WHAT YOU HELPED TO ACHIEVE IN 2014!

What a year!!  It’s just remarkable looking back over the past 12 months what you have all helped RAVEN to achieve.  Because of you, 2014 hit some incredible new highs. You can be proud of your investment!  Appreciating that your time is valuable, we’ll skip right to the RAVEN highlight reel.  Thank you for believing in our mission. We are grateful.

2014 Highlight Reel:

  • RAVEN moved into a new home in June – in Victoria’s Central Building (aka Save The World Building) – if you’re in the neighbourhood please stop by!
  • Courtesy of the incredible team of Communicopia’s Jason Mogus and Marketwork Media’s Christopher Roy you get a completely rebranded RAVEN, with a much more up-to-date and functional website. Please check it out if you haven’t yet – raventrust.com
  • The Tsilhqot’in Nation’s legal challenge to the second run at Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) by Taseko Mines Ltd. continues to be a priority. Donors remain committed to seeing this through to a successful conclusion.
  • Pull Together!! The creation and implementation of this new campaign in partnership with Sierra Club BC truly hit it out of the park. It started in earnest in September and by year’s end – with the help of a matching donor – donors across British Columbia and throughout Canada raised more than $325,000 for six nations that have filed legal actions to stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project.  The campaign uses a new model for us, which includes grassroots fundraising and online fundraising.  The combination works well together, and ultimately expanded and broadened the base of engaged citizens rather than tax existing networks.  To start off this year, $250,000 is being disbursed to the nations to help cover the initial legal costs of preparing for the court trial! There will be information coming soon on Phase II – because this is far from over!
  • Beaver Lake Cree Nation’s legal action to stop the tar sands industries from expanding into their traditional lands remains a priority. To expand the base of support for this lengthy lawsuit, a new European crowd-funding team will be assisting with a campaign that takes this issue global. The potential is huge!
  • Lake Babine First Nation received crucial support in its legal challenge of the Morrison Mine.
  • An Artist and Community Strategist in Residence program with Prav Pillay was established. This is hugely exciting! The program fulfils our mandate to assist aboriginal peoples in protecting and restoring the natural environment for the benefit of all people within Canada by developing and delivering education programs to advance knowledge and understanding of available legal rights and remedies.  This is important, because an informed community that acknowledges the relationship between cultural integrity and a healthy ecology is able to act clearly and decisively to ensure its long-term viability. Prav has already developed several art and media based education programs – Transformation in Earth and Stone and Witness: This Edge of Courage – as well as community art projects and creative alliances with artists to generate learning opportunities around title.

Have a wonderful year – thank you for being part of this important work!!

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