We are at a precipice
Cascading crises of the collapse of biodiversity, climate and food systems, economic and social systems and the increasing divide between rich and poor all tell us that our relationship with nature and with each other is profoundly out of balance.
The root cause of these crises is the broken story we tell ourselves – that humans are separate and superior to nature, gifted with a destiny to dominate all other life.
A VIBRANT FUTURE CAN STILL BE REALIZED ON THE PLANET.
Our Purpose
By raising a cultural narrative of our true place in the web of life we believe it is possible to transform our human-centric view of the world.
The heart of Kinship is an open-source, multicultural, intergenerational Hearth. Here we nurture an ecosystem of creative expressions that communicate our deep and essential connection with all of life - and inspire our will to change.
WE ONCE LIVED AS PART OF THE WEB OF LIFE.
WE CAN DO SO AGAIN.
The Power of Story
Our work is intended to help people around the globe envision a different future, one that is healthy and regenerative. We do so by using the power of creative expression and shared story as an agent of personal and culture change.
Igniting the Shift
A new cultural narrative will shift human behavior by giving us the context to belong to a new way of living on this Planet with a sense of respect, reciprocity, interdependence and possibility.
Seeding Culture Change
By amplifying and elevating the language of life and thousands of creative expressions of transformation, we ignite a new prevailing cultural narrative in which humanity recognizes it is one with nature.
Our Theory of Change
Movements take hold when individual stories gain traction and become our common aspiration.
understanding
human behavior
Social science confirms that emotions dominate our decision making and that we have a fundamental need for connection and belonging. This is true of our relationships with our communities and the Earth.
catalyzing
partnerships
There are constellations of creative and disruptive endeavors around the world determined to shift our cultural narrative. By aligning and amplifying these efforts we will transform individual and collective beliefs and actions.
celebrating
Local, indigenous & traditional wisdom
Hundreds of thousands of communities and cultures around the globe live interconnected with nature. By exchanging knowledge, and growing relationships rooted in reciprocity we can cultivate powerful networks of solidarity.
engaging
The power of art
Storytelling is the oldest form of art - and art is the language of emotion. Magnetic stories and creative expressions shared again and again shape our values and beliefs. They open our mind’s capacity to imagine change and shift our actions.
Growing Our Mycelial Network
Core Strategies
Identify & Connect
We begin our work with four key partnerships: youth leaders, grassroots efforts, artists, local and indigenous communities. Together, we create a mycelial network to cultivate a global community engaged in narrative shift.
Curate & Co-create
We gather at the Kinship Hearth to curate and co-create impactful intergenerational and multicultural living stories and creative expressions of reconnecting with all of life.
Promote & Amplify
Together with strategic global partners Kinship will promote and amplify through various cultural and media outlets these artistic expressions and stories of a thriving future.
Meet our Foundational Partner
The Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN)
an international community of youth leaders
together, we seed and disseminate the narrative of kinship across local communities worldwide. Kinship serves as an intergenerational home, providing a platform for continued collaboration, mentorship, and knowledge exchange as our youth leaders transition into the broader global change movement. we empower diverse voices and ensure that the passion and expertise of young leaders continues to drive transformative change for a thriving planet.
The Seeds We Are Planting
Our Programs
Landscape & literature review
Deepening our multicultural Landscape Review of organizations, individuals and endeavors engaged in narrative change, artistic expression, indigenous wisdom keepers, activists, policy leaders, and philanthropists. Developing a global Literature Review of the research, design, and impact of endeavors focused on the animate nature of all life, narrative shift, the arts and behavioral science, intergenerational and multicultural movement building.
Partnership gatherings
Convening global partnership gatherings around the Hearth with conservation, youth, artivists, indigenous and philanthropic leaders from around the world to explore the transformation of our cultural narrative.
Events, Installations, Ceremonies & Performances
Curating and co-creating events, installations, performances and ceremonies with our core partners to root and amplify the creative expressions and stories of the new narrative.
Seeding a lexicon of life
We are co-creating a new lexicon that reflects the language of life, rooted in webinars, speaker series, media, dialogue and workshops.
an example of
The Transformative Power of Story
“When I was about five years old, my sisters and I spent the weekend with our Aztecan grandmother. She got us up early one day, the sun was just about to rise, and she had us stand out in silence in her garden.
She told us we were to be quiet for five minutes every hour, and just return to the sunflowers, be with the sunflowers. And as we did that, every hour, in silence, we realized that we were turning the same way the sunflowers were, turning closer and closer following the sun.
I don’t have a lot of words for what happened, but I do know that at a deep level, the lessons my grandmother was teaching me were about how from nature I can learn. And that in that learning, I realized I am part of nature.
After dinner, we went back outside, we held hands and walked - it was really dark, there was no moon - and stood by the garden. We were quiet for a little bit and finally I said, “What are we doing? It’s so dark!”My grandmother turned on her flashlight, shone it on us and we were standing in circle, facing each other. Then she said look, and we looked over at the garden, and the sunflowers were looking at each other.”
—Anita Sanchez, PhD
Nahua (Aztec) and Mexican American
