Building a healthy & sustainable future for Guatemala, starting with clean water.

The Elakha Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit in Oregon. We were formed by tribal, nonprofit, and conservation leaders with a shared belief in a powerful vision:  an Oregon coast 50 years from now where our children and grandchildren co-exist along with a thriving sea otter population and a robust and resilient marine ecosystem.

Our Mission:  To restore a healthy population of sea otters to the Oregon coast and to thereby make Oregon’s marine and coastal ecosystem more robust and resilient.

SeekHer Foundation is on a mission to bridge the gender gap of mental health through advocacy, research, and support for emerging leaders who are impacting change in their local communities & beyond.

For the second quarter of 2022 I contributed to this incredible micro lending initiative called the Rotating Buffalo Fund through OneEarth.org in partnership with GroundSwell International.

This project focuses on women from the Dalit caste living in remote areas of Nepal. Decades of culturally instilled gender inequality and discrimination have made the situation especially difficult for women in this caste.

The participating women receive a no-interest, 2-year loan for the value of a milking buffalo, insured against loss. 10% of the milk produced is allotted for household consumption, which has a dramatic impact on household nutrition, especially for children. 90% is sold to a milk cooperative, which distributes 30% of the proceeds to the buffalo owners and 70% to the Fund until the original loan amount is repaid, after which 100% of the profit goes to the family. As soon as loan payments replenish the Fund’s capital, another buffalo is purchased, and the program is expanded to a new household.

The key to success is the incorporation of livestock into their agroecological farming systems and livelihoods. Livestock in general play a vital role in ecological farming systems around the world, and this is particularly true for milking buffalo in Nepal.

They help to recycle nutrients on farms, turning fodder into manure for compost to improve soil fertility; provide animal traction to pull plows to prepare land or carts to move crops and materials; provide milk to nourish families and for sale for income; serve as a ‘bank’ to increase family assets, and provide offspring to multiply benefits for current families and to pass on to other households.

OUR FOREST FARMS REGENERATE THE JUNGLES & LOCAL ECONOMIES OF COSTA RICA. Blacksheep was formed in the spring of 2015 in the small village of Lanas de Puriscal, Costa Rica. Its founders are creating a formalized, replicable method of direct action against hyper-extractive industries in their local watershed and abroad.

A Care-for-Life SANCTUARY, where unwanted senior animals live out their lives in peace and serenity.  A completely volunteer run 501c3 organization.  

We are a global community of women, gender nonconforming people and allies in the music industry.

At Columbia River Keeper, the vision is a “Columbia River that unites people to fight for clean water, abundant fish and wildlife, and our climate.” Their Goals: IMPROVE water quality in the Columbia River PROTECT people’s health, habitat, fish, and wildlife from past, existing and proposed high-impact development, including fossil fuel developments. PROMOTE justice, equality, diversity, and inclusion in environmental decisions and our own actions. COMBAT climate change and other impacts of fossil fuel development by promoting clean energy and transitioning from fossil fuels. IMPLEMENT antiracist strategies and embrace the many ways environmentalism and social justice intersect. PURSUE authentic engagement with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals and communities who are disproportionately impacted by water and air pollution. You can find more information about who they are and you can get involved on their website, www.columbiariverkeeper.org.

Twenty-five years ago, a seed was planted that has blossomed into one of the most important resources for thousands of our vulnerable neighbors in Portland. In 1997, Sr. Cathie Boerboom and her team spent months surveying women experiencing homelessness, hearing from them what they wanted and needed most. To their surprise, the resounding answers were relational rather than material. While void of so much, these women craved love, trust, and safety above all else. Their collective voice became the foundation for Rose Haven, and it continues to define our work today.

Rose Haven was the first of its kind 25 years ago, as the only agency serving women and children during the daytime hours. Today we remain the sole agency in Portland serving this population, addressing their need for safety, resources, and community connection.

The demand for our services has grown exponentially year after year. As our agency celebrates its silver anniversary, we hold everlasting gratitude for our founders, who could not have realized how significant Rose Haven would be in 2022. We are committed to continuing their legacy based on their original values, with Compassion, Individual Worth, Reconciliation, and Love in Action at the heart of our work.

https://rosehaven.org/

Kindness Farm is the place you didn’t know you’ve been yearning for.  
It’s a magical haven in SE Portland where you can spend time in peaceful nature and be your true, authentic self.

When you step on this land you forget you’re in the city, surrounded by trees, birds, goats, chickens, and endless plants and flowers. 

It’s a place to center and ground, connect to yourself and other beauitful humans, while doing really amazing work to support your community. 

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Kindness Farm is a 501(c)3 nonprofit urban farm.

Our founder, staff, students, volunteers, and participants come from diverse backgrounds and include refugees, immigrants, queer and trans humans, BIPOC, neurodivergent humans, humans with disabilities, humans who currently or in the past have had a low income, unhoused humans, children, youth, and seniors.

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​https://www.thekindnessfarm.org/

Women's Earth Alliance (WEA) is on a mission to protect our environment, end the climate crisis, and ensure a just, thriving world by empowering women’s leadership.
In some of the most environmentally threatened places in the world, WEA leaders are defending forests and rivers, saving threatened indigenous seeds, launching sustainable farms, conserving coral reefs, and protecting land rights. 

WEA takes a different approach than investing in a water well that might fail, or providing a one-time loan that could leave a woman in debt and without options. Our model identifies grassroots women leaders working on the frontlines to reverse climate change and protect their communities' natural resources, livelihoods, and health. We invest in their long-term leadership through training, funding, and networks of support. These women leaders spread their solutions to many others for years beyond project investments - creating a ripple effect that benefits women’s communities, regions, our Earth, and future generations.

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https://womensearthalliance.org/

New Earth was founded in a Hollywood coffee shop in 2004. Sixteen years later, we’re serving 800 young people per year in our center in Culver City, probation camps, group homes, juvenile halls, continuation schools, and public schools throughout Los Angeles County. 

 The young people we work with largely come from communities characterized by high concentrations of poverty, violence, and gang activity. Upon release from incarceration, our young people return to their old neighborhoods with few resources to help them successfully reintegrate into society, let alone to address barriers to success such as difficulty re-enrolling in school or finding employment. As a result, in Los Angeles County, 70% of youth released from juvenile detention facilities are rearrested within a year of their release. New Earth’s unique model proves its success – with a less than 7% recidivism rate among members currently enrolled in New Earth programs.

 At our New Earth Arts & Leadership Center in Culver City, young people receive career training and paid work experience, a fully accredited high school diploma program, mentorship, case management, nature expeditions, arts programming, and wrap-around services that help them re-enter their communities with the support and nurturing they need to create lifelong success.

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​https://newearthlife.org/