About Us

Values

  • To uphold the knowledge of Elders
  • To ground our work in Spirit and ceremony
  • To be guided by the Seven Ancestral Grandfather and Grandmother Teachings of Love, Respect, Bravery, Truth, Honesty, Humility, and Wisdom
  • To prioritize integrity
  • To use Indigenous languages, worldviews, and teachings
  • To honour cultural and kinship ties, and past and present trade networks
  • To develop relationships rooted in reciprocity
  • To work in Ethical Space
  • To advance regenerative finance approaches based on Indigenous knowledge systems and shared values, as opposed to colonial-capitalist models of value and worth

Goals

  1. To advance Indigenous rights and responsibilities to care for lands, waters, biodiversity and climate, through the establishment of IPCAs and Indigenous-led nature-based solutions;
  2. To ensure laws and policies enabling nature-based solutions recognize and advance inherent Indigenous rights, jurisdiction and authority to care for lands and waters. This includes recognition of Indigenous rights and responsibilities for managing carbon, natural assets and biodiversity, and ensuring direct decision-making of rights-holders in the design of any conservation finance and nature-based solutions.
  3. To support regenerative indigenous-led economies by connecting Indigenous Nations and communities to each other, and to financial resources, tools and expertise to implement nature-based solutions on their territories;
  4. To establish Canada as a global leader in Indigenous-led nature-based solutions by engaging with market actors and support the emergence of financial, governance and capacity building tools that centre Indigenous jurisdiction, inherent rights and worldviews in their creation.

The RAD Network will pursue these goals by building relationships, practical tools, and knowledge sharing opportunities. Our approach is firmly grounded in Ethical Space and pursued in alignment with the path laid out by the Indigenous Circle of Experts (ICE).

Ash Basket Network Model

Inspired by teachings shared with us by Wolastoqiyik Knowledge Carrier Terry Young, the RAD Network employs an “ash basket” network model. Like an ash basket, a network depends on its many strands, woven together to create a strong and flexible container with a purpose to carry something forward. The RAD Network is supported through collective, braided (or woven) contributions from Network Partners and relationships rooted in reciprocity. These woven contributions enable us to advance the goals of RAD Network and produce work through our core Operations group and the Work Streams with guidance from our Indigenous Leadership Group. We are currently developing Reciprocity Agreements with Network Partners to ground our work in reciprocity, integrity and care.

Team

The Leadership Group guides the strategic direction, goals, and approach of the Network. The current Leadership Group includes David Flood (Wahkohtowin Development), Trish Nash (Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources), Steven Nitah (Nature for Justice), and Terry Dorward (IISAAK OLAM Foundation). We also acknowledge and extend our gratitude to Patricia Saulis, Kim Neale and Eli Enns who contributed their time and knowledge to the inaugural Leadership Circle. We are grateful to Patricia Saulis for first envisioning the idea to host our Full Moon Network gatherings and for her role as Convenor of our Spring 2023 gathering, “Envisioning the Indigenous-led Conservation Economy” on Wolastoqiyik Territory.

The Operations Group consists of Randi Russell, Mary-Kate Craig, Darcy Riddell, Chelsea Martin, Lara Powell and Julee Boan. Network operations have been supported by ongoing woven contributions from core working group members including Wynona Acco-Barron, Kevin Smith, Dani Warren, Audrey Popa, Santiago (Santi) Ramirez Said, Saba Thackurdeen, Rebecca Rogerson, and Sophie Sanniti among others.

Vision

Read the Executive Summary of our Vision Report here, co-created based on outcomes of our Spring 2023 Vision Gathering. Watch the launch webinar to hear from the Leadership Circle about the network’s vision and check out our Tools and Reports page for the full report, video outputs and more.