May
20
Beyond Land Acknowledgements: Indigenous Leadership and the Environment in Southern California
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Event Description
With land acknowledgements becoming a norm in funder gatherings (check out native-land.ca if you haven’t yet done so), the Southern California Environmental Funders Group invites you to this upcoming funder convening to explore ways in which philanthropy can go beyond land acknowledgements, including the larger Indigenous land back movement, land stewardship, land taxes, land co-management and land ownership.
At California’s recent Truth and Healing Council meeting, Governor Newsom announced that he has “tasked our administration with seeking out ways to support California Native Peoples in accessing, co-managing and acquiring your ancestral lands. Today, we’re making a down payment on this commitment, allocating $100 million dollars for tribally informed grantmaking to support tribal initiatives in this space.”
Indigenous communities in California have worked towards this goal for many years, with a handful of success stories given the legal, financial, and cultural complexities that come with making this vision a reality. A coordinated and collaborative approach will be needed, and philanthropy can play a crucial supportive role. At this convening, we will explore the opportunities, barriers, and strategies needed to put us all in a better relationship with the land and the environment. We’ll learn from a set of local stakeholders working on these issues, with suggestions for funders who want to support Indigenous leadership.
This convening is part of a series of quarterly conversations hosted by the Southern California Grantmakers Environmental Funders Group. The convening will continue lifting up themes from previous SCG Environmental Funder Peer Group convenings, including our Making Justice 40 a Reality on the Ground, Bolstering the Green Workforce Ecosystem, Climate, Health and Equity in SoCal, and Climate Resilience Investments.
About the SCG Environmental Funders Group
The SCG Environmental Funders Group meets quarterly to educate prospective and current environmental funders about environmental challenges and opportunities in Southern California, foster collaboration, and share successes and challenges. Please contact Katy Pelissier at katy@socalgrantmakers.org for more information.
Recurring Dates
Resources
For more on this topic, check out:
- Native Land Acknowledgements Are Not the Same as Land, an article by Wallace Cleaves and Charles Sepulveda
- The Challenges and Opportunities for Rematriating Tovaangar, a talk given by Wallace Cleaves
- How Can Cities Meaningfully Support Indigenous Communities, a discussion with four leading Tongva voices
- Native Voices Rising Fund, a partnership between Native Americans in Philanthropy and Common Counsel Foundation
Speakers

Jo Carrillo
Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Indigenous Law Center, UC Hastings College of the Law

Wallace Cleaves
President, Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy

Nicole Johnson
Secretary, Native American Land Conservancy

Greg Masten
Vice President of Tribal Nations Engagement and Special Projects, Native Americans in Philanthropy
Greg is a member of the University of Washington’s Native American Advisory Board, board member of the SR3 Foundation, and former President of the Tribal Education Department’s National Assembly (TEDNA). Greg also served as the education committee co-chair for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI), Humboldt Country P-16 Council and California Education Directors Association.

Rudy Ortega
Tribal President, Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians

Lauren van Schilfgaarde
Director, Tribal Legal Development Clinic, UCLA School of Law
van Schilfgaarde previously served as the Tribal Law Specialist at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI) in West Hollywood, CA. At TLPI, van Schilfgaarde coordinated training and technical assistance to tribal courts, focusing primarily on Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts, restorative justice, tribal court infrastructure, and federal Indian law. At TLPI, van Schilfgaarde worked with over eighty tribal nations on various legal infrastructure projects. van Schilfgaarde served as a law clerk for the Native American Rights Fund and Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. She was a Public Interest Fellow at American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
van Schilfgaarde currently serves as a board member for the National Native American Bar Association, as Vice-Chair for the Native American Concerns Committee of the American Bar Association, as a Commissioner for the Lawyers Network Commission of the Center for Reproductive Rights, and as a Board Member of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Child Well-being Program.