Ernest Thompson Seton Institute, Inc

The Ernest Thompson Seton Institute [The Institute] provides engaging opportunities for people to develop and deepen respect for our environment and one another through appreciation and assimilation of Ernest Thompson Seton’s ideals and philosophies. The Institute focuses on interactive activities that draw people to seek out deeper understanding and appreciation of nature, conservation, and ethical co-existence. The Institute’s goals are to provide forum for (1) developing an understanding of Ernest Thompson Seton’s ideals and philosophies; (2) gaining appreciation of the modern age importance of those ideals and philosophies; (3) developing curiosity for modern interpretation and application of Seton’s ideals, values and artistic expression, and; (4) developing actionable self-awareness and interpretative expression in the form of conservation, education, art, literature, and human rights activities.

The Institute is pursuing four (4) interconnected strategic tracks, building upon milestones and performance benchmarks.
Preservation of Ernest Thompson Seton’s literature and art is an important priority. There are many well documented Seton collections in museums and private hands. However, there are lost works as well. The Institute is working to identify and catalog collections for further study and awareness of his works. A significant aspect of Seton’s legacy that is vanishing is the recollections of people who had first-hand experiences with him. The Institute is seeking out these people to preserve their memories through recording their oral histories. Capturing oral histories in media form is an important way for the Institute to relate Seton’s ideals and philosophies to new generations.
Enhancing the Institute’s web presence is critical to our communications strategy. We are reformatting our website for easy navigation and continually updating Seton references. Virtual visits to Seton’s homes and sites of special interest brings his literature alive. His extensive travel, now documented for the first time on the Institute’s website, provides people with the opportunity to physically visit locations nearby, thereby developing closer personal connection and deeper interpretative meaning in his works. We are also using a select number of social media venues to expand awareness of Seton’s ideals and philosophies.
The Institute’s educational programs constitute an important strategic track. We leverage our network of organizational and professional “friends” in developing and delivering presentations and workshops on several Seton-centric topics such as conservation, cultural heritage, and natural history. We have working relationships with woodcraft, conservation, and Scouting organizations across the world.
Youth engagement through promotion of arts and literature is an important outreach strategy. The Institute collaborates with others on artist workshops and contests, where participants create and exhibit their own interpretation of Seton’s artistic and literary themes. These experiences build self-esteem, creative confidence, and deeper appreciation of nature and humanity.

The Ernest Thompson Seton Institute has identified, located, and, in many examples, acquired an impressive amount of Seton works. The Institute has also identified Seton works and collections at risk with success in preserving those works. The Institute has and continues to develop an impressive oral histories database. Through our extensive networks and growing global presence, we continue locating works and recording oral histories from sources abroad. Based upon our past success, current positioning, and forecast growth, our Ernest Thompson Seton preservation capabilities continue to expand.
The Institute has a well-established web presence. Over a decade ago, we developed, and recently reformatted, an easy to navigate, informative webpage at http://etsetoninstitute.org/. Our site draws regular and growing traffic. The Institute and our network of contributors keep the content fresh and relevant. We also moderate and contribute to our blog, accessible within the website. Our blog is also kept current and relevant. The Institute has created a presence on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Charity-Organization/Ernest-Thompson-Seton-Institute-101804444801812/. With 140 followers in just a few month, The Institute’s social media presence continues to grow. We are strategically managing the implementation of communications strategy to ensure that we place content quality and relevance over unmoderated exposure. Through our digital presence, people are able to enjoy and pursue the Ernest Thompson Seton experience today.
In 2020, our educational programs development and delivery has grown. Notwithstanding the distance learning challenges (or opportunities) provided by COVID, the Institute has delivered several presentations and participated in workshops domestically and abroad. Our network of speakers and subject matter experts, while currently robust, continues to grow. Many of our virtual workshops are available to broader audiences through our organizational partnerships, our professional relationships, and our virtual engagement infrastructure.

Building upon our accomplishments and relationships, the Ernest Thompson Seton Institute is focusing on several key areas in progressive enhancement. Given the perishable nature of our oral history sources, we are concentrating on capturing as many oral histories and recollections of Ernest Thompson Seton as possible. This is an important initiative in preserving Seton’s legacy that requires timely action. Our oral history preservation project will continue as a priority for as long as we are blessed with people willing to share their experiences. We are looking to migrate the “oral history” approach into “oral interpretative history” over the coming years as those people with direct, first-hand experience become less available.
We are expanding and deepening our selective organizational partnerships. We are strengthening our collaboration with the Woodcraft Rangers [https://woodcraftrangers.org], a Los Angeles, CA based non-profit educational organization with nearly a century of service to urban youth. Emerging out of Ernest Thompson Seton’s Woodcraft League as a means for instilling values of inclusion and access for young people, Woodcraft Rangers now serves over 14,000 at over 73 sites in the greater LA area carrying on Seton’s legacy value-based youth education. Similarly, we are strengthening our partnerships with other select organizations domestically and abroad in further our vision and mission.
We are expanding our networks and organizational certifications to participate in grant funded initiatives. As a 501(c)3, non-profit educational organization, we are registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) and other systems to qualify eligibility for grant funding.
The Institute continues developing and refining our digital presence and marketing materials to promote our capabilities and service offerings. We are actively, strategically seeking non-profit funding sources for general financial and special projects fiscal support. We are working for sustainable, consistent revenue sources inclusive of but not limited to donor contributions. Capitalizing on our successes, strengthened by resonance with our vision and appreciation of Ernest Thompson Seton’s ideals, values and philosophies, we are actively seeking supporters who are equally energized to make the world a better place.