Announcing Our New Name!
This year, we are celebrating 75 years of working for birds, for people, and for the planet. And now we have something else to celebrate - a new name for a new era in conservation:
San Diego Bird Alliance!
A year ago we announced our decision to discontinue the use of the name Audubon and find a new name that better reflects our mission and values. On July 3, 2024, our board of directors voted unanimously to adopt San Diego Bird Alliance as our new name.
Over the better part of a year, we worked with board, staff, community partners, members, volunteers, and the public to find a name that would keep our mission clear and at the forefront, connect with more diverse communities, and help maintain a vital connection to other chapters across the region and country. Hundreds of people shared their thoughts and provided insightful feedback. We listened, and chose a name that we believe everyone can be proud of:
We’d like to thank every single person who took the time to share their feedback with us to help us find our new name.
Please review our Frequently Asked Questions for further details about the process of changing our name and how we arrived at San Diego Bird Alliance.
Why are you changing your name?
As we look to the future to accomplish our mission to preserve the nature of San Diego for generations to come, we want a name that is clear, inclusive, and visionary. People are integral to fulfilling our mission. We want everyone to know that they are invited, included, and appreciated, and it became clear that retaining the Audubon name would negatively impact our ability to do so.
What sparked this conversation?
When information about John James Audubon’s troubling history became a serious public discussion in 2020, our board and staff began reflecting on how the name affects our ability to carry out our mission and aligns with our values. During this time we received feedback from some of our stakeholders that the Audubon name served as a barrier to participation.
Are you still associated with National Audubon Society?
Yes. While we are an independent 501(c)(3), we remain an affiliated chapter of National Audubon Society. The Audubon network is made up of more than 450 individual chapters. We currently have no plans to leave the network as it is a powerful system of organizations with similar goals. We regularly work with our partner chapters across the state and with National Audubon Society to accomplish great things in conservation and amplify our message. While we no longer share a name, our collective mission remains the same.
What about your heritage?
The Audubon name has a very special meaning to many of us in the birding community. Under the Audubon name, our chapter, hundreds of other chapters, and National Audubon Society have made significant contributions to the environmental movement and connected so many to birds and nature. While we acknowledge and appreciate the incredible work of the organization named after John James Audubon, we heard directly from those in our community about how his legacy of John James Audubon negatively affects them, and chose to move forward with selecting a more inclusive name for our organization.
Will anything about my membership change?
Nope! Your membership will stay the same. No need to change a thing. Thank you for being a member of San Diego Bird Alliance.
Will donations or legacy gifts to the name San Diego Audubon still be accepted?
Donations and legacy gifts made out to San Diego Bird Alliance or San Diego Audubon will both be accepted by our bank. We appreciate your support!
What’s your new website? And email addresses?
www.SanDiegoBirdAlliance.org Emails made out to our old email addresses will still come through, but you can change to our new email addresses by using the first letter of the first name, and then full last name. For example: Bob Thomas would be bthomas@sandiegobirdalliance.org.
Why am I still receiving correspondence from “San Diego Audubon”?
You will continue to see the name San Diego Audubon in a few different places as we transition all of our systems to the new name. This includes some of our regularly scheduled emails like our eNewsletter, on tax receipts, and on our donation and event form URLs.
Soon, all of our automated emails and web forms will be housed under sandiegobirdalliance.org. Add info@sandiegobirdalliance.org to your contact list to make sure our emails don’t go to spam when the transition is done!
How did you reach this decision?
From the start we have engaged our stakeholders and the greater community in this discussion. We conducted surveys and held small group listening sessions to provide our community with opportunities to express themselves. Additionally, we learned a great deal from other chapters who embarked on a similar process. On July 17, 2023, a diverse committee of board, staff, and external partners met to review all the information and feedback we had gathered and make a recommendation to the board. In a 13 to 1 vote, the committee recommended that we discontinue the use of the Audubon name. On August 14, 2023, the board unanimously voted to accept this recommendation.
Following that decision, we undertook a deliberate and thoughtful process over the better part of a year, working with board, staff, community partners, members, volunteers, and the public to find a name that would keep their mission clear and at the forefront, connect with more diverse communities, and help maintain a vital connection to other chapters across the region and country. Hundreds of people shared their thoughts and provided insightful feedback that was foundational to selecting the name San Diego Bird Alliance.
Will this change anything about the work you do?
Our mission remains the same, as does our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The future is diverse, and we are excited to walk into that future as a welcoming space for even more in the community. This change will allow more people to enjoy, participate in, and help drive our work of creating a brighter future for birds, for people, and for the planet. “Birds are for all, and need all our help to thrive.” - Travis Kemnitz, Executive Director
