A newsletter I received this morning. Progress is being made in many directions!
To our Herbicide Free Campus Community,
I want to share some incredibly exciting news with you all that will shape the future of our organization and movement.
Ever since HFC was born, our goal was to one day become an official partner of a larger organization to guarantee continuity and stability in the long term. Originally, my fellow co-founder Bridget and I took this campaign beyond Berkeley in a leap of faith, compelled to expand this movement in light of the Johnson v. Monsanto trial, first throughout California and then across the United States.
It was not my intention to create my own nonprofit, but after reaching out to my network to explore the possibility of becoming a program of a larger organization, it was clear that I first had to take the issue of pesticide use on school grounds into my own hands. Without a notable track record of success to prove myself or the mission worthy of being taken on by an established group, the only option was to start my own organization.
It’s been four years since we expanded the campaign on our own, and after raising money, working tirelessly, building an incredible team, and mentoring dozens of students, I can now proudly say that our small but scrappy team has truly started a movement. We are recognized nationally and have earned the respect of the prominent organizations I had first emailed when this vision was only an idea in 2018.
This is where the exciting news comes in. Starting September 1, 2022, Herbicide-Free Campus will become a fiscally sponsored project of Re:wild, an environmental nonprofit that seeks to protect and restore biodiversity through the “re-wilding” of outdoor space. Herbicide-Free Campus will rebrand as Re:wild Your Campus, a project of Re:wild.
Earth Island Institute was our original fiscal sponsor and provided critical support when we were a nascent operation. We are so grateful for their assistance in getting us to this moment.
Our transition to Re:wild is the culmination of many months of thoughtful conversations and careful consideration. Re:wild Your Campus will promote biodiversity and climate resilience through transforming college campuses to become regenerative ecosystems. Being part of a global organization that works directly with activists on the ground will help us expand our reach while staying true to our deepest aspiration — empowering the next generation of leaders to eliminate herbicides and decolonize aesthetics to create safer spaces for us all.
To the HFC family, which is every single one of you on this list: Your support means the world. We are so incredibly thankful for you all helping us get to this point. Hopefully, the world will be a bit wilder and safer because of the work that we have all done together. Now let’s build on that and take this further than we ever imagined possible!
Please take a moment to check out our new website and please consider supporting us in this new chapter of growth. If you are not yet following us on social media, we welcome you to check us out there too, you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and TikTok. Keep your eye out for future emails from Re:wild Your Campus, campus@rewild.org!
Mackenzie Feldman
Project Director, Re:wild Your Campus (formerly known as Herbicide-Free Campus)
“We are cultivating a new paradigm in land management that shines importance on soil health, human health, biodiversity, and native plants. With students as leaders, groundskeepers as land stewards, and campuses as examples for the world to follow, we see universities as the starting point for our movement.” – Mackenzie Feldman