Grant in the Spotlight: Nuestra Tierra
Image Credit: NMCO Media
Location: Ancestral Lands of the Chiricahua Apace, Mescalero Apache, and Tampachoa peoples also known as the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument
The Wyss Foundation is proud to announce a $120,000 grant to support a two-year Wyss Fellow at Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project in New Mexico. The Wyss Fellows Program provides support to sponsoring organizations to host a Wyss Fellow. The Fellows gain campaign experience and training to become future conservation leaders.
Nuestra Tierra aims to empower, elevate, and amplify the stories of people of color. It advocates for issues important to Latinx, Latine, and Hispanic communities and helps inspire the next generation of conservation advocates and leaders. Nuestra Tierra works to provide communities of color with sustainable opportunities for community engagement, access, and education around public lands and waters.
“We know that historically the land conservation process hasn't included the leadership and lived experiences of people of color,” said Gabaccia Moreno, Wyss Fellow at Nuestra Tierra. “It is important that we look at our conservation campaigns with critical eyes and identify gaps in inclusion, access, and representation if we are to create equitable parks and monuments for the generations to come. Our current involvement with Castner Range, where we are helping build momentum for a National Monument designation by elevating the voices of diverse community members, is a perfect example of why inclusion and representation are necessary. Thanks to the support from the Wyss Foundation, as a National Monuments Fellow I'm able to help the Nuestra Tierra team further our mission and promote equity in our national conservation campaigns.”
“The Wyss Foundation is proud to support the next generation of conservation leaders, like Gabaccia, through our Wyss Fellows Program,” says Molly McUsic, president of the Wyss Foundation. “Nuestra Tierra’s focus on creating opportunities for communities of color to advocate on behalf of our public lands is essential to protect important areas for future generations.”
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About the Wyss Foundation – The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable foundation dedicated to supporting innovative, lasting solutions that improve lives, empower communities, and strengthen connections to the land.
About Nuestra Tierra – The Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project was created in 2017 by a group of Latinx/Latine/Hispanic conservation advocates whose experience has shown them that communities of color need sustainable opportunities for community engagement, access, and education around public lands and waters. It advocates for issues important to these communities, and helps inspire the next generation of conservation advocates, leaders, and funders to make real, sustainable change.