IslandWood’s mission is to provide exceptional learning experiences that inspire lifelong environmental and community stewardship. We cannot achieve our mission if some children are left out of environmental learning or participate in learning experiences where they don’t feel like they belong. Students attending under-resourced schools face limited opportunities for nature-based learning and often experience additional challenges in these settings, as the curriculum and teaching methods frequently lack cultural relevance and fail to foster a sense of belonging for all students.
IslandWood envisions a world where every child, especially those from under-resourced schools*, experiences nature-based learning designed expressly to support their needs, celebrate their identities, and instill a strong sense of belonging.
We cannot fulfill IslandWood’s mission and purpose without placing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at our core, creating the conditions for all participants to thrive, rather than creating conditions for some participants to thrive. When all children engage in nature-based learning in this way, we will ignite a sense of stewardship for our communities, planet, and climate that is vital for generations to come.
While our organizational focus is on students attending under-resourced schools, we acknowledge that in the United States one’s race – more than any other factor – is the biggest determinant of educational outcomes, wealth, health, exposure to environmental pollutants and hazards, and life expectancy as documented by Equity in the Center. We believe that if we center the needs of people of color, who face the largest inequities, and we serve them well, we will serve most people well. (Read more about this well-documented principle, the curb-cut effect, here.) This awareness runs through our commitments below.
*Under-resourced schools are defined by Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for prioritization of schools for outdoor education based on student populations of: Low-income, Migrant, BIPOC, English Language Learners, Special Education, Tribal, Title 1, Homeless, and Rural students.
We are committed to…
Relationship-centered approaches to education programs:
Ensuring equitable & inclusive internal culture and operations:
Ongoing Transparent Feedback Process:
IslandWood utilizes the definitions of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion included in Equity in the Center’s Building a Race Equity Culture glossary.
Justice: A concept of fair and just relations between the individual and society. This is measured by the explicit and tacit terms for the distribution of power, wealth, education, healthcare, and other opportunities for personal activity and social privileges.
Equity: The guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. The principle of equity acknowledges that there are historically underserved and underrepresented populations, and that fairness regarding these unbalanced conditions is needed to assist equality in the provision of effective opportunities to all groups.
Diversity: Psychological, physical, and social differences that occur among any and all individuals; including but not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical ability, and learning styles.
Inclusion: The act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate and bring their full, authentic selves to work. An inclusive and welcoming climate embraces differences and offers respect in the words/actions/thoughts of all people.
While we set organization-wide JEDI goals annually, each department at IslandWood also works on department specific JEDI priorities as well. The way that JEDI is integrated into each department’s work is different and tailored to their function within the organization. To learn more about our departmental JEDI work and what it looks like, please read more below.
To ensure that our programs are equitable and relevant, we believe that our staff must reflect the racial demographics of the communities we serve. And, as a predominantly white-led organization, we understand that we have work to do. Learn more about the racial makeup of our staff and board here.
Learn more about the changes we’ve made to our recruitment, interview, selection, and onboarding processes to increase equity in our hiring practices here.
IslandWood’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (JEDI) Council is a staff committee that focuses on the advancement of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the organization. The Council supports and advises leadership, teams, and staff members in operationalizing JEDI work at IslandWood.
IslandWood’s JEDI Council was formed in 2007 by 15 staff members to focus on recruiting staff that better reflect the communities that our organization serves, and to break the cycle of exclusion that is so prevalent in the environmental and education fields. Throughout the last decade, the Council’s advocacy and action have led to professional growth for staff and teams and the creation of culturally responsive and inclusive policies and processes.
The Council offers expertise and insight critical to supporting the progress of DEI priorities at IslandWood. This includes resource finding and sharing, informal training/gatherings, responsive brown bag lunches, and overall guidance/problem-solving on issues relevant to operationalizing DEI work at IslandWood.
IslandWood does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all guests, students, members of staff, clients, volunteers, and vendors.
IslandWood acknowledges that the land on which we gather is within the ancestral territory of the suqʷabš “People of Clear Salt Water” (Suquamish People). Expert fisherman, canoe builders and basket weavers, the suqʷabš live in harmony with the lands and waterways along Washington’s Central Salish Sea as they have for thousands of years. Here, the suqʷabš live and protect the land and waters of their ancestors for future generations as promised by the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855. While the majority of our work takes place on Suquamish and Duwamish (dxʷdɐwʔabʃ) land, we also conduct programs on the land of the Snohomish (sduhúbʃ), Puyallup (spuyaləpabš), Muckleshoot (buklshuhls), Skokomish (sqoqc’bes), and S’Klallam (nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm) peoples.
IslandWood is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Our tax ID number is 31-1654076.
4450 Blakely Ave. NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 206.855.4300