Looking inward to chart our future – Reflections from the AMLT Strategic Planning Retreat

By Sara French, AMLT Director of Development

Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMLT) has dedicated significant energy over the past year to looking inward – at its governance structure, its relationship with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB) community, and its vision for the future. This inward-focused reflection was supported through a comprehensive strategic planning and governance assessment process, directed by Allison Handler, Jolene Estimo Pitt (Wasco/Palouse, enrolled member of Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs), and Louie Pitt (Wasco, enrolled member of Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs) from Travertine Strategies. These facilitators led both the AMLT and AMTB communities in a series of interviews, meetings, and community engagement sessions over the spring and summer, which culminated in a strategic planning retreat in November. The November retreat was an introspective journey to identify values that guide us, obstacles that block our way, actions to address the obstacles, and a practical vision of our future. The outcome of this work will be an updated strategic framework to guide AMLT over the next three years and support our continued progress toward a long-term, multi-generational vision of healing Mother Earth.

The strategic planning retreat in November was a historic gathering of the AMLT and AMTB communities. Around 40 people were in attendance, including the full AMLT Board of Directors, AMLT leadership staff, more than half of the AMTB Tribal Council, and leaders of the AMTB Community Engagement Teams which had convened 7 strategic visioning meetings with the larger AMTB membership over the summer. Only 3 participants in the November retreat were not members of the AMTB, a fact highlighting the increased number of AMLT leadership staff who are AMTB members. There was strong and balanced representation from each of the three Amah Mutsun lineages – Olivas, Moreno, and Solorzano. Julie Pineida, AMLT Board Member and AMTB tribal member, expressed how pleased she was to see that when she entered the room “…every table was filled. I had to pull up a chair! We haven’t seen that in a long time”.

Tribal Elders were specifically invited to the meeting as honored guests and were asked to share their wisdom and provide guidance for the cultural aspects of our work. Tribal Elder Eleanor Castro emphasized in her introduction “I am Amah Mutsun. That’s why I’m here – I’m here for my Tribe”. She then gave a moving blessing to open the session.

As a Native-led 501(c)(3) corporation, AMLT straddles two worlds. We spent time in the retreat talking about the differences between the Indigenous worldview vs. the mainstream worldview. The indigenous worldview is holistic, the timeframe is over generations, and it is relational. The mainstream worldview is linear and timebound. AMLT’s long-term vision is very much of the Indigenous worldview, and a strategic plan that identifies goals over the next 3-5 years is of the mainstream worldview. This strategic framework that AMLT is developing includes both. 

A great many topics were discussed during the strategic planning retreat. We identified our strengths, both individually and as a group. We discussed obstacles not just as things, but as physical sensations, and then brainstormed innovative actions that can be taken to overcome the obstacles we face. We talked deeply about how AMLT’s work impacts many different aspects of the AMTB community. We agreed that no matter what work AMLT is doing – with the environment, with our external partners, or with AMTB members – Amah Mutsun culture and Indigenous values are at the center and cannot be taken out. We affirmed that the long-term vision that AMLT set at its inception remains the same, and we also identified the specific results we want to see from AMLT’s actions in the next 3-5 years. More work is ahead to finalize the strategic framework, but once it is complete, we plan to share it widely. 

During the closing circle everyone reflected on how the journey of the day had been for them, and what obstacles this meeting had helped them overcome. Several people expressed that they felt their voice had been heard, in some cases, for the first time. For me it felt very powerful to have so many people together in one room, working as a team to ensure the success of AMLT. The work we are doing at AMLT is complex. It is innovative, it is ambitious, and it is challenging at times, but we are all deeply committed to it. As tribal member and AMLT Director of Operations, Lisa Carrier, reflected a few days after the retreat “We are working with purpose. The work we are doing today is setting the table for the generations to come”.