Our Vision
Firefly Gathering envisions a world where everybody is empowered with multi-generational perspectives, wisdom and earthskills, handcrafting a beautiful and harmonious reality in which all beings thrive.
Our Mission
Our mission is to inspire and empower the people of the Southeast by offering opportunities to connect with self, community and the natural world through year-round workshops and gatherings focused on earthskills and traditional craft.
Aims
To achieve our mission, Firefly Gathering:
1. Shares the knowledge, wisdom and earthskills to form meaningful connections to self, community and the living Earth by offering the Annual Firefly Gathering, Perennial Workshops and other community events.
2. Offers a platform for native populations of the Southeast to share their lineages of wisdom and present lifeways.
Acknowledging that the path of repair is difficult, we commit to being accountable and to nurture long-term relationships with local native populations, especially the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, to learn to live in reciprocity together.
3. Seeks a consensual and reciprocal relationship with the land. Recognizing the inherent challenges of doing earthskills on colonized land, Firefly seeks to develop intentional long-term relationships to urban and rural event spaces. We commit to involving the Original People in the process, so that their voices are heard and their protocols are followed.
4. Centers social justice work, with a focus on removing barriers, increasing access and considering intersectionality, equity and inclusion in all of our organizational structure, programs and collaborations.
5. Supports and engages local environmental justice actions and organizations, building strength and solidarity through the networks we co-create.
6. Increases access to life-enriching skills and workshops through worktrade opportunities, creative pricing models and fundraising endeavors.
7. Prioritizes accessibility for everybody to our offerings including: people of the global majority, people living with disabilities, people who have English as a second language, LGBTQIA and Two Spirited folks and other marginalized communities with free/discounted passes to our annual gathering and perennial workshops.
8. Celebrates the importance of art and creative collaboration in all of our communications, merchandise and in-person offerings.
9. Organizes and operates through a power-with organizational culture that values transparency, horizontal structure and empowerment within the collective.
