As a team that specializes in relationship-building to navigate complex community-based decision-making, we continually seek ways to deepen our understanding of inclusion and better empower diverse community members. One way we do this is through the Strategic Earth Book Club.
At Strategic Earth, our book club is more than a team activity. It’s a practice of continuous learning that supports our values of inclusivity and reciprocity. By centering Indigenous authors this year, we’re intentionally creating space to engage with perspectives that challenge, inspire, and expand how we approach community engagement. These shared readings deepen our awareness, shape how we show up in our work, and remind us that building meaningful relationships starts with listening.
This year, our book club has focused on works by Indigenous authors, guided by Teresa Romero, our Director of Native Nations Engagement. Teresa identifies the books and facilitates thoughtful conversations that help us reflect on what Indigenous voices and perspectives teach us about community, reciprocity, and belonging.
Not only is our book club an opportunity for our remote team to connect, it’s also a chance to create space for conversation beyond day-to-day work. We’ve discovered that intentionally pausing around a shared reading experience gives us a chance to lean into each other’s values and ideas in a relaxed setting. Often, the books we choose offer new perspectives and expand our understanding of the many nuances involved in practicing true inclusivity in our work.
Recently, we gathered to discuss The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer. As a Potawatomi botanist, author, and the director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Kimmerer invites readers to reimagine wealth by drawing on Indigenous knowledge and lessons from the natural world.
She encourages us to think about what it would mean to shape our communities and economies around the principle of giving instead of scarcity or competition. Kimmerer draws on the life of the serviceberry tree, which offers its fruit freely and feeds people, animals, and ecosystems generously each year. These gifts circulate throughout webs of relationships and benefit many beyond the original recipients.
This perspective resonates deeply with our work at Strategic Earth. Like the gift economy described in the book, inclusive engagement is about more than one-way communication. It is about reciprocity — creating processes where all voices are heard, trust is built, and communities thrive together.
We considered how our role as facilitators includes holding space for conversations and cultivating trust and connection. By engaging with Indigenous perspectives, we were reminded of the importance of honoring diverse ways of knowing and ensuring these perspectives continue to shape our values and our work.
📚 Interested in reading along? We encourage you to borrow The Serviceberry from your local library or purchase it from an independent bookstore — a small way to give back through the same spirit of reciprocity the book embodies.
✨ Up Next: Our next book club selection is Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Deborah Miranda, a powerful weaving of personal narrative, poetry, and California history.