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As Nature Sacred’s first five-year strategic plan comes to a close, we’re taking this moment to reflect on what we’ve accomplished—and where we’re heading next.
Launched at the start of our journey as a private operating foundation just before March 2020, this first strategic plan emerged at a pivotal moment for Nature Sacred and the world at large. Adopted weeks before a global pandemic that underscored the urgent need for nearby nature for everyone and grounded in nearly 25 years of experience supporting community-led efforts to design and steward local greenspaces.
This plan was framed around three strategic goals: Model, Scale, and Mindset. These pillars provided steady guidance as Nature Sacred navigated a rapidly changing world, highlighting the vital importance of intentionally designed nearby greenspaces—Sacred Places—and resources to support the dedicated individuals who care for them and engage their communities—Firesouls. At the same time, the growing body of science linking human health to access to nature created a clear need for a bridge between knowledge and action, empowering communities to advocate for these spaces.
Over the next three blog posts, we’ll unpack each of these pillars—Model, Scale, and Mindset—to celebrate the progress we’ve made, spotlight the people and partnerships at the heart of this work, and look forward to what’s next. While this plan may be coming to a close, our journey—and the need for healing spaces in every community—is far from over. As we prepare to launch into the next phase of Nature Sacred, we’ve worked hard to develop, document and implement our community engagement, design processes and long-term support model — and we’re eager to share what we’ve learned and where we’re headed!
Model
We are starting here with Model, which in this plan called for us to refine and proliferate existing Sacred Place approaches and tools. Strategies around this effort included:
Codify our unique community-led model and process.
Systematize and deepen supports to Firesouls.
Thoughtfully expand the Nature Sacred bench supply chain.
Codifying our unique, community-led design model & process
We’ve spent nearly 30 years embarking on a thoughtful journey to clearly define and articulate our distinctive model—one rooted in community voice, trust, and shared vision. Through a series of collaborative workshops and conversations with longtime and newer design advisors, as well as Firesouls and partners, we surfaced the essential elements of our process and practice. These insights informed the formal creation of the Nature Sacred Design Process in 2022—a major milestone that turned our model into a replicable and supportive framework for everyone involved. With close to 60 Sacred Places having completed their Sacred Place designs using this model, we know now more than ever that it truly works.
Our collaborative Design Process was built to guide and ground each Sacred Place project, starting with the Firesoul and centering community input every step of the way, tailoring each step to align with each community’s needs and wants and meeting them where they are.
We developed comprehensive, user-friendly guides for both Firesouls and design advisors—ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned, empowered, and supported as they move through the process of Sacred Place creation. The process revolves around four key points of community engagement that move a project from idea to actionable design:
Steering Committee Meeting #1: A small group of key stakeholders and decision-makers, supported by Nature Sacred staff and Design Advisors, come together to establish a shared vision for the space. The discussion focuses on what is possible, what is not, and what matters most to the community.
Charrette #1: This larger gathering invites the community to share ideas and inspiration through creative, joyful activities designed to spark imagination and connection. It is both a design workshop and a celebration, allowing participants to envision and experience the potential of their future Sacred Place.
Charrette #2: Building on the first charrette, this session presents multiple design concepts created from community input for review and refinement. Participants collaborate to critique, adjust, and align on elements, moving the design closer to its final form.
Steering Committee Meeting #2: The Design Advisor presents the finalized plan, shaped by community feedback, to the core group of stakeholders and Firesouls. Together, they review, make final adjustments, and approve the design for the Sacred Place.
“As a designer it’s so heartbreaking to hear people say, well I didn’t think that place was for me even when it’s right across the street. We have been working with Nature Sacred for 20+ years and we see their community engagement process as not just a nice addition but really essential to the success of projects like this. They do an amazing job of making people feel welcome and included while focusing the priorities and capacity concerns of the Firesoul.”
— Zolna Russell, Nature Sacred Design Advisor and Principal and Director of Sustainability at Floura Teeter Landscape Architects
Deepening and systematizing support for Firesouls
The Firesoul Network fosters collaboration between 200+ Sacred Place stewards across the country, creating a forum to connect with each other, to share resources and ideas and build relationships between communities. Informed by Firesoul feedback, we have implemented a variety of strategies in the last five years, to systematize our support and meet Firesoul and community driven needs in 3 main areas (captured below). Together, these opportunities foster a culture of mutual support and ensure that Firesouls never feel alone in their work.
