The America the Beautiful for All Coalition commits to and is guided by the following principles:
We engage and work together respectfully, openly and with curiosity..
We honor our differences and come to the table to make decisions and advance solutions across differences.
We are open to and see the unique value in listening to and incorporating a variety of opinions.
We foster a community culture that celebrates our unique backgrounds and perspectives in recognition of the many ways this adds value to our work including making our policy and project solutions more durable and rooted in community.
We respect communities, cultures and traditional lifeways and the different ways in which communities connect with nature.
We prioritize listening to communities and lifting up voices that the conservation community has historically silenced, ignored, or oppressed.
We honor and respect the sovereignty of Tribal Nations as governing bodies of distinction. We will work to ensure that our coalition’s work and policy priorities support solutions that are rooted in Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
We acknowledge Indigenous people as the longest standing stewards of lands, waters and oceans and ensure that Indigenous communities help to shape and guide the policies and programs we support as a coalition.
We recognize that white supremacy, racism, and classism are systems that uphold environmental injustice and we will approach our collective work in pursuit of systems change, equity, justice, and intersectional solutions.
We acknowledge that the first 150 years of the “modern American conservation movement” excluded the needs and perspectives of communities of color, Indigenous people and Tribes and perpetuated exclusionary and inequitable tropes, narratives, policies and practices against Indigenous people and communities of color.
We will learn from the past and center justice in all that we do. We recognize that history is not just in the past. Oppression, injustice, and harm from past events are omnipresent in the rooms and gatherings we operate within.
We are mindful that disparities in environmental funding, access to decision-makers, staffing capacity, information and resources disproportionately hinder frontline and people of color-led and serving groups. We proactively work to foster a coalition that enables all organizations interested in supporting the coalition’s twin goals and objectives can participate equitably, authentically and through self determination.
We will take risks, learn from our mistakes, build trust, be leaders and listeners, and operate with positive intentions while recognizing that even unintended harm and impact must be acknowledged and addressed to foster a safe and trusted culture.
We commit to balancing near-term victories with building strength and equitable distribution of power for the long term.
We celebrate the creativity and innovation of community-led solutions and our work together as a coalition.
