding values that you as a cohort will identify and support other participants to do the same;

5. Be a pollinator and bring these learnings, insights and relationships into your networks;

6. Ask yourself how you can bring this work forward, and develop action pathways for you and your institution.