Connection and collaboration
We have crafted a robust structure for Network offerings, that include peer-to-peer learning opportunities and skills-sharing sessions, Network Wanders—drop-in site visits hosted by Firesouls that foster inspiration, connection, & real-time exchange, and collaborative learning events, virtual and in-person, that focus on stewardship, education, and collective growth.
Reimagining philanthropic support with flexibility and trust
We redesigned our enrichment and enhancement grant program to be more accessible—simplifying applications and reporting so no grant-writing experience is required. We also introduced a rolling grant structure, rooted in trust-based philanthropy. This model ensures that Firesouls have access to timely, responsive funding that reflects real community needs—empowering them to act when the moment calls for it.
Opt-in programming
Firesouls now have access to four vibrant program options—each designed to enhance engagement with their Sacred Place. Nature Sacred manages the logistics and covers 100% of the costs, removing barriers and making participation accessible, seamless, and rewarding. These programs deepen the life of a Sacred Place, creating new opportunities for learning, gathering, and healing.
To ensure that Firesouls’ opinions, ideas and insights are captured in our next strategic plan, we set out on a Firesoul Network Listening Tour in 2024, which gathered Firesouls across the Network to cultivate candid feedback on what they and communities need and want, what they don’t and how we can best support them and Sacred Places. This input is not only shaping our understanding of current challenges and opportunities but will directly inform the priorities, strategies, and resources outlined in our next strategic plan—ensuring it reflects the voices and lived experiences of Firesouls at its core.
“Whether it’s a desire for a labyrinth or an herb garden it seems like this Network is the place to go to get started. To realize that there are resources and thought leaders at our fingertips and even close by - this is so incredible to me.”
— Pastor Michael Martin, Firesoul at Stillmeadow PeacePark in Baltimore, MD
Thoughtfully expanding the Nature Sacred bench supply chain
A hallmark of every Sacred Place is the signature Nature Sacred bench, designed to seat up to six adults in comfort. More than a piece of furniture, the bench is both an invitation for quiet reflection and, through the little yellow journal tucked beneath, a space to share wishes and worries, grief and gratitude and to form a community of stories.
Many have commented that the curved top suggests a rising sun or the beginning of a circle, completed when someone chooses to write in the journal—but the story of the bench begins at Nature Sacred’s very first Sacred Place established almost 30 years ago in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis, Maryland. Here visionaries and skilled carpenters came together to design and construct the first Nature Sacred benches using reclaimed wood from discarded rounded pickle barrels.
Years later, after supporting the design and installation of one of the most striking Sacred Places at the Western Correctional Institute (WCI) in Cumberland, Maryland, the craftsmen at the facility’s woodshop asked to continue the work—building benches for these outdoor sanctuaries in communities where access to nature was needed most.
Nature Sacred Horticulturalist & Bench Technician, Ron Ammon, and Arbor Day Foundation Vice President of Experience, Austin Mackrill, pose for a photo during Ron’s recent visit to the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, NE.
Today, as our Network expands, so too has our bench-making model. We remain fortunate to partner with WCI craftsmen while also engaging three additional manufacturers to localize production and diversify materials with ecological care in mind. Collaborations with Cambium Carbon and SunWoodworking in Maryland have broadened our capacity and inspired a new apprenticeship program, while a recent partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation’s Arbor Day Farm is helping extend our reach to new communities in Nebraska and the Midwest.
We are also exploring new materials that balance beauty, durability, and sustainability. A new partnership now supplies Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)–certified teak, ensuring responsible forestry practices. In fact, the very first of these teak Nature Sacred benches were recently installed at Mount Street Gardens in London—the first Sacred Place outside the United States.
“Having worked with Nature Sacred for over 2 decades, I have a strong connection to this movement and am grateful to be a part of it. I find great joy in building benches for Nature Sacred and knowing that each bench is a part of a journey in helping others makes the work rewarding and spiritual. I’ve enjoyed watching how Nature Sacred has grown and evolved over the years and look forward to what’s in store for the future!”
— Paul Willey, Nature Sacred Bench Specialist
Stay tuned for the next blog in this series where we’ll explore the expanding reach of this work and our second pillar: Scale.
