New Data Dashboard Will Help Guide Outreach

Asekia team members visit an acequia in New Mexico.

With a new Community Data Dashboard created by our partners at Insights by mYo, our team will gain deeper insight into the states and territories where we have on-the-ground programming—Puerto Rico, New Mexico, Florida, and North Carolina—as well as access to data from across the United States.

Since its founding, our team at Asekia has leveraged data to target outreach to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners across the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Maya McElrath, founder of Insights by mYo, presented the interactive dashboard during the Asekia Advisory Board meeting held on June 9.

The Asekia Community Data Dashboard provides an overview of agricultural communities throughout the U.S.

Through the data dashboard, we will be able to look more closely at up-to-date data on topics such as agriculture, industries and occupations, population change, the racial and ethnic makeup of communities, and rural vs. urban land use. The deeper understanding we gain from this data will help fuel our outreach work and focus our efforts. The dashboard allows users to explore data at the national, state, and county levels and analyze trends over time.

This tool will complement on-the-ground efforts as well as Asekia’s digital outreach. By combining local relationships with reliable data, Asekia can better identify underserved communities, tailor outreach efforts, and measure the impact of its programs over time.

Programming Updates from Puerto Rico: New interns and forestry workshops!

Part of the new cohort of Asekia interns!

Building on the success of last year's internship program, we welcomed six new interns in Puerto Rico this summer. These in-person internships are the result of a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Puerto Rico and provide bilingual students with hands-on experience in conservation and community outreach. This year, two of our interns are serving on Culebra, an island that is part of the Puerto Rico archipelago, and four are serving at the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge. 

Also in Puerto Rico, the third year of our interactive forestry workshop series kicked off this month. This year’s first workshop, which centered on agroforestry, was hosted by Finca Gaia in Dorado, PR. Finca Gaia has been part of the forestry program in PR since year one, making it extra special to continue holding workshops there. Next month’s workshop will be led by firefighters from Puerto Rico and will focus on reducing wildfire risks in agricultural and forested areas on the island. This year’s workshop series will feature a total of five educational workshops in addition to a resource fair and closing celebration in November! We’re excited to be welcoming this year’s new participants and continue growing the forestry program.

This year's first forestry workshop, held at Finca Gaia in Dorado, PR!

Looking to the future

With a strong and motivated Advisory Board, dedicated staff, and valued collaborators, we look forward to new opportunities to expand Asekia’s impact and continue serving communities across Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.

Contact us at info@asekia.org with any questions about our programming or if you would like more information.