Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why is the Vermont Releaf Collective specifically for BIPOC Vermonters?

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in Vermont continue to be under-represented, under-resourced, and under-acknowledged in land, environment, agriculture, and food spaces due to a long history of racism, exclusion, and oppression. The Releaf Collective exists to support BIPOC in these white-dominated spaces by amplifying our voices/experiences and advocating for racial equity.

While our work is centered on the BIPOC community, we believe that advancing racial equity in land, environment, agriculture, and foodways ultimately benefits all Vermonters.

I am a line cook, arborist, avid hiker, nutritionist, backyard gardener, undergraduate dairy researcher, stay a home parent, etc. Can I join?

Absolutely! Whether land, environment, agriculture, and food are relevant to your work or your hobbies, both, or anywhere in between, this is a network for you!

Why should I join the Releaf Collective?

The Releaf Collective provides tons of benefits listed below for FREE to all members:

Monthly Community Dinners (virtual and in-person)
Members Only Listserv for sharing job postings, asking questions, making requests, sharing events, etc.
Facilitated conversation around member requested topics
Giveways featuring BIPOC owned businesses
BIPOC Farmers and Growers group - learn who’s growing what, get and share advice, trade, barter, request or giveaway seeds, plants, tools, labor, etc!
Workshops featuring BIPOC experts on a variety of topics
Retreats (coming soon)

What is the membership time commitment?

As a member, you can define however much time you would like to commit to participating in the Collective. Maybe you are having a really busy month/year. If limiting your engagement to receiving network emails feels most accessible, that’s fine. Maybe you want to participate in every Collective event offering and opportunities shared by fellow members. That’s great! The goal of the Collective is to get out of it what you want and need.

How did the Releaf Collective start?

The Releaf Collective started as an idea that came to Olivia Peña in 2020 to combat the social isolation during the pandemic and create space for Black, Indigenous, People of Color to be in community with each other. Since then, the Collective has grown to a network of over 200 members across the state from 12 of the 14 counties!

To share job postings with Releaf members, please send an email to hello@vtreleafcollective.org with the job announcement and the following required information:

Numerical salary range (or stipend) for the position
Business/Organization’s current practices to promote racial equity at work, including specific examples of your business or organization's current practices or initiatives. Please consider questions like: How are you educating yourselves about anti-racism? How are you centering racial justice?
The processes or policies you have put into place to protect and support your BIPOC staff, leaders, and volunteers
Percentage or proportion of BIPOC on staff and in leadership roles

In the society that we seek to build, conversations around equitable compensation and organizational racial equity work are transparent and requisite. In this spirit, we ask that anyone seeking to share a job or paid opportunity via Releaf’s network provide answers to the above questions. The answers will be shared verbatim with Releaf members preceding any job or internship information you provide. We reserve the right to use our discretion to not share a post; nor is sharing your post necessarily an endorsement of your organization. Please note that we do not post unpaid internships. We will share with you when we post your paid opportunity. Please include the title of the job in the email’s subject line.

Why can’t I advertise unpaid labor (internships, unpaid speaking engagements, volunteer work) through Releaf’s listserv?

We envision a future where BIPOC are compensated fairly for their contributions within land, environment, agriculture and foodways. We believe asking BIPOC to engage in unpaid labor is counterproductive to our mission and would only serve to perpetuate the existing inequities around compensation for BIPOC who choose to work in land, environment, agriculture and foodways.

As a Network committed to uplifting BIPOC voices and experiences, Releaf welcomes and encourages members to share information about BIPOC-led/facilitated/centered events that may be of interest via Releaf’s member listserv and Mighty Networks community. When sharing event information, please be sure to include if there is a cost associated and if so, please let members know if scholarships or fee waivers are available.

If your event is not BIPOC-led/facilitated/centered, lacks any racial equity component to it; or is not related to land, environment, agriculture and food we ask that you make use of another platform so that we may keep our content 100% relevant and true to our mission.

How can I partner with Releaf?

We are currently in the process of developing our partnership guidelines, expectations, and a process for receiving and evaluating partnership requests. Please check back soon.

Who decides or sets the direction for Releaf’s work?

Releaf’s work is 100% member driven. Our board of Directors help guide the organization and center the Mission, Vision, and Values of Releaf in strategic decision making. Staff carry out day-to-day operations, including internal community building and external advocacy. The organizing squad consists of elected members who help to create, plan, and execute gatheirngs, workshops, and events for our members. Ideas for events, programming, partnerships, etc are sourced by our members.

Does the Releaf Collective have nonprofit status?

Yes, the Vermont Releaf Collective has nonprofit status through our fiscal sponsor: Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. We are considering applying for our own 501c3 nonprofit status and have created Liberation Ecosystem, Inc. to operate the Vermont Releaf Collective as an independent organization moving forward.

How can I make a donation to VT Releaf Collective?

Thank you for supporting our work! To make a donation, please mail a check payable to Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund to 3 Pitkin Ct #301E Montpelier, VT 05602 and include "VT Releaf Collective" in the memo. You can also donate here via Paypal.