PERCEPTION INTERNATIONAL
Promoting biodiversity, cultural diversity and perceptual diversity worldwide
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
PERCEPTION INTERNATIONAL promotes biodiversity, cultural diversity and perceptual diversity through storytelling and archiving photos and film. We believe that perceptual diversity, cultural diversity and biodiversity are interrelated. When one area decreases, the other areas also decrease. When one area increase, the other area increases. There is a direct correlation. Our non-profit’s goal is to educate the public about this issue, to help them share their different perspectives via creative writing, media, film, and the arts, and to document the myriad of perceptions via archiving photos and films from the past.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Voices for Biodiversity
Voices for Biodiversity builds a diverse story-sharing community to save biodiversity.
Voices for Biodiversity expands the reach of grassroots voices speaking out on behalf of biodiversity. We do this by encouraging storytellers to find their individual voices and by helping them craft and edit their stories about nature and other species for publication. After mentoring, we publish their stories on our multimedia platform, which amplifies their voices and highlights their grassroots efforts. In addition, we also provide our storytellers and readers with the opportunity to connect with each other and the public through our robust social media.
Global Diversity Film Project
Global Diversity Film Project documents the myriad modes of perception in cultures worldwide, both traditional and innovative.
GDFP documents the myriad modes of perception in cultures worldwide, both traditional and innovative. We learn from indigenous peoples and cutting-edge thinkers, creators, and doers who live and work on the ever-shifting borders between science and spirituality. Through creative visual media, we seek understanding, compassion, connection, and integration between ideas and lifeways that may appear to be in conflict or even opposition. We explore possibilities for bridging worlds based on varying perceptions—human-to-human, human-animal interspecies communication, and human-to-ecosystem relationships.
Where we work
Awards
Anthropology in Media Award 2014
American Anthropological Association
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2015
New Mexico Press Women
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Ogranization 2015
National Federation of Press Women
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2016
New Mexico Press Women
Honorable Mention for Best Website by a Nonprofit Ogranization 2016
National Federation of Press Women
Best Music Video 2016
Moondance Film Festival, Boulder, CO
Second place in At-Large Contest for "Banding Florida’s Snowy Plovers," by Erika Zambello 2017
National Federation of Press Women
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2018
New Mexico Press Women
Honorable Mention for Best Website by a Nonprofit Ogranization 2018
National Federation of Press Women
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2019
New Mexico Press Women
Environmental Activism in Film Award 2019
Taos Environmental Film Festival
Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award 2019
UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2020
New Mexico Press Women
First place in Green/Environmental category for "Protecting the Arctic Refuge," by Debra Denker 2020
New Mexico Press Women
Honorable Mention for Best Website by a Nonprofit Ogranization 2020
National Federation of Press Women
Second place in Green/Environmental category for "Protecting the Arctic Refuge," by Debra Denker 2020
National Federation of Press Women
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2021
New Mexico Press Women
Honorable Mention for a Photo Essay 2021
National Federation of Press Women
Honorable Mention for Best Green/Environmental Article 2021
New Mexico Press Women
Third Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2021
National Federation of Press Women
First Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2022
New Mexico Press Women
Third Place for Best Website by a Nonprofit Organization 2022
National Federation of Press Women
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of accolades/recognition received from third-party organizations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Voices for Biodiversity
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Voices for Biodiversity
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of press articles published
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Voices for Biodiversity
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The project Voices for Biodiversity’s goals are to:
• Mentor people to create stories about their relationships with nature and other species;
• Encourage non-experts, people of color, women and other individuals who are not regularly heard, to publish their stories on our multimedia platform, and to be heard,
• Reduce “speciesism” and encourage respect by humankind for nature and other species.
Global Diversity Film Project’s goals are to:
• Use the medium of filmmaking to seek understanding, compassion, connection, and integration between ideas and varied lifeways that may appear to be in conflict or even opposition. The project explores possibilities for bridging worlds based on varying perceptions, whether they be human-to-human, human-animal interspecies communication, or human to ecosystem relationships.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We use storytelling to teach people, in a fun way, to explore different ways that they as individuals can help save biodiversity.
We document and archive older photos and film from and about people and places, which serve to illustrate perceptual, cultural, and biological diversity, that has now been lost.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our management team has a background in media, communication, and international development work. As a small organization, our team is creative, quick and agile and able to think outside the box.
Since 2009 we have helped people learn to express themselves and find their voices, create their stories, and have published those stories. We have won numerous journalism and anthropology awards for out groundbreaking grassroots work. In addition we have been collating old anthropological photos and film footage and offering it to the public to use for free.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our projects:
Voices for Biodiversity began in 2009. Now this global community storytelling project has expanded from articles to include multimedia (photos, videos and podcasts), articles in Spanish and French, and has added the categories of fiction, essays, and poetry. We plan on continuing to search out people from around the globe to share their stories about biodiversity and nature.
Global Diversity Film Project began in 2009. It has successfully produced films that have been shown at film festivals around the world and many of the films have won prestigious awards.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Storytellers from all walks of life and from around the globe give our project Voices for Biodiversity feedback on how well we mentor them to help them create stories to save biodiversity.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
For the Voices for Biodiversity project, we added publication in Spanish and French languages to our storytelling. And we added translation from Spanish and French into English for those who only speak English. In addition, we added new content categories to our website: fiction, essays, poetry.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
PERCEPTION INTERNATIONAL
Board of directorsas of 01/12/2023
Dr. Tara Lumpkin
Perception International
Term: 2001 -
Phillip Gibbs
Consultant, Writer
Tara Lumpkin
Voices for Biodiversity
Debra Denker
Global Diversity Film Project
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/11/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.