Robin Wall Kimmerer in Conversation: The Serviceberry

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. Robin’s newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (November 2024), is a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.

Andrea Caupain Sanderson (she/her/hers) is the interim managing director of the Black Future Co-op Fund, and a founding architect. She leads the Fund in service of our mission to ignite Black generational wealth, health, and well-being across Washington. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Ile Kimoyo, a multi-cultural, statewide collaborative of nonprofit leaders of color who are uniting through healing and advocacy to generate shared abundance in communities. In her role at Ile Kimoyo, Andrea leads the organization’s advocacy efforts, particularly the WA LEAD initiative. Andrea has dedicated more than 25 years to advocating for and advancing racial and social justice for people across Washington state. She is fueled by her experiences as a Black woman, young mother, and immigrant to the United States to challenge and forge solutions to systemic barriers and open pathways to opportunity.