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February 12, 2021

I’ve worked on collaborative efforts to help better connect communities and land managers on shared projects to address climate adaption and land stewardship for over a decade. Most of this work has taken place within the indoor confines of innumerable conference rooms and meeting halls. In 2020 . . .

September 10, 2019

NoVo Foundation is currently funding 152 organizations throughout North America and beyond through the Indigenous Communities Initiative. Of the Indigenous organizations that NoVo funds, nearly all work with Indigenous languages in some way through immersion schools, master/apprentice programs, and food system efforts through gathering, planting, growing, hunting and . . . 

June 11, 2018

Voyaging – speech for Biodiversity Funders Group, Kona, Hawai’i June 11-13 2018 Sonja Swift   Last June, I was present at a blessing of the hulls ceremony, initiating the build of a Maori community-owned waka horua - Tairawhiti - which has since been built and is now serving...

July 12, 2018

Edanet’e. Itoah siiyeh. Tlicho got’ine eyits’o dechinlaa got’ine gots’o ahte. My name is Itoah and I come from the Tlicho Nation and the treeline people of Denendeh. The land of the Dene, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. I have been taught my whole life...

May 15, 2017

In Dene culture, preparing fish requires careful and acquired skills with a knife. I watched an elder a few times before picking up the knife to try myself. I hesitated, but the elder told me “you just have to do it, it’s the only way to learn.” I was embarrassed when I mistakenly cut through the fish’s bladder. The elder chuckled and encouraged me to keep going. 

December 15, 2016
December 21, 2016

AFC Quick Facts Members: 11 Arctic Regions Supported: Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia Focus Areas of Support: Marine Stewardship, Land and Freshwater Stewardship, Leadership Development and Capacity Building, Community...

-For Immediate Release- December 15, 2016 - The Arctic Funders Collaborative would like to congratulate the Alaska Native Tribes and organizations of the Bering Sea region on the recent announcement of an Executive Order by President Obama establishing a Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area. The Executive...

December 13, 2016

Our collaborative of funders is a primary driver of philanthropic support in the Arctic and very few of us are based in the North. To develop relationships with Northern communities, we need to establish reputation and trust, build networks, and find shared values. Most importantly,...

July 5, 2016

They say there are seven degrees of separation between every person in the world. In the North, there are maybe two. Our small population and community networks mean that Northerners are very people oriented and are used to doing business face to face, even knowing...

May 15, 2016

In the Dene culture, it is a part of our tradition that when you harvest food from the land, you distribute your catch amongst those close to you and those in need. My large family was very fortunate to always have a constant supply of...

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