Kay Treakle Comes to The Harder Foundation
In 2005 The Harder Foundation hired our first full time executive director. We sought an individual with real experience creating effective conservation campaigns for the protection of public lands and biodiversity. We had many inquiries and applications. Kay’s application came in near the deadline and was without doubt the strongest. She was chosen. Kay was extremely smart, hardworking, dedicated, very principled and with a nice sense of humor. Most striking to me was that she was so quick to pick up on what was going on in a complex situation, and then in guessing as to what was the driving force. She was especially perceptive and insightful. Her campaign designs usually involved getting way beyond the customary somewhat detached ‘foundation/funder’ style of building campaigns and into personal involvement with activist leaders and grass roots organizers. She would often guide by asking questions, the answers to which would move discussions in a more productive direction. The resulting campaigns all involved getting wins for what she called ‘local folks’ and ‘regular people’.
One example of this involves the struggle to halt the industrialization plan to create fossil fuel export facilities at ports along the Washington/Oregon coast. In the required state permitting processes for these permits, the position of the native tribes was critical. Some of them were reluctant to get involved. Kay brainstormed with leaders of the Lummi tribe of Northern Puget Sound to gain other tribes open opposition to the coal, oil and fracked gas developments. They decided that the Lummi could commission a giant ceremonial totem pole to be created for a journey by flat-bed truck along the coast, and along proposed interior pipeline and rail routes. It would commemorate and celebrate traditional tribal lands and use rights. Then, Kay was able to get funding to the Lummi for all of this through the Episcopal diocese of Seattle, certainly not a usual grantee of conservation funders. The proposed industrial sites in question have not been permitted. The campaign was a striking success. Kay had figured out how to put the pieces together.