2024 Bullitt Prize Winners Weave Culture and Conservation Together for Environmental Justice

SEATTLE, WA – Washington Conservation Action announces Free Borsey and Raven Borsey, of the Lummi Nation, as the winners of its 18th annual $100,000 Bullitt Prize. They dedicate themselves to nurturing and passing on traditional ecological knowledge, to resisting projects that damage the natural environment, and to telling those stories to a wider world. 

The 2024 Bullitt Prize Selection Committee selected brothers, Free and Raven, for the $100,000 Bullitt Prize because of their powerful story of perseverance and their commitment to their community and culture. Committee members recognized their passion—combining traditional ecological knowledge, youth empowerment, and conservation and environmental justice into a plan with tangible impacts for their community and the Pacific Northwest. 

The twin brothers, 27 years old, plan to use funds from the prize to revive the Lummi Youth Canoe Family, reinvigorating an institution that centers Tribal tradition, supports youth at risk, and serves as a year-round conservation non-profit.

Free and Raven have grown into cultural leaders and conservation activists, but in their early life Raven and Free had to overcome one barrier after another. The boys entered foster care at age two. Joining the canoe family as young teens formed a crucial turning point: Despite being encouraged by teachers and community members, the two reflected that they never felt like they were enough. Pulling with the canoe family taught them to truly believe in themselves, they say.

“We were pulled out of a harmful environment and given a healthy outlet. We saw early what destructive forces looked like. We learned how to take a stand. We learned the importance of helping individuals reconnect with their heritage,” the brothers explained in their Bullitt Prize application. “Our belief is that embracing a path forward for the environment starts with bringing people together in community with culture, one paddle at a time. One song and dance at a time. One Nation at a time.”

Their vision is to restore the Lummi Youth Canoe Family canoe and recreate a different kind of canoe family. The nonprofit will also act as an environmental coalition on behalf of local Indigenous voices and develop relationships with other conservation groups and Tribal natural resource departments. They plan to emphasize passing on traditional ecological knowledge to the next generation. Both Raven and Free recognize the challenges.

“Lummi Nation has turned down lucrative deals for the sake of preservation… to challenge corporatization,” the brothers say. “These fights have to continue because there is no fairy tale ending where we canoe off into the sunset. Our responsibility is to steer the canoe into adversity to fight for what we believe in.”

The Bullitt Prize is awarded annually to an individual or collaborative group, from an underrepresented community, 35 years or younger. Awardees demonstrate academic, professional, or grassroots leadership that advances the environmental movement.

“The 2024 Bullitt Prize Selection Committee was impressed with Free and Raven because their work is focused on a generationally and historically-impacted community. They are born leaders,” says Ken Lederman, Board Chair of Washington Conservation Action Education Fund. “Their clearly demonstrated leadership, connection to their community and culture, and passion for change makes them well poised for profound impact in the Pacific Northwest. We see their work and their promise exemplifying the purpose of the Bullitt Prize in investing in emerging leaders for conservation and environmental justice.“

The goal of the Bullitt Prize is to broaden, strengthen, and diversify the current and future leadership of the environmental movement by investing in emerging leaders advancing conservation and environmental justice efforts in the Pacific Northwest. It comes with $100,000 awarded over two years. 

The Bullitt Foundation sunsetted its grantmaking at the end of 2024, and passed on the Bullitt Prize endowment to Washington Conservation Action Education Fund to award this esteemed $100,000 prize in perpetuity. Washington Conservation Action will host an award ceremony and reception in Seatac, Washington following its annual Carbon Friendly Forestry Conference on December 6, 2024. 

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About Washington Conservation Action Education Fund

Washington Conservation Action Education Fund was founded in 1967. Having led major conservation and environmental justice progress in Washington state for nearly six decades, the Bullitt Foundation funded these efforts because they believed in its commitment to equity and environmental justice. Since 2006, the Bullitt Foundation has awarded an annual Bullitt Environmental Prize to outstanding emerging leaders. Starting in 2024, the Bullitt Foundation entrusted the legacy of the award and its endowment to Washington Conservation Action Education Fund. For more information, visit www.bullittprize.org

Media Contact: Zachary Pullin, 206-639-3760