About Us

The Christensen Fund works to support Indigenous peoples in advancing their inherent rights, dignity, and self determination. Founded in 1957 in San Francisco, we are a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, led by an independent Board of Trustees. Our team of global experts center Indigenous voices, leadership, and perspectives in our philanthropy and advocacy.

Learn more about the fund’s history

Our Vision

Philanthropy has an unprecedented opportunity to support and defend the rights and sovereignty of Indigenous communities today. By doing so, we can lay the foundation for a future in which all people can live peacefully in relationship with each other and the natural world that sustains life.  We take a rights- and place-based approach to our work and are actively grantmaking in communities in the United States, Mexico, Kenya, and other countries around the world. The Christensen Fund engages with Indigenous Peoples as our partners and experts on the issues that are most important and urgent to them.

Our Values

self determinationsolidarityreciprocityresilienceaccountabilitytrustdiversity

  • Respecting self determination by supporting the rights of Indigenous Peoples to actualize self determination, recognizing them as leaders and key agents of change.
  • Standing in solidarity by engaging Indigenous Peoples as equal partners and supporting their self-determined needs, priorities, and visions for the future. We support the power of strategic alliances, inter-cultural collaborations and thriving networks between Indigenous Peoples, nation states, other social movements and allied individuals and groups to protect Indigenous rights.
  • Practicing reciprocity by building relationships based on mutual respect, equitable exchange, the celebration of diversity, acknowledgement of differentiated roles, and the sharing of strengths and privilege.

  • Demonstrating accountability by committing to our values, Grantee Partners, and stated objectives, holding ourselves to the highest standards of excellence, and ensuring competence, reliability, and transparency, in all our actions and practices. We assume the responsibility of being a philanthropic influencer and our own role in achieving liberation for Indigenous Peoples.
  • Building trust by investing in processes that engender respectful, authentic, and long-lasting relationships, and by placing our confidence and relationships with Indigenous Peoples as knowledge and culture bearers and architects of their own vision for the future.
  • Celebrating diversity by supporting the vibrancy and variety of Indigenous lifeways and values in the context of a world faced with great change and uncertainty.

Our Values

self determinationsolidarityreciprocityresilienceaccountabilitytrustdiversity

  • Respecting self determination by supporting the rights of Indigenous Peoples to actualize self determination, recognizing them as leaders and key agents of change.
  • Standing in solidarity by engaging Indigenous Peoples as equal partners and supporting their self-determined needs, priorities, and visions for the future. We support the power of strategic alliances, inter-cultural collaborations and thriving networks between Indigenous Peoples, nation states, other social movements and allied individuals and groups to protect Indigenous rights.
  • Practicing reciprocity by building relationships based on mutual respect, equitable exchange, the celebration of diversity, acknowledgement of differentiated roles, and the sharing of strengths and privilege.
  • Demonstrating accountability by committing to our values, Grantee Partners, and stated objectives, holding ourselves to the highest standards of excellence, and ensuring competence, reliability, and transparency, in all our actions and practices. We assume the responsibility of being a philanthropic influencer and our own role in achieving liberation for Indigenous Peoples.
  • Building trust by investing in processes that engender respectful, authentic, and long-lasting relationships, and by placing our confidence and relationships with Indigenous Peoples as knowledge and culture bearers and architects of their own vision for the future.
  • Celebrating diversity by supporting the vibrancy and variety of Indigenous lifeways and values in the context of a world faced with great change and uncertainty.