Anti-Racism
At Farm & Wilderness, it is our intention to build programs and communities that are diverse and serve all participants equally well. This page describes our history and current strategic initiatives as an Anti-Racist Organization.
Farm & Wilderness is proud to be entering our tenth year of development as an Anti-Racist Organization. Fundamental to our Anti-Racism work has been organizational acceptance of a working definition of racism: Racism is the combination of race prejudice plus institutional power.
F&W began the process of being an Anti-Racist Organization during the summer of 2000. With the support of an Anti-Racism (AR) team and Crossroads Ministry, a non-denominational anti-racism training organization out of Chicago, F&W worked throughout the past decade to guide and advise trustees and staff in regards to the issues of race within the organization. The Board of Trustees has a Race and Class Committee that now oversees the Anti-Racism process.
Each year, the Board approves an Anti-Racism implementation plan that builds on the previous years' work. Today, we work toward recruitment of campers and staff of color through partnerships with other organizations; building appropriate curriculum for our campers and continued refinement of AR training for our staff. We are seeking funding to build partnerships with organizations that have similar programs to F&W (such as gardening and outdoor education) and diverse constituencies. Through such partnerships we hope to provide camper recruits with a summer experience that enhances their school-year activities and gives staff recruits the leadership training relevant to their off-season work. At F&W, we aim to design and provide age-appropriate curriculum that will nurture a camper's construction of self and community identity, promote each child's comfort in interacting with people of different backgrounds, foster critical thought about bias, and cultivate a child's ability to stand up in the face of bias.
For questions regarding the Anti-Racism work at F&W, please contact Executive Director Pieter Bohen at Pieter@farmandwilderness.org.
