About Island Reach
Island Reach began in 2011 with a mission to ally with communities in island and coastal biocultural hotspots. Responding to the need for connectivity between environmental stewards across remote islands in Oceania, Island Reach helped amplify their social power and resources to network and learn from one another's lived, learned, and practiced experience.
As Island Reach operations evolved and expanded geographically, we have stayed focused on our core mission and curiosity: how can we link and support locally rooted responses to people's experiences of biocultural collapse across different biomes and communities?With a continued emphasis on connecting activists and cross-cultural storytelling across "islands", we continue to join actions targeting the climate crisis, the defense of biodiversity, food system change, and women's and youth representation. See some of our past activities here.
IR's Research Vessel Llyr supporting water security programs on Buninga Island, Vanuatu — 2014
Who We Are
Island Reach is an international organization comprised of a core team and a revolving group of board members, advisors and associates. Intermittently supporting organizational activities, leading projects, advising on theory and strategy, and undertaking individual activist efforts, IR is designed to be flexible and open to new alliances.
Janis Steele, PhD Co-Director Janis is a founding director of Island Reach. Her interests over the years have included the politics and art of representation in film and storytelling, knowledge brokering and Third Space engagements, critical theory, agroecology, and women's issues. She has sailed three oceans as an environmental activist, worked as a documentary filmmaker/producer and an adjunct college professor, created and run an artisanal forest farm, and co-founded Island Reach to engage crises of collapsing biocultural diversity and climate disruption.
Connor Steelhouse Co-Director Connor has managed projects with Island Reach for over 10 years and is a strategic planner for Island Reach. He is a public health professional passionate about radical decolonization and the creation of third spaces for activism that are grounded in local ecology.
Evan Smith, Esq. Board Member Evan is a patent attorney with a background in materials science and engineering who seeks to bring a technical and legal perspective to conversations surrounding systemic injustice, climate change and resource distribution, He carries a familial passion for internationalism, human rights and resistance to apartheid. He is interested in supporting approaches that rebuild and revitalize relationships between communities and their ecosystems.
Noy Holland Board Member Noy is an author and Professor in the MFA Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Noy is passionate about exploring polyphony and imagination in responding to the climate crisis. She considers, how we might "as poets, scientists, fishermen, farmers -- put our shoulder to the same wheel." For several years, Noy has helped coordinate the Arts Sustainability Activism annual gathering at UMASS Amherst, convening artists, climate and social scientists, and activists working at the intersection of climate change, literature, and social justice.
Brooks McCutchen, PhD Founder emeritus & advisor Brook was raised working on artisanal farms in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. He later earned a BA in Human Ecology and an MA & PhD in clinical psychology. Explorative research, forming working alliances, and experimenting alongside local partners with physical and narrative adaptations to challenges capture his passions. His activism over time has increased, responding to accelerating climate crises and global collapse of biocultural diversity.
Over 15 years of partnerships and work in Oceania, South Asia, Africa, and North America
Supporting frontline leaders in land defense and climate action
Backing women's alliances and leadership in biocultural resilience
Catalyzing peer-to-peer networking and knowledge co-creation
Supporting agroecology practices to bolster food sovereignty and resilient livelihoods
