I’ll Go If You Go Podcast

Welcome to I’ll Go If You Go, a Save the Redwoods League podcast.

Through conversations with Black, Indigenous, and people of color who explore and work in the outdoors, we’re building community and illuminating how Californians from all walks of life think about and experience nature and conservation, in the redwoods and beyond.

I’ll go if you go — because when we explore together in community, the experience is all the more powerful.

Music by Nhu Nguyen and Anni Feng.

Episodes

Season 3Season 2Season 1

Season 3

EPISODE 6

To Build a Trail—and the community that follows

In Episode 6, the final episode of Season 3, host Emily Harwitz talks to Agnes Vianzon (she/they), the founder and Executive Director of Eastern Sierra Conservation Corps (ESCC) and a first-generation, queer filipinx. They founded ESCC in 2017, starting with an initial all-women crew, and the organization has served over 100 alumni and counting. ESCC is changing the demographics of outdoor stewardship and parks employment and visitation while providing jobs for young people who want to experience working in the outdoors.
Eastern Sierra Conservation Corps
ESCC on Instagram

Agnes Vianzon
Agnes Vianzon
EPISODE 5

Trek long and prosper

In episode 5, host Emily Harwitz chats with Michelle Warren, the Vice President and Co-founder of Black Girls Trekkin Inc. (BGT). BGT is a Los Angeles based 501c3 nonprofit for Black women who choose to opt outside. BGT seeks to inspire and empower Black women to spend time outdoors, appreciate nature, and protect it. BGT is building a community that will show the world that Black women are a strong and present force in the outdoors. Emily and Michelle talk about BGT’s origin story, how to build and nurture community, and the importance of affinity spaces in the outdoors.
Michelle has a bachelor’s in marine biology and a master’s in biology with an emphasis on community-based conservation. She also has professional experience creating and facilitating nature-based programs for kids and adults.

Tiffany Tharpe, CEO and Co-Founder of BGT, was unable to make it for this podcast conversation, but we felt her presence nonetheless. Tiffany holds a BA in English and works as a Veterinary Assistant. She is passionate about this planet and the animals and plants that call it home, as well as building community and inspiring others to care for the planet. Her favorite outdoor activity is challenging herself to face her fears in the outdoors and trying anything at least once.

⁠Visit Black Girls Trekkin’ website⁠

⁠Follow Black Girls Trekkin’ on Instagram⁠:
@BlackGirlsTrekkin

Follow I’ll Go If You Go Podcast on Instagram:
@illgoifyougopod

Tiffany Tharpe, CEO and Co-founder and Michelle Warren, Vice President and Co-founder of Black Girls Trekkin Inc.
Tiffany Tharpe and Michelle Warren
EPISODE 4

Out with Outlandish!

Episode 4’s guest is Max Sovine (they/them). Max works at Queer LifeSpace, a San Francisco-based non-profit providing mental health services for the queer community, where they just launched the new project Outlandish! which will bring queer youth out into awesome parks and recreational areas in the Bay Area. Max has a master’s degree in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Drawing from their experiences as an outdoor educator, death doula, hospice volunteer, firefighter, and EMT, they focused on ways to confront and change the Western capitalist aversion to nature and death. Max also coordinates retreats at the Buddhist Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Host Emily Harwitz chats with Max about coming into oneself outdoors, what it means to be liminal, what the new Outlandish! program is doing, and more.

Find Queer Life Space on Instagram at @queerlifespace

Follow I’ll Go If You Go Podcast on Instagram @illgoifyougopod

Max Sovine
Max Sovine
EPISODE 3

The Girl with the Redwood Tattoos

Episode 3’s guest is Kathryn Luna who builds community and partnerships at the outdoors retailer Mountain Hardwear. She’s also on the Board of Directors at GirlVentures, a non-profit that inspires girls to lead through outdoor adventure, inner discovery, and collective action. Host Emily Harwitz talks to Kathryn about her relationship to the outdoors, including: starting young, the safety of exploring in community, and passing that on to others through the work she’s doing now. They also chat about coming from mixed cultural backgrounds and what we can learn from nature’s ecotones—where two ecosystems meet to mix and blend.
Find Luna on Instagram at @kllunaa

Follow I’ll Go If You Go Podcast on Instagram @illgoifyougopod

Kathryn Luna
Kathryn Luna
EPISODE 2

Have no fear, the gals are here!

