Foster leadership. Strengthen organizations. Protect and restore Indigenous territories.

Across Panama, Indigenous communities work every day to defend their territories, protect and restore their forests and biodiversity, preserve their cultures, and build sustainable livelihoods.

But lasting conservation requires more than good projects. It requires strong Indigenous leadership and strong Indigenous organizations. They are at the heart of Native Future’s mission.

For more than 20 years, Native Future has worked alongside Indigenous communities in Panama.  We have learned that short-term training alone is not enough. Lasting change requires sustained investment in resilient leadership, culturally-grounded governance, and organizational independence. 

This is why Native Future has launched the Indigenous Learning and Leadership Program.

Securing Their Future

Our Indigenous partners are doing extraordinary work - but their organizations are operating with very limited capacity.

FUNDEPW and the Wounaan National Congress are critical to defending seven untitled Wounaan communities and more than 50,000 hectares of forest. Yet, the FUNDEPW struggles to keep its office doors open, and employ the leadership needed to carry forward its work.

 Geo Indigena provides Indigenous communities with     essential mapping, geographic information, and visualization   services. Its work extends across more than 500,000 hectares in the Darién alone. Their technical skills are in high   demand; but its small team needs greater organizational and administrative capacity to respond.

FUDEN, the first Indigenous-led non-profit in the Nürüm District of the Ngäbe Buglé Comarca, is building an organization from the ground up to respond to the growing food insecurity climate change presents. Its Board is developing the skills and systems needed to effectively govern and lead a nonprofit organization.

Our Ask

A generous donor is seeding the Learning and Leadership Fund with a $100,000 donation. We need your help to match it.

Your contribution will help Native Future:

• Foster strong Indigenous leadership through culturally grounded education, training, and mentorship.
• Strengthen Indigenous organizational governance, planning, financial management, and the communication of their good work.
• Build sustainable fundraising capacity within FUNDEPW, Geo Indigena, FUDEN, and Native Future.
• Create greater independence so the organizations can continue protecting their territories long after individual grants end.

Indigenous peoples don't need someone to do the work for them. They need the tools, sustained leadership, and capacity to do it themselves —and maintain it for the long term.

Thank you for giving today.

To carry out this work will require more support than this initial challenge. Native Future is working to secure commitments from foundations to bring the total Learning & Leadership Fund to $500,00 by the end of 2027.

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Prefer to donate by mail? 
Send a check to: Native Future, PO Box 143, Portland, ME 04112-0143