Funding the Transformation with Kai Huschke
Welcome to Truth and Reckoning, a podcast and newsletter from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). We are organizers, lawyers, and revolutionaries who educate and agitate to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s relationship with the Earth. For more than 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate power, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-governance grounded in ecological balance. Subscribe to learn about rights of nature and movement strategy, and to stay updated on our work. In this episode, we speak with Kai Huschke Kai is the Executive and Development Director at CELDF, and has been part of the movement since 2009. After spending 13 years organizing for CELDF in the Northwest and Hawaii, Kai took over as Executive Director. His experience as a seasoned community organizer and movement specialist is helping to guide CELDF into its next 30 years. Kai has served as a national lecturer for CELDF’s Democracy School and as a board member of the Oregon Community Rights Network and Washington Community Rights Network. He teaches, presents, and writes extensively on movement building, community rights, rights of nature, and the intersection of culture and law. In this podcast, we discuss the work that CELDF has done over the past year, what’s next for our movement, and the support we need in order to make progress on our ambitious goals. CELDF is aiming to raise $5 million over the next five years to expand our Educational Programs, bring Rights of Nature to new communities, and implement our Community Resistance and Resilience vision with our national network of frontline, on-the-ground partners. The YouTube version of this podcast can be found here: Links and Resources * CELDF’s website * Our most recent newsletter, “Living as Nature” * How to donate to CELDF About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast In this show, we learn from front-line organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert. You can find the show on: * Apple Podcasts * Spotify * Pocketcasts * YouTube (video and audio) * And anywhere else you get your podcasts (click here to find this podcast via your preferred app) About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power. Support this work Your gift helps us to support communities on the frontlines of corporate and ecological destruction — people standing up to defend their water, forests, and future. Together, we’re advancing Rights of Nature and Community Rights in the name of Community Resistance + Resilience, challenging a system that treats nature as property and people as obstacles. Please donate today! Get full access to Truth and Reckoning at celdf.substack.com/subscribe
