OUr Story
Earth Wisdom Collective was founded on a simple belief:
When people reconnect with nature, communities become healthier, learning becomes more meaningful, and the future becomes more sustainable.
We bring together environmental education, cultural wisdom, sustainable living, and practical action to help people live in rhythm with the natural world.
Our work spans classrooms, communities, organizations, and homes through programs including Nature Connect EDU, Funki Shui, ONILÉ, Sacred Sessions, and Earth Wisdom Publishing.
Each initiative offers a different path, but they all share the same purpose: helping people strengthen their relationship with the land, with one another, and with themselves.
We believe that caring for the Earth begins with understanding our place within it. By combining science, storytelling, design, and diverse cultural traditions, we create experiences that inspire curiosity, stewardship, and lasting change.
Whether you're an educator, parent, community leader, student, or lifelong learner, Earth Wisdom Collective is an invitation to rediscover the wisdom of nature and put it into practice every day.
Living in Rhythm with Nature.
Values
01. LAND AS TEACHER
We recognize land and water as active systems that carry memory, wisdom, and direction. Each watershed has a distinct story shaped by geology, climate, hydrology, and culture. We design with respect for these narratives — not in spite of them.
06. CULTURE MAKES PLACE WHOLE
We view place-making as cultural work. Whether expressed through art, narrative, spiritual ecology, or collective memory, culture is the organizing force that shapes belonging. Our designs reflect the identity and aspirations of the communities they serve.
02. CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE AS INFRASTRUCTURE
For generations, Indigenous, African Diasporic, and culturally rooted communities have stewarded land through observation, ritual, relational governance, and reciprocal care. We center this knowledge as a legitimate and essential form of environmental infrastructure.
04. COMMUNITY-LED DESIGN CREATES LASTING CHANGE
We believe that communities are experts in their own lived experience. Every project is grounded in listening, co-creation, and respect for local leadership. Solutions must reflect the cultural identity, sensory needs, and rhythms of the people who live there.
07. DESIGN SHOULD HEAL — NOT HARM
We practice regenerative design that restores balance, repairs damage, and strengthens future resilience. Our solutions seek to cool heat islands, slow stormwater, improve soil health, increase shade, and revitalize the natural infrastructures that support life.
03. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS NON-NEGOTIABLE
Communities facing the greatest environmental burdens deserve the greatest environmental investment. Our work prioritizes neighborhoods most impacted by flooding, heat, pollution, and unsafe walking conditions. Equity is not a lens — it is the foundation.
05. ECOLOGY, HYDROLOGY, AND HUMAN WELL-BEING ARE INTERWOVEN
Streets, sidewalks, creeks, drainage patterns, tree canopy, and microclimate all shape how people move, gather, and flourish. Our approach unites these elements into integrated, climate-resilient systems that support mobility, health, and ecological function.
Meet the founder
Earth Wisdom Collective was founded by Erin Alexander, MBA, LEED AP, an environmental educator, author, and sustainability professional with more than twenty years of experience in environmental education, community development, sustainable design, and cultural programming.
Erin is the creator of Nature Connect EDU, Funki Shui®, ONILÉ, and Sacred Sessions. Her work brings together ecological literacy, place-based learning, human-centered design, and ancestral wisdom to help people build stronger relationships with nature and their communities.
Her vision is to make Earth wisdom accessible, practical, and relevant for today's world.
Land & lineage
acknowledgement
We begin by honoring the Indigenous peoples whose land we stand upon, acknowledging their stewardship, wisdom, and connection to this Earth.
We honor the ancestral and spiritual lineages that guide our practice of Feng Shui and Orisha‑Lucumí traditions:
H.H.Professor Lin Yun - Founder of Black Sect Tantric Feng Shui
Bobi Cespedes - Initiated Priest of over 50 years in the Yoruba / Lucumi tradition.
We honor these lineages and the wisdom of the land, and may they continue to guide sacred spaces, community, and service to others.