About reRoot

reRoot grew from seeing how dominant non-Indigenous systems are misaligned with the wellbeing of people and places. I saw their effects in ecological and social harm and, in my own community, through disconnection, mental unwellness, and loss of meaning. Beneath these different expressions, I came to see a deeper premise: a sense of ourselves as separate and incomplete, seeking worth and fulfilment through achievement, control, and external conditions. reRoot believes lasting change has to reach that deeper ground, rooting our lives and work in inherent worth, wholeness, belonging, and relationship rather than making our sense of worth and fulfilment conditional on external circumstances.

In Indigenous partnership and reconciliation work, I saw organizations deepen their understanding of Indigenous histories, rights, and priorities while the non-Indigenous institution itself remained largely unchanged. Indigenous staff, offices, and partners could then be left carrying their own work alongside the ongoing education and reorientation of the wider system. The question had to widen from how do we engage Indigenous peoples well? to what are our own institutions organized to value and serve, what are they creating from, and what kind of organization are Indigenous partners actually encountering?

Western regenerative and living-systems practice showed me how non-Indigenous people and institutions can undertake that deeper development from within our own purpose, disciplines, capacities, responsibilities, and relationship to place. Rather than expecting Indigenous partners to transform us or appropriating Indigenous knowledge, we can evolve our own assumptions and ways of working.

reRoot exists to walk alongside non-Indigenous people and organizations as they undertake that development, in parallel with Indigenous-led work. This can create more compatible ground for collaboration, where participants carry more responsibility for the orientation they bring and offer distinct contributions rooted in their own strengths and perspectives.