Matt Aguiar

The Christensen Fund Elects Three New Indigenous Women Trustees

As part of its commitment to have at least half of its Trustees be Indigenous Peoples, The Christensen Fund is pleased to announce that it has elected three new Trustees to its Board.: Ikal Angelei, Joan Carling, and Vicky Tauli-Corpuz.

“These three women are incredibly accomplished and expand The Christensen Fund’s Board beyond North America,” says Diane Christensen, Co-Chair of The Christensen Fund’s Board. “It is also extremely important that our Board now includes representatives from partner organizations. The addition of these Trustees enables our Board to better reflect the communities and partners that our organization works with to support the rights of Indigenous Peoples around the world, and is also a tangible demonstration of our commitment to self-determination for Indigenous Peoples.”

Carla Fredericks, CEO of The Christensen Fund, states, “I am thrilled that our Board has made this commitment to Indigenizing its Trustee leadership. These women are all heroes and stand as exemplary, powerful leaders within Indigenous communities and beyond. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our Board to support our partners in safeguarding the inherent rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples around the globe.”

The Christensen Fund’s newest Trustees are:

Ikal Angelei

Ikal is an environmental activist from Kenya. She is co-founder and Director of Friends of Lake Turkana, a grassroots organization that seeks to foster social, economic and environmental justice in the Lake Turkana Basin. Ikal completed a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Political Science at Stony Brook University in New York. In 2012 she was awarded with the Goldman Environmental Prize, particularly for her voicing on behalf of Northern Kenyan indigenous communities about the environmental implications of the Gilgel Gibe III Dam.

Joan Carling

Joan Carling is  an indigenous activist from the Cordillera, Philippines with  more than 20 years of working on  indigenous issues from the grassroots to the international level. Her expertise includes  human rights, sustainable development, the environment, and climate change. She was the General Secretary of the Asia Indigenous People Pact (AIPP) From 2008 to 2016 and was  an  indigenous expert member of the UN   Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues  from 2014-2016. She was awarded the Champions of the Earth- Lifetime Achievement Award by UN Environment in September 2018.  Ms Carling is the co-founder and currently the Executive Director of the Indigenous Peoples Rights International-IPRI. 

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz was appointed as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples by the Human Rights Council in 2014, and served until April 2020.

She is an indigenous leader and a human rights expert from the Kankana-ey Igorot people of the Cordillera Region in the Philippines. As an indigenous activist, she has worked for over four decades on helping build movements, networks and institutions of  indigenous peoples from the local to the global levels. 

Ms. Tauli-Corpuz is the former Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2005-2010), and has served as the chairperson-rapporteur of the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations. As an indigenous leader, she was actively engaged in drafting and adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from 1985 to 2007. She has founded and managed various NGOs involved in social awareness raising, leadership development,  climate change and the advancement of indigenous peoples' and women's rights and she was a member of United Nations Development Programme Civil Society Organizations Advisory Committee.

In her capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Ms. Tauli-Corpuz provided expert testimony before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights,  and the African Court on human and peoples’ rights and prepared policy advice to the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), among others.

by Matt Aguiar

Planting Seeds for Reparations in California

California Native American families, communities, tribes, and organizations are encouraged to apply for funds before September 15, 2022.

The Christensen Fund is proud to join the Decolonizing Wealth Project and the California Endowment in establishing a new fund to support Indigenous Californians’ efforts to preserve tribal history and further California’s effort to atone for its history of violence and wrongdoing against Native Americans. The new California Truth and Healing Fund provides California Native American families, communities, tribes, and organizations with resources to engage in opportunities associated with the goals of the landmark California Truth & Healing Council. The deadline for the first round of proposals is June 29, 2022, and the deadline for the second round of proposals is September 15, 2022. 

With an initial $500,000 investment from the Decolonizing Wealth Project, The California Endowment, and the Christensen Fund, the goal is to raise more than $5 million. The fund is guided by an advisory board of Native Californians, including Pechanga Band of Indians Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro and Truth & Healing Council-member Kouslaa Kessler-Mata (Yak Tityu Tityu Chumash). Announcement of the fund received widespread media coverage in May, including stories in CalMatters, KQED, ABC10, and outlets across the state. 

The Project has partnered with The California Truth & Healing Council, which Gov. Gavin Newsom established in 2019 to “clarify the record – and provide their historical perspective  – on the troubled relationship between tribes and the state.” 

