Meaux Loves the Nonprofits

The pandemic has thrown into relief a lot of things that privileged folks have consistently overlooked, felt unnecessary, or not prioritized. Accessible events are one of those things. And when I say "accessible" I don't mean "legally compliant so you don't get sued" - I mean genuinely being inclusive of as many folks who could benefit from attending, or want to attend, but have significant barriers prohibiting them from being there.

Cost, disability, transportation, childcare, location - are only a handful of impediments, and holding hybrid events knocks down most of them.

For our organization, with a mission and vision rooted in inclusion, it was imperative that we change the format of our events, and with their return this year - we did. While my colleague organized the in-person components, I {as the loudest advocate for hybrid events and most tech savvy on our team of nine} was tasked with spearheading a shared online experience.

There were challenges, for sure - namely being time restrictions as an hourly employee with multiple other responsibilities {I had to cut corners and rely on YouTube's captions instead of individually captioning each pre-recorded performance}, scheduling issues, organizational transition, and two days of snowstorm prior to the event turning performances we were going to record and share online only, unexpectedly into live ones. Despite the chaos, we were able to hold a successful Festival of Fire & Ice for the first time since 2020 - with over 300 in-person attendees and many folks downloading activities we provided online and watching the Haudenosaunee Songs & Stories we put online.

I {we, collectively} have A LOT to learn in order to make future events feel more cohesive for attendees regardless of where they're attending. I'm grateful to be continuing to challenge and change our organization, and to lead efforts like these. We pulled off our very first hybrid event ever, and the ones to follow will be so much better.

{Image description: A group of people and many children gather outside in a snowy garden to watch a performance.}

Completed Udemy Course - Comprehensive Grant Writing for beginners: 7 simple steps

{Image Description: Certificate of completion of course.}

Joined the Diversity Consortium of Tompkins County Board of Directors, as a Board Member representing Ithaca Children's Garden. Starting 2022!

WE DID IT! Ithaca Children's Garden made our goal of $40,000, unlocking a full match in that amount offered to us by Triad Foundation. AND we did it before the match period ended on December 17th!

Half of this was raised through digital efforts alone {email and social media} since we had a hiccup with our mailed letters and forms and they were significantly delayed. As a solo Communications team who has heavily leaned into Development this year, let me just say "Whew.". 

In ICG's 20+ year history, this is highest goal we've ever set, and even in another challenging year, managed to meet and exceed it. It's humbling to see so much support for our little Garden and its huge mission. We did it!

{Image Description: A collage in the shape of a heart, composed of many small pictures of Ithaca Children's Garden, program participants, and the staff. In the middle of the heart are the words "You belong here".}

Our year-end giving campaign at Ithaca Children's Garden has officially kicked off! My second ever nonprofit capital campaign, and the first I've been able to lead on the Communications side!

The annual appeal is crucial to our small organization as we are not funded by the City, and so a looooot of planning {and tears} goes into our giving campaign. We're lucky to have the community support that we do; community support is vital in helping us sustain this safe, courageous, and kindhearted green space which aims to honor children wholly as they are. It allows us to continue facilitating and expanding our contemporary educational programs such as After School @ ICG, Gaia Circle, and our play immersion preschool, Playful Nature Explorers. Gifts given to the Garden means that another child has access to the essential, meaningful experiences that nourish their relationships with nature; like tasting a sun ripened tomato plucked directly from the vine, and discovering tadpoles in the Rice Paddy Pond. 
Each contribution is an opportunity for every single one of us to be change-makers in critical and necessary work. ✊🏾 I'm honored to be on this team, trusted with such a big task. I'm also super exhausted, and it's just getting started!
Oh, yeah - you can make a gift to ICG too and help us unlock a $40,000 match by December 17th! This is the highest goal we've set in ICG's history!

Participated in AFP webinar: Embracing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in Your Organization and on Your Board

I don't care too much about what a person does for a living, in fact I don't ever ask - but I do love to see workspaces. Maybe it's because I've predominantly worked from either my living room, kitchen, or sometimes even bed on the - what are the kids calling them- no bones days? over the last nearly two years being full time remote.

I love a good desk setup, I'm a big sucker for gamers' especially with the lighting and the cute stuff *sigh*. Had I an office, it would probably be entirely, sickeningly pink. Think Pepto, but Peptoer. I love offices, pretty much all of them, it's kind of weird.

I have worked with Ithaca Children's Garden since July 2020, and I have never seen our office space. Instead, I consider the Garden itself the office {our Facilities Manager and Teen Urban Farmers this year crafted an amazing life size bird nest that I jokingly have called my office since its creation but would totally work from there if I could}.
 
Sometimes, depending on where I am and how I'm feeling, when new folks ask me what I do for a living, I skip over the answer and tell them that my office is a Garden. I always secretly hope they'll tell me something about their workspace too. 

{Image Description: from Monique's Garden "office"; a small, single rose with pink petals, some petals have browning edges.}

When I was originally given the opportunity to lead this project, we were planning to launch in October 2020. The, as it was named then, Environmental Leaders of Color project centered heavily around youth participation, empowering them each to discover, explore, and showcase historically overlooked environmentalists.

Group leaders, teachers, and students alike were finding distance learning in this extraordinary school year difficult to adapt to, and so initially participation was- somewhat expectedly low. We shifted the timeline hoping to give them sufficient time to find the leader who spoke to their hearts, and then we shifted the timeline again to better develop the project ourselves.

It is July 31st 2021, and the Inspiring Environmental Leaders are finally up on display at the Garden. It's a proud moment for me, as project lead, knowing everything we were up against throughout the year. To see how beautifully we brought it to life is truly remarkable, and I am grateful for everyone who held space and love for this project. 

{Image Description: A long wooden boardwalk in a garden, a child runs ahead, and another younger child stands near an abutting fence. On the fence, many large colorful banners are visible, each banner prominently features a colorized portrait of an environmental leader, and a short bio.}