Keiruna Inc.

Keiruna Inc. is a one-woman show run by me, Dr. Tara Sayuri Whitty. I strive to provide projects and organizations with useful, responsive approaches and outputs to support more effective, inclusive, and meaningful processes, outcomes, and impacts.

I am a conservation professional with ~20 years of research experience, mainly on coastal conservation and small-scale fisheries management issues in the Global South (particularly Southeast Asia). Most of my research has focused on evaluating conservation processes, from which I’ve learned insights that were further informed by my time as a conservation practitioner.

Starting in 2020, I expanded my professional scope to include work that supports the community building, communication, and advocacy of nonspeaking individuals, starting with my brother, award-winning nonspeaking autistic advocate Danny Whitty. I have been able to apply my skills in community and capacity building from conservation into this exciting new-to-me realm, which has in turn informed my understanding of inclusion of marginalized voices in my conservation work, as well.

I am particularly driven to work on issues related to stakeholder inclusion, increasing diversity in the field, and accountability for project outcomes (good, bad, and in between). Generally, I take both a Design Thinking and Systems Thinking approach to projects, allowing me to better understand: pathways from conservation inputs to outcomes and impacts; the landscape of stakeholders (and their interactions) and drivers of stakeholder actions; and the needs, capacity, and goals of clients.

To learn more, go to tswhitty.com