Coalitions & Collaboratives, Inc.

WE STRIVE every day to be an impactful collaborative conservation organization providing capacity-building support to place-based organizations throughout North America, resulting in safe, healthy, and resilient ecosystems and communities through funding, mentorship, and training.

WE VALUE

People & the planet We care about people and the planet, not one or the other. Community values and economic sustainability are pillars of our approach. People and communities are inextricably dependent upon ecosystem services, and thus vulnerable to ecosystem breakdowns and natural disasters.

Safety We believe in the value of safety; it is critically important in the way that we engage in our workspaces and in each of our partnerships.

Enduring Conservation Outcomes We are compelled to protect the health of our water, air, and land, and to sustain the diverse ecosystems that comprise the earth.

Collaboration We believe in working together. No single individual, business, organization, or government can fix the difficulties facing our planet and its people, but by working together we can drive positive change for people and the planet. This includes as many open-access resources and information sharing as possible.

Science-Based & Adaptable We draw upon and contribute to the best available science working towards solution-oriented action through evidence-based decision-making and adaptive management. We learn from our communal past experiences, learning as much from less successful projects as from our most successful ones.

Empowerment We believe in the value of local and traditional social and ecological knowledge and listening to the needs of a community. We prioritize the “doers”, those who complete work on the ground.

Transparency, Accountability, and Honesty We believe that in order to live up to these tenets, we must freely and accurately share information about our governance, finances, and operations. We must be open and inclusive in our procedures, and we must perform meaningful work that executes our mission and purpose.

Equity and Inclusivity We appreciate and leverage our differences, and we involve and reflect on the communities we serve. COCO seeks to include all people, especially historically marginalized groups, in the conservation community, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, or socioeconomic status. Likewise, we strive to bring the benefits of conservation to people who live in all geographies — rural, urban and suburban.

Nonpartisan COCO’s allegiance is to its mission, and we seek out people from across ideological and partisan divides to help us to build resilient communities and ecosystems.

OUR TEAM

From left to right: Jonathan Bruno, Esther Duke, Mitch Dahlke, Morgan Cohen, Wendie Warner, Katie Dorman, and Maria Brandt.