Increasing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice in Coastal Conservation Organizations and Projects Nationwide

Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) proposes two series of workshops, with estimated attendance of 100 people per series that will provide the knowledge, skills, and pathways to make meaningful improvements in the area of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ). The series will be divided into two tracks: one for coastal conservation grantmakers and one for coastal conservation project implementers.

Each track will include content informed by a Working Group comprised of representatives of diverse, well-respected organizations within these target sectors. The first-hand input from people who work in these sectors will ensure the appropriateness and applicability of these workshops. Information will be gathered and developed into content by a consultant with expertise in DEIJ and supported by RAE in contextualizing this around coastal conservation.

By aligning the funding sources with the demand for funding, this series can help re-orient funding and projects to improve DEIJ in coastal conservation work.

Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) seeks to build upon a recent workshop effort to create broader and deeper impact around Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) issues across the coastal conservation sector and coastal communities nationwide. The current proposed workshop supports the following vision: “America’s estuaries, bays, and coasts are resources for all people and should be safe, accessible, and enjoyed by all; efforts to restore and expand these resources must ensure that costs and benefits of any project are equitably distributed across all communities and that historic inequity of these costs and benefits are remediated through expanded investments.” This project will advance the DEIJ vision through engagement with two audiences: grantmakers and project implementers.

RAE proposes the following workshop objectives: 1) Create a group of leading grantmakers and implementers of coastal restorations and conservation to commit to improving DEIJ in their operations. 2) Ensure coastal conservation grantmakers are equipped with knowledge and tools to help them address barriers related to DEIJ issues in their grantmaking processes, and provide them with a pathway to an improved degree of inclusivity and effectiveness. 3) Ensure coastal conservation project implementers are equipped with knowledge and tools to help them address barriers related to DEIJ issues in their efforts to plan, launch, and conduct their projects, while also supporting efforts to better incorporate DEIJ principles in these projects. 4) Facilitate sharing of information among participants to help them implement improved processes. 5) Promote best practices and lessons learned to the coastal conservation community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.