The Council on Truth & Healing is expected to release a report on the historical relationship between the state and California Native Americans by 2025. Our hope is that the report will include recommendations to the Legislature about reparations or restoration of land for Native communities.

The Christensen Fund’s participation in this fund exemplifies our commitment to partner with other funders in supporting Indigenous rights, self-determination, truth telling and healing. We are committed to mobilizing our peers in philanthropy to support this fund, in particular, and the rights, self-determination, and leadership of Indigenous Peoples in general.

For California Native American families, communities, tribes, and organizations interested in applying for funding, and funders interested in contributing to our $5 million goal, learn more here.

by Matt Aguiar

The Christensen Fund Announces First Cohort of Indigenous Leaders Program

As part of The Christensen Fund’s commitment to Indigenous communities, leaders and organizations, we are excited to announce our inaugural cohort of our Indigenous Leaders Program. The program celebrates four Indigenous leaders from Mexico, Kenya, the United States, and the Philippines who are advancing the inherent rights, dignity and self-determination of their communities, Nations and Peoples, and work to achieve the promise of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The program provides 100,000 USD to each leader to advance their unique vision and work. These Indigenous leaders will also have access to the full range of The Christensen Fund's philanthropic efforts, including networks, covenings, and speaking engagements.

The Leaders Program was developed collaboratively with these Indigenous leaders in order to respect their prior commitments and demands on their time. In the spirit of self determination, these leaders will focus on issues or projects that they determine themselves.

We are honored to introduce and welcome our 2022-2023 Indigenous Leaders Program Participants:

Joan Carling (Philippines)

Joan is an Indigenous activist from the Cordillera, Philippines with more than 20 years of working on indigenous issues from the grassroots to the international level. Her expertise includes areas like human rights, sustainable development, the environment, climate change, and additionally the application of Free, Prior and Informed Consent. She is currently the Global Director for Indigenous Peoples Rights International.

Ole Kaunga Mali (Kenya)

Malih Ole Kaunga is a Laikipia Maasai – a practicing pastoralist (keep Goats and Sheep) and a father of three daughters and two sons. Ole Kaunga has a proven track record of defending the rights of Indigenous Peoples locally and globally. He is the founder and Director of IMPACT and a co- founder of Maasai Cultural Heritage. He leads the PARAN Alliance, a movement that connects and promotes learning, agency and voices among indigenous peoples led organizations in Kenya.

Andrea Ixchíu (Mexico-Guatemala)

Andrea is an Indigenous Maya K’iche environmental and human rights activist, born in Totonicapán, Guatemala. She is a recognized land protector of Totonicapan’s ancestral forest where she has also served as an Indigenous community government authority. She works as a journalist, filmmaker and radialist, and collaborates with local and international media. Andrea is coordinator at Hackeo Cultural, a community-based with global reach initiative that seeks to build and strengthen collective strategies, narratives and technologies for the defense of Indigenous territories across Latin America. She also leads the Futuros Indígenas project that seeks to raise not awareness but actions, aimed to face the climate emergency.

Fawn Sharp (United States)

Fawn Sharp serves as the 23rd President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native tribal government organization in the country. President Sharp is also the current Vice President of the Quinault Indian Nation in Taholah, Washington, after being a five-term past-President. Ms. Sharp has held numerous leadership positions, including a number of state appointments.

by Matt Aguiar

The Christensen Fund joins governments and private funders to announce historic $1.7 billion pledge at COP26 in support of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

UK, Norway, Germany, US, and the Netherlands, and 17 funders pledged to support Indigenous Peoples, local communities at COP26, citing their proven role in preventing deforestation that fuels climate change  

In raising the visibility of Indigenous Peoples at the World Leaders Summit, donors also committed to delivering funding directly to communities and promised them a role in ‘decision-making and design’ of climate programs and finance instruments 

GLASGOW (2 November 2021)–The UK, Norway, Germany, the US, and the Netherlands, in partnership with The Christensen Fund and 16 other funders, pledged today to invest US$1.7 billion to help Indigenous and local communities protect the biodiverse tropical forests that are vital to protecting the planet from climate change, biodiversity loss, and pandemic risk, according to an announcement made today at a high-level World Leaders Summit at COP26.

“We are demonstrating our commitment today by announcing an initial collective contribution of at least $1.7 billion of confirmed financing to support the advancement of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ forest tenure rights and their role as stewards of forests and nature,” says a statement released today by the donors. “We intend to build on this in subsequent years, increasing funding as ambitious programmes and proposals come forward. We also call on other donors to significantly increase their support to this important agenda.” 

Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage half the world’s land and care for an astonishing 80% of Earth’s biodiversity, primarily under customary tenure arrangements. A recent study showed, however, that Indigenous communities and organizations receive less than 1% of the climate funding meant to reduce deforestation.  

“Climate justice is only possible with full support of the rights of Indigenous Peoples,” said The Christensen Fund CEO Carla Fredericks. “Across the globe, and especially in the forests and other sensitive natural habitats that are key to averting absolute climate collapse, Indigenous Peoples hold millennia’s worth of wisdom and connection to natural environments, which can, and already has proven to, mitigate climate change and restore biodiversity. The Christensen Fund joins this pledge in recognition of the importance of the rights and self determination of Indigenous Peoples in climate finance commitments.”

“This pledge signals our commitment to protecting the world’s tropical forests and those who live in them,” said Lord Goldsmith, Minister of State for Pacific and the Environment. “The evidence is overwhelming that Indigenous Peoples and local communities are forests’ most effective guardians, often in the face of acute danger, and so they should be at the heart of nature-based solutions to the climate emergency. By investing in tropical forest communities and expanding their communal rights, we will also tackle poverty, pollution, and pandemics.” 

Among the philanthropic groups joining the new pledge at a critical moment for addressing the climate crisis are the Ford Foundation, Children's Investment Fund Foundation, the Christensen Fund, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Sobrato Philanthropies, Good Energies Foundation, Oak Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and, as part of the Protecting our Planet Challenge members, Arcadia, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Nia Tero, Rainforest Trust, Re:wild, Rob and Melani Walton Foundation and the Wyss Foundation.  

For years, only about $270 million of climate finance has been dedicated to forest protection each year, yet the Indigenous Peoples and local communities that protect the world’s forests directly receive only $46 million. With today’s announcement, the governments and funders hope to take a first step toward correcting an unjust system that has failed to favor communities that have the knowledge and capacity to outperform most other forest managers. 

Researchers suggest that forests can contribute as much as 37% toward climate mitigation goals that governments committed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Protecting forests, which harbour precious biodiversity, also helps to prevent encounters with wildlife that can encourage the spillover of potentially dangerous pathogens into human populations. 

A growing body of evidence shows that Indigenous Peoples are the most effective guardians of biodiverse tropical forests, which are increasingly under siege; UN experts recently urged climate negotiators at COP26 to respond with urgency to the destruction of precious ecosystems. 

And yet the evidence, including a new study released in October, suggests the urgent need to scale up solutions to combat the destruction of tropical forests. In a comprehensive analysis of progress on a global commitment to protect forests, the authors called for recognizing and securing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and for making the communities “central to setting goals and priorities for forest activities.”

“There is no viable solution to the climate crisis without forest and land management by Indigenous Peoples and local communities who have proven that they are the best guardians of the world’s forests,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “This historic $1.7 billion pledge is a challenge to all funders to do far more to support and partner with Indigenous Peoples and local communities who hold a key solution to climate change, and have them lead the way.”

In a statement signed by philanthropic and government leaders and released today, the funders promised “to further recognise and advance the forest and nature stewardship role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, in partnership with governments and other stakeholders, with a particular focus on strengthening land tenure systems and protecting the tenure and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.”  

The statement goes on to commit the signatories “to prioritise the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in decision-making and in the design and implementation of relevant programmes and finance instruments, recognising the interests of vulnerable and marginalised groups including women and girls, people with disabilities, and youth.” 

In his presentation at the World Leaders Summit today, Tuntiak Katan, a Shuar from Ecuador and an Indigenous leader representing the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, cited data showing that 12.2 million hectares of forest were destroyed in 2020. Katan welcomed the unprecedented commitment by donors to support and partner with Indigenous and local communities on the front lines of the climate crisis and called it a major step forward in advancing the goals of the Paris climate agreement. But he noted the new commitments for protecting tropical forests and their guardians will require significant political will on the part of governments and the support of the global economic and political sectors.  

“We hold the best carbon capture technology our planet has to offer—our forests,” said Katan, whose alliance brings together elected leaders from the world’s largest tracts of forests in Indonesia, Africa, and Latin America and represents 35 million forest communities. “The work to protect the planet’s future will only be successful in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities. We want to work with you to transform this world and to change people’s hearts. We are the solution you are looking for.” 

by Matt Aguiar