Greetings, Community,
First and foremost, thank you.
Human Nature School was built through the care, generosity, hard work, and belief of an extraordinary community. Over many years, people gave their time, money, skills, materials, professional expertise, and trust to help create something meaningful for children, families, and the land. Matt and I remain deeply grateful for everything this community made possible.
I am writing today because significant questions have emerged about the stewardship of that work we fulfilled together, since we stepped down as directors at the end of 2022. And I believe you all deserve the opportunity to more fully understand what became of our shared investments. And I believe you all deserve the opportunity to share your perspective on that, with the board.
The Land
Many of you will remember that in 2018, approximately 140 acres were donated to Human Nature School to support its charitable mission. Over the following five years, HNS and its community invested substantially in the property—building infrastructure, improving trails, cleaning up and caring for the land, developing site plans, and laying the groundwork for a long-term home for the school. In total we invested approximately 300K into the land and thousands of volunteer hours.
Those investments were made with the understanding that this land would serve Human Nature School's charitable mission into the future. But in 2023, the HNS Board deeded the property back to the donor for $1. And now the donor intends to sell the property, which has been much enriched from the communities' resources, and now has a market value of approximately 1.4 million.
That development raises important questions about the land itself, the process by which it was returned, and what became of the charitable resources and community investments made in the property during HNS's ownership. Generally speaking, non-profits are not supposed to give away or undervalue its community assets, to the benefit of individuals.
There is still much to understand but we have been reviewing the original agreements, financial records, property documents, and circumstances surrounding the 2023 transfer as carefully and responsibly as we can. I have retained legal council, and sought out professionals in the field to advise me on these matters.
We believe the appropriate path forward is one grounded in facts, transparency, independent review, and the best interests of the charitable organization and the community that supported it.
We have brought these concerns to the current HNS Board. At this time, the Board has not chosen to undertake the kind of independent review we believe these circumstances warrant and is instead moving toward dissolution of the organization. This decision to dissolve instead of accept support and provide transparency is disheartening. But before that happens, we believe the community deserves a voice.
We Would Like to Hear From You
If you donated to HNS, volunteered, worked for the organization, served on the Board, sent your children to programs, contributed materials or professional services, helped improve the land, or otherwise participated in this community, we invite you to share your perspective.
What mattered to you about Human Nature School?
What did you understand your contributions were helping to build?
How would you like to see the charitable resources and community investment entrusted to HNS stewarded now?
And what questions, if any, do you believe should be answered before the organization dissolves?
There may be many different perspectives within this community. We welcome them all.
We Are Also Asking for Feedback About Our Leadership
We no longer have access to HNS's historical program feedback, staff exit interviews, or other organizational records that could help provide that perspective. So we are inviting former staff, volunteers, parents, participants, Board members, community partners, and others who worked alongside us to share their experiences directly. We welcome honest feedback—positive, negative, complicated, or somewhere in between.
Leadership aside, Human Nature School was never the work of one or two people. It became what it was because hundreds of people believed in its mission and contributed something of themselves to it.
Whatever happens next, we believe those contributions deserve to be treated with care.
And before the final chapter of Human Nature School is written, we believe the community that helped build it deserves an opportunity to understand what happened, ask questions, and be heard.
Thank you for your honesty, your care, and most of all, for everything you have contributed to Human Nature School and the community surrounding it.
With gratitude,
Kriya
