2022 Fellow Focus: Jamani Montague + Sankofa Roots

Disruptor, liberator, healer…2022 Fellow Jamani Montague of Sankofa Roots shares more about their #RuthlessForGood journey.

What propelled you into the entrepreneurial space? And what do you enjoy most about being a founder?

I wanted an outdoor learning and healing experience, for myself and for my people, that I could not find. So, I created it. Too often, outdoor preparedness and survival training programs are white, male-dominated, heteronormative spaces, and are taught through a patriarchal, settler-colonial lens of taming, dominating and extracting from the natural world. At Sankofa Roots, we disrupt this narrative by remembering and envisioning a decolonial past and future informed by indigenous African, Native American and Queer wisdoms, rooted in the interdependence and nurturance of all of life, interspecies and intergenerational accountability, and remediating the myth of white/male/cis/hetero/human exceptionalism.

I love doing work that allows me to embody my values fully and helps me to build my spiritual practice of connecting to self, Earth and ancestry.

As a BIPOC founder, Camelback understands that the struggle is constant, what motivates you to get up every day and keep on fighting?

My commitment to the liberation of my people. Sankofa Roots is more than a decolonial outdoor preparedness program. It is a manifestation of healing for Black, Indigenous and Queer folks.

Tell me about an experience you had as an entrepreneur or in starting your company that exemplified one of Camelback’s core values: “Belief in Mission + Vision”; “Unafraid of Failure”; “Constant Learner”; “Humble + Hungry”; and “Give First.”

“Give First.” Our courses are offered at an affordable, sliding scale price because we believe in uprooting capitalist barriers that prevent access to learning essential survival skills. It’s important for us to maintain a “solidarity fund” that helps to cover the price difference when we support sliding scale accommodations. We trust that our fundraising efforts and the growing interest in our program will balance things out financially in the near future.

As a social innovator, what legacy do you hope to leave behind for future generations?

My hope for future generations is for us to have the skill sets, relationships, resources and healing we need to release our reliance on oppressive logics and systems; for future generations to (re)member and (re)claim our natural relationship to land, lineage and intergenerational responsibility.

What’s your favorite book or podcast that you draw entrepreneurial inspiration from?

For the Wild Podcast

What do you hope to take away from your Camelback Fellowship Journey?