Authentic Stories Illuminate Pathways

Updates from the Adult Urban Forestry & Restoration Training Program

For Rudy, helping people find their path into the future means reflecting on the past. Rudy Roquemore manages Friends of Trees Adult Urban Forestry Workforce Training Program, which brings together people interested in a career in the green sector.

The Adult Urban Forestry Workforce Training Program takes place in partnership with the Connecting Canopies Program, engaging adults in an urban forestry curriculum and placing them in an internship with Friends of Trees or an affiliated partner organization. The program is designed to engage underrepresented communities and address barriers to participation in the field of urban forestry. In an effort to do so, participants are paid for their time both learning and working throughout the program with the hope of creating pathways to actual jobs.

Providing pathways into the green workforce is one of the ways we can help create the next generation of responsible stewards working in our urban forests. How do we do that? One piece is exposing people to roles they can have in this line of work, and doing it in an authentic way so that people really understand their options.

The program just finished its ten-week curriculum, with each module featuring a different guest presenter and topic. Diversity of subject matter is crucial. Some things you would certainly expect, like the benefits trees provide to communities, how to plant and care for a tree, and how to identify native plants. But the curriculum goes beyond that to include things like environmental justice and financial literacy.

This is where Rudy’s approach comes in, inviting guests to share their own ethno-autobiographies to the cohort of participants.

“The simplest way to describe it is telling your story authentically—the totality of who you are and why you’re here in this moment, from your own ancestry to the places you’ve been. I want people to be as honest as possible when telling their stories. “

This honesty and authenticity gives AUF participants a more realistic sense of the pathways into the green workforce.

“Everyone has their own spin on it,” Rudy says. “There’s not actually a conventional path. These unique aspects of people’s stories allow for connections with the participants. It can really build their confidence to hear these stories.”

“It was really valuable to see people’s pathways to where they are now and the different roles in the sector,” says Air, one of the AUF participants.

Participants, too, had the opportunity to share their stories. Rudy noted that having folks who have been together for several months through the Connecting Canopies program allows for bonds and relationships to be well-established by the time they’re at AUF. “They’re more comfortable sharing and asking questions.”

“I liked having face to face time,” says Akilah, one of the AUF participants. “I found myself being more comfortable speaking in groups.”

Now, the participants move into the internship phase of the Connecting Canopies program, with placements at places like Portland Parks & Recreation and right here at Friends of Trees, equipped with the perspective that an unconventional path can lead you right to where you want to be.