New Paradigm Key to Sustainability

By Nikki Schlaishunt, BEC Administrative Director

Audre Lorde says, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." We have inherited a system that supports environmental degradation, a system whose tools include hierarchy, division, and fear. To effectively protect the environment, we need new tools, tools that fit a new paradigm: community building, collaboration, teamwork, and co-leadership.

In August 2009, the BEC Board asked the membership to change the by-laws, replacing the existing Executive Director hierarchy with a co-leadership, shared-power model, and the membership approved this Administrative Director/ Advocacy Director co-leadership shift. BEC's new co-leadership model better fits our organizational value of cooperative problem solving, which BEC sees as key to protecting and preserving our air, land, and water.

Change is never easy. We are all raised with hierarchy. We all know what this looks like and how it works. We are surrounded by messages of fear that serve to keep us separate and ineffective. What we need are messages of hope, tools of collaboration, a vision of a healthy and vibrant environment that supports a healthy and vibrant community for us all. Because of this, BEC is committed to continuing to work on our budding co-leadership structure, and continuing to use collaboration and teamwork as a means to a collective, sustainable end.

From the Summer 2010 issue of the Environmental News.