Sachamama

Born in Perú and raised in Colombia, Carlos Zegarra is a biologist with interdisciplinary training and over 10 years of experience in environmental communication strategies, media engagement, and community organizing.

After working on several environmental research projects, Carlos saw the vital need for more and better environmental information targeted to the Latinx community, given its deep vulnerability to climate threats. In response he co-founded and became executive director of Sachamama, a non-profit environmental organization which builds support for a clean economy for all. Under his leadership, the organization built a network of 200+ Latinx influencers who inform millions on climate issues, developed over 70 partnerships with organizations ranging from the UNFCCC to Telemundo, Univision and other media outlets to educate and empower diverse communities, and spearheaded local and international public environmental campaigns which reached over 80 million people in eight countries.

Climate change is the gravest threat facing the planet. Reducing or reversing climate impacts seems an overwhelming challenge, so large it has led to political paralysis in the United States and hampered international cooperation. Sachamama seeks to help solve the climate problem by engaging in education and action from the bottom up, focusing on the U.S. Latinx community. This community has both an increasing stake in this fight, by facing threats to livelihoods and health, and rising clout with which it can leverage change. Sachamama’s two projects are to: 1. conduct large-scale communication campaigns to inform the Latinx public on climate issues; and 2. train and mobilize leaders at the community level to develop local solutions.  Elevating U.S. Latinx to press for climate action is a stepping stone to mobilizing the broader U.S. and global communities to push for faster results, which are essential to humanity’s long-term future.

Latinx communities in the United States are increasingly and disproportionately affected by climate change.  Systemic disinvestments in these communities, where 30 million Latinx live, have made them the most contaminated and vulnerable areas in the nation. We as Latinx face climate impacts and health threats where we live and work. Florida, for example, home to 4.2 million Latinx, suffers some of the most severe climate-related threats in the country: flooding, extreme heat, water quality declines, and the spread of infectious diseases. Latinx across the country are on the frontlines of these challenges. 

Although the vast majority of Latinx in the United States have been concerned about climate impacts, no prior organization or initiative was able to engage the community at scale on the issue. Climate information, including a compelling message and tangible solutions, had not been presented in relatable ways to local communities. Communities lacked understanding, political involvement and influence, and answers to major concerns.  Sachamama works to redress these problems by presenting coherent and consistent information and coordinating development of local-led solutions that promote equity and environmental justice.  Given the regional scope of climate impacts, Sachamama is also working to educate Latinx communities across the hemisphere about climate challenges.   

Sachamama (Quechua for “Mother Jungle”) seeks to inform and activate Latinx and other citizens to build environmentally conscious, sustainable communities which nurture self-exploration, diversity, and civic participation. Grounded in our cultural heritage and with a growing network of media partners, local organizations and influencers, we use innovative, culturally sensitive ways of thinking, acting and partnering to catalyze community actions, change state-level policies and advance clean energy outcomes. We focus on two primary goals:

 First, we are supporting implementation of community-led climate solutions to build healthy, more resilient cities. Our Climate Innovation Lab, an eight-week climate solutions incubator, engages participants on local and global environmental issues by finding community-led solutions. CIL to date has trained 1210 climate leaders who have undertaken +25,250 leadership actions, among them writing op-eds and hosting meetings with elected officials.

 Second, we are changing the Latinx narrative on climate and sustainability issues by developing partnerships with Spanish media outlets, brands, and influencers. Our initiative Latinos por la Tierra generates targeted content to inform people on environmental challenges in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To date, our network has produced over 180 media appearances, conducted 10 multiplatform campaigns, and reached millions of people. 

Sachamama believes in the power of Latinx people to co-create a prosperous future, where sustainability and equality are at the center of decision making and communities unite in transitioning to more sustainable lifestyles.

In this sense Sachamama is a platform belonging to all of us, where we can make contributions and find resources to further our cause. Guided by this philosophy, we provide local communities with information and tools they need to become healthier and more resilient. Through educational campaigns and participatory learning, we help communities actively use their own knowledge to address environmental challenges they face, determine community resources, and implement community-led climate solutions.

We serve as a resource and a catalyst for #ClimateAction in local communities and on a national scale. Our ladder of engagement aims to develop groups of highly motivated individuals who will spearhead climate-based projects within local communities and build a base of engaged members to support them. Through a non-linear curriculum, interactive audiovisual resources, and role-playing techniques, leaders gain access to educational materials, leadership opportunities, and new skillsets. Our goal is to equip leaders to expand beyond the activist base to connect and civically engage underrepresented communities around climate solutions.

Climate change is humanity’s greatest current challenge, and widely affects environmental systems, public health, national security, food security, and water scarcity around the world. 

U.S. citizens are growing more concerned about climate change and more aligned on solutions. Climate advocates need larger constituencies to ensure progress, which is why Sachamama’s work to mobilize Latinx is critical. We are building a large, vibrant Latinx climate advocacy base, with mechanisms for Latinx to engage their communities and policymakers to drive practical climate solutions.  Our work positions the U.S. Latinx community as an essential contributor to meeting the national and global climate challenge. 

Sachamama incorporates science-based education, communications, and ancestral knowledge into one conscious climate platform. Co-founders Vanessa Hauc, Claudia Zegarra, and Carlos Zegarra began to develop the idea for Sachamama after visiting the Peruvian Amazon in 2010 to document ancestral practices, particularly environmental stewardship, in local communities. This journey changed their lives and sparked over 20 further trips to the region, partnerships with indigenous communities, and the early seeds of Sachamama.

