Program areas at Ecotrust
Events - Ecotrust events creates engagements that bring people together to build new connections and spark big ideas. Ecotrust events manages four venues in the natural capital center and the redd on salmon street, offers safe convening opportunities for partners and clients, and generates operating revenue in support of Ecotrust's mission. Ecotrust events also produces Ecotrust engagements to tell important stories, raise awareness on critical issues, celebrate connections, and inspire meaningful change within our region.
Knowledge systems - our knowledge systems work draws on a diverse toolkit that we use to support all Ecotrust's program areas. We develop and deliver decision-support tools, spatial and economic analyses, workforce development services, measurement and evaluation services, databases of both indigenous and western scientific knowledge, and support partnerships for more resilient communities, economies, and ecosystems. We apply a wide variety of approaches and tools to help our staff and partners collect, analyze, visualize, and apply community-based knowledge of ecosystems in social and economic contexts. We value and support participatory approaches to co-creating, recording, and incorporating community knowledge, with a central role for indigenous knowledge and land stewardship in support of tribal sovereignty. We use our toolkit to support the implementation of management decisions, including tribal co-management of coastal and terrestrial ecosystems, at appropriate scales. Through our workforce development and career education services, we apply culturally specific approaches to growing black, indigenous, and communities of color's leadership in land and water stewardship. And through our measurement and evaluation services, we analyze and present evidence of the impact of Ecotrust and partners' programs and investments.
Ecotrust investments - Ecotrust harnesses the potential of a working endowment in concert with private investments to create economic, social, and environmental well-being in our region, and beyond. Ecotrust investments is both a values-aligned funding source for Ecotrust's transformative work, and a catalyst that brings triple-bottom-line projects to life at a scale of broader impact. Through our own experiences leveraging catalytic capital, we are able to learn from the challenges and identify opportunities to pursue triple-bottom-line outcomes, invite new partners and partnerships, build financial resiliency, and engage in mission-propelling projects. Ecotrust investments continues to transform our portfolio to fully embody our vision of resilience, creativity, intergenerational wealth, and community well-being.
Food systems - Ecotrust's food systems team works in partnership to build a climate-smart food system that is racially and economically just. Our work takes an equity-centered approach, guided by our value of humble, respectful collaboration. We are focused on supporting connections and shared learning among a growing network of food system leaders committed to transformation and healing. In partnership, we work towards: building power to advance equitable outcomes in and with black, indigenous, and communities of color; enriching the connections communities have with fresh, culturally relevant foods; encouraging climate-smart land and fisheries management through leadership development, network building, technical assistance, and eliminating barriers to land stewardship and fisheries access of black, indigenous, and communities of color throughout our bioregion.forests and ecosystem services - the forests and ecosystem services work advances climatesmart forestry by centering tribal stewardship and indigenous ways of knowing. Ecotrust creates the tools, the structures, and the research to support climate-smart forest management, demonstrating that forests can store more carbon, provide high quality habitat for native fish and wildlife, offer recreational and economic development opportunities, and produce clean and abundant water, all while supporting a robust and reliable forest products industry. We work with partners to elevate their perspectives about forests and the role they play in maintaining the health and wellness of our communities and economies.indigenous leadership - since our founding in 1991, indigenous peoples from Alaska to California have been involved with Ecotrust, as members of our board and staff, and as partners to advance the environmental, cultural, economic, and social conditions of their communities. We continue to support indigenous peoples' steadfast efforts to exercise their right of selfdetermination and to protect their homelands and waters. We support and celebrate indigenous leadership, increase education opportunities for native people through scholarships and fellowships, and provide a platform for native people to share their stories and issues. We also share our knowledge in forests and ecosystems, fisheries and marine planning, salmon and watershed restoration, and food systems to restore and strengthen native communities. And we provide our technical expertise in gis analysis, mapping and cartography, economic impact assessments, software and tool development, and data collection and management to help indigenous leaders and communities make informed decisions.