Guardians of Flushing Bay

Mission and Vision:

Guardians of Flushing Bay is a coalition of human-powered boaters, park users, and local residents. We envision a healthy and equitably accessible Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek where our watershed communities—Flushing, Jackson Heights, Corona, College Point, and East Elmhurst—feel part of a thriving collective who steward the water, its coastal lands and, in turn, each other. GoFB accomplishes our goals through family-friendly waterfront programming, community science and stewardship, and grassroots organizing.

Core values:

• Center those with the greatest barriers to access: In all aspects of our work, we strive to prioritize communities with the greatest barriers to accessing the waterfront. We believe that these barriers are perpetuated by systemic inequities formed around race, ethnicity, gender, income, language, physical ability, and immigration status.
• Social and ecological interdependence: We believe that Flushing Waterways communities include both human and non-human populations—and that the two are not mutually exclusive, but rather, mutually dependent on one another.
• Listening-centered leadership: We listen to community members, local experts, and the ecology. Leading through listening allows us to be in a constant state of learning and growing.
• Moving at the speed of trust: Relationships built on trust encourage a collaborative internal culture at Guardians. Taking the time to build relationships with local communities and organizations is critical to how we accomplish our mission.
• Critical connections over critical mass: developing valuable and long-lasting connections takes priority over developing many connections. At Guardians, we want to be thoughtful about how we engage in stewardship and believe that building thoughtful, just, and respectful relationships helps build resilience.