Respect begins with relationship.
This is the community-led framework strengthening Indigenous and non-Tribal partnerships in environmental learning across San Diego County.
Rooted in Respect
Rooted in Respect is a community-led framework which supports respectful, culturally informed collaboration between non-Tribal organizations, education programs, and Tribal-led organizations. It is informed by the 2025 Rooted in Respect roundtable discussions with Tribal members and non-Tribal organizations across San Diego County and includes a resource hub that helps clarify cultural differences that can create barriers, supports appropriate partner matching, and shares learning insights from both communities.
A Framework for Partnership
Designed as a living framework for respectful, long-term partnership, this work supports relationships between Indigenous and Tribal communities and non-Indigenous educators and practitioners in environmental education and adjacent nonprofit sectors.
Centering Communities
​The Rooted in Respect project, led collaboratively by Indigenous Regeneration, Un Mar de Colores, and The Queer Sol Collective, with support from The San Diego Foundation's Thrive Outside Cohort, intentionally centers community knowledge, stewardship, and trust in service of Indigenous voices and communities in the San Diego region.
Grounded in
Indigenous Ways of Knowing
Grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing (IWOK), the project emphasizes the protection, centering, and uplifting of traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) within environmental education and organizational practice.
Understanding the Challenges
What is now known as San Diego County encompasses the ancestral homelands of 18 federally recognized Tribal Nations, the highest number of federally recognized Tribes within any county in the United States, representing Kumeyaay, Payómkawichum (Luiseño), Cahuilla, and Cupeño peoples.
Across San Diego County, many environmental educators and nonprofits want to collaborate with Tribal Communities and Indigenous Cultural Practicioners, yet most lack the tools, training, or relationships to do so appropriately. .
76.5%
Tribal... noted lack of cultural protocol or respect for Indigenous knowledge as a recurring barrier
63.3%
Non-Tribal environmental education NGO's expressed uncertainty about protocols.
Rooted in Respect Round Table Discussion,
Sycuan Tribal Hall, 2025
The dialogue produced key themes:
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Respectful Partnerships & Compensation
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Barriers to Engagement
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Opportunities for Co-Design
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Calls for Institutional Change
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Next Steps for the Community of Practice
From this work, along with insights gathered through additional online surveys, the following resources have been developed and are made available below.​
Who was in the room?
​20+ Tribal Affiliations
San Diego County Place Base
including Kumeyaay, Luiseño, Cahuilla, Yurok, Zapotec, and others connected to San Diego County lands and waters.
Educators, Nonprofits,
and Community Members
representatives from Un Mar de Colores, Indigenous Regeneration, Queer Soul Collective, Living Coast Discovery Center, Ocean Discovery Institute, Olivewood Gardens, Blue Dot Education, and several regional school districts including Chula Vista Unified School District .
