Belonging
Among our core values at MBEI are:
Honoring the intrinsic dignity and worth of all persons
Championing diversity, equity, inclusiveness, and belonging
Healing our relations, building community, and growing circles of connection
Storyteller, author, and cultural geographer Carolyn Finney writes in Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors:
What I would ask, for myself and others, is that we not only keep resisting oppression and the suppression of who we are, but we actually continue to expand and evolve how we come to know and who we might become. … There is something about our collective experiences––the “collective” sometimes defined by cultural/ethnic/racial differences––and the relationship between those differences that offers a chance to recognize and embrace our common humanity; a chance to imagine other possibilities by seeing another’s position of privilege and the challenges one has experienced. We come to understand how people create, retain hope, and move forward. Our mutual responsibility is to see those differences and recognize the possibilities and be fearless enough to bring those possibilities into our reality.
We appreciate Dr. Finney’s words and believe that healing begins with awareness, compassion, listening, and action. To that end, we are working to cultivate a diverse culture of belonging and excellence, where all people have the opportunity to speak, be heard, and have a place where we can share openly, find compassionate support, and celebrate the rich diversity of our lived experiences and ancestries – a place to laugh, grow, and enjoy being an integral and meaningful part of living well.
Our intention is to make our eco-retreat programs and workshops a global model for community building, collaboration, and reconciling our relationships with Mother Earth and each other … a place of experiencing our fullest potentials.