In episode 2, Host Emily Harwitz chats with Monica Binetti and Erin Closmore about how they started the hiking community Bay Area Galventures, beginning with Monica overcoming her fear of the outdoors and her dear friend Erin moving back to the Bay Area. Amongst the redwood trees, Monica has discovered that she is more than her corporate job, 2 kids, and busy city life—she is connected to herself and Mother Nature, and believes that everyone deserves to find their own personal connection with the outdoors just like she did. Erin is a nature enthusiast who adores dogs and is always looking to try the next best vegetarian food spot. Together, Monica & Erin are the co-creators of @bayarea.galventures, an Instagram page dedicated to inspiring others to explore the natural beauty of California and beyond.

Follow Save the Redwoods League on Instagram @savetheredwoods

Monica Binetti and Erin Closmore
Monica Binetti and Erin Closmore
EPISODE 1

Conservation: now in technicolor!

In the season 3 premiere, host Emily Harwitz (she/her) chats with Alanna Smith (she/her) about Alanna’s evolution as a conservationist and finding her niche within the conservation movement. Alanna is the Parks Program Associate at Save the Redwoods League, where she focuses on facilitating equitable public access to redwood parks. Passionate about building community in the outdoors, she co-leads the newly formed Northern California chapter of Conservationists of Color. Alanna is also busy pursuing her interest in environmental planning for her M.A. in Geography at San Francisco State University. As a pup mom to 2-year-old Oscar, Alanna can be found outside on dog-friendly wilderness excursions in her spare time. Find Alanna on Instagram at @lannafsmith.

Read Episode Transcript

Follow Save the Redwoods League on Instagram @savetheredwoods

Alanna Smith
Alanna Smith

 


About the host

Emily Harwitz
Emily Harwitz
(she/her) is a multimedia science writer and photographer whose work focuses on the environment and our connection to it. She tells stories that foster community, provoke curiosity, and inspire a sense of deeper connection with the natural world around us.


Season 2

EPISODE 6

Brown is a beautiful color

Grace Anderson (she/her) and Mo Asebiomo (they/she).


EPISODE 5

When the river meets the sea

Featuring Josh Norris.


EPISODE 4

“Skate slow and live”

Featuring Sam Mercado, Jai Ledesma, and Kim Woozy.


EPISODE 3

Bird is the word

Featuring Clay Anderson.


EPISODE 2

Nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend

Featuring Juan Lazo Bautista.


EPISODE 1

The fungus among us

Featuring Arthur Lee.


About the host of season 2

Emily HarwitzEmily Harwitz (she/her) is a multimedia science writer and photographer whose work focuses on the environment and our connection to it. She tells stories that foster community, provoke curiosity, and inspire a sense of deeper connection with the natural world around us.


Season 1

EPISODE 6

Come as you are (smells like team spirit)

Featuring Dana Poblete, Marcos Castineiras, and Caleb Castle.


EPISODE 5

How to stand up (like a redwood)

Featuring Rebecca Au.


EPISODE 4

A hike a week keeps your well-being at peak

Featuring Karla Amador.


EPISODE 3

If I could walk with the animals, talk with the animals

Featuring Toni Maggi-Brown.


EPISODE 2

Rooting yourself in community and place

Featuring Farrahn Hawkins.


EPISODE 1

Raised by the Oakland redwoods

Featuring Miguel Marquez.


About the host of Season 1

Leslie Parra Leslie Parra (she/her) connects diverse communities to redwood and sequoia forests. She has garnered significant recognition for her leadership in community civic action, STEM and environmental education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion work over the past 15 years. Her professional calling is to cultivate enrichment programs with multicultural and international perspectives, driven by and in collaboration with communities. During her free time, she loves to go hiking with her partner Eric and their dog Mishqui (which means “sweet” in Quichua, the native language of Ecuador—a place she calls home).


Press Releases


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