These trips inspired the co-founders to find a way to communicate this vision of a new environmental culture rooted in interconnectedness and sustainability. After several years of working on environmental side projects, Vanessa as a journalist, Carlos as a marine biologist, and Claudia as an anthropologist, they were invited to a climate conference in New York City, where they heard from the UN IPCC’s top scientist about the state of the climate challenges to our planet.  The stark IPCC predictions, and their dire implications for vulnerable parts of the United States, were the last element in motivating Carlos, Vanessa and Claudia to found Sachamama, to better communicate climate science to, and generate solutions for, Latinx communities.

I am a marine biologist, born in Perú and raised in Colombia. Latino is who I am; my heritage is a strong source of my passion and commitment to this project. I believe in the power Latinx have to co-create a more prosperous and sustainable future for all, grounded in community values of connection to ourselves, each other, and nature.

I am also a deep, lifelong environmental advocate, which has both dictated my professional path and guided me in all aspects of my life. As a biologist, I worked on multiple environmental projects in Latin America and the United States. Through prior research, I witnessed first-hand the negative environmental impacts of climate change, such as the loss of Caribbean coral reefs due to ocean acidification and became frustrated by the lack of available tools to communicate this information to Latinx communities. As a father of three, I felt a profound responsibility to transmit my values and beliefs to my children and community, to inspire them to help create a sustainable future, rooted in interconnectedness and respect for nature.  In order to do this, I transitioned from research to developing ways to effectively communicate environmental information to Latinx communities.

Our work is local, bottom-up, collaborative and comprehensive. We build intrinsic leadership and civic capacity, organize community-led climate action, and inform citizens to engage them in pressing for change.  Our success hinges on our ability to build bridges between groups, for example national and frontline organizations, which have not traditionally worked together well.     

Since we founded Sachamama in 2014, I have led our climate communications and community engagement efforts in the United States and abroad. We have developed culturally sensitive strategies and media campaigns to generate community-led actions and build understanding of local climate impacts and solutions. We have trained 1210 climate leaders and registered +25,250 leadership actions.

We are uniquely qualified to expand upon these positive impacts given our track record and network, achieved with very limited resources:  

• We developed strong partnerships with media outlets and over 200 influencers, resulting in over 180 appearances on media, 10 multiplatform campaigns, and millions of people reached.  We continue to leverage this network to advance our campaigns.
• We developed over 70 local, state and international organizational partnerships, resulting in co-branded events with the United Nations, WWF, The Nature Conservancy, NRDC, C40, Climate Reality, and Ocean Conservancy.  We earned support for these events from former Vice President Al Gore, Chilean Minister of the Environment and COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, and former President of Ecuador Rosalía Arteaga.  These partnerships and relationships position us extremely well to expand our work into new areas, which is vital given the scope of the climate problem. 

In August 2019, a coalition of nonprofit, local, state and federal stakeholders brought Sachamama to Washington state to develop a framework for engaging and mobilizing communities of color to participate in wildfire adaptation. The first work phase was highly successful, building partnerships with media, business, and frontline communities.  We engaged over 250 individuals, trained 40 leaders in our eight-week solutions incubator, generated 18 community-led events, and incorporated three Latinx groups into the coalition.

Before the launch of the second phase in March 2020, however, COVID-19 hit Washington state, making it impossible to inform and mobilize communities in person due to social distancing recommendations. Within a month, we reworked the program into an online format, to maintain the linkage with the community during the disruption, connect stakeholders within the coalition, and reinforce the fire adaptation concepts. We produced over four hours of educational video content, divided into five modules, and uploaded this to an online learning platform.

The launched was a success, and as of late June 2020 we have 53 registered students who are working through the online content and meeting in weekly Zoom conferences to connect with participants and stakeholders, discuss the curriculum further, and find answers to questions.

In late 2018, I envisioned a platform to elevate and highlight the leadership of Latinx at COP25, the major UNFCCC annual international climate event. I lacked the resources to launch such a large-scale initiative, but had developed key partnerships which could help me build the momentum needed to present the idea to the COP25 presidency.

My plan was to elevate and galvanize known, effective leaders under a climate platform and bring them to COP25 to share their experiences and projects. I began by producing an interdisciplinary list highlighting the 100 global Latinx leaders committed to climate action. I then secured a partnership with Alooh, the largest advertising platform in Latin America. Together, we launched the biggest climate campaign the region has seen, covering eight countries and over 400 public displays. The campaign highlighted the message of COP25 through the 100 Latinx list.

I leveraged my backing from global leaders and the results of the regional climate campaign to present the platform to COP25 President Carolina Schmidt. She approved the idea and I worked over the next year on preparations, culminating in the successful “No Planet B Latino Summit” held at COP25 in Spain on December 3rd, 2019.

Sachamama was born to fill a unique niche in the non-profit marketplace, by increasing opportunities for engagement and providing new climate information to communities of color. Our work is based on the principles of Sumak-Kawsay (good-living), part of the Quechua cosmovision, which promotes harmony among people and between people and nature, and where local communities are at the center of decision-making. From this perspective we focus on solutions to help communities dismantle structural barriers to progress, build their resources, and improve their quality of life.

Our ladder of engagement begins with climate communications. Latinos por la Tierra brings together a unique network of influencers, media, brands, and audiences, to increase climate awareness and the social impact of our message, within the context of the partnership objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To date, we have secured over 180 appearances on media, conducted 10 multiplatform campaigns, and reached millions of people, all on very limited budgets.

We bring new activists to our Climate Innovation Lab, engaging participants to find community-led climate solutions. Through participatory learning processes, we tap into communities’ knowledge to address challenges they face, determine community resources, and advance community-led climate solutions. CIL is effective – as of June 2020 we have trained 1210 climate leaders and generated over 25,250 leadership actions. Our innovative combination of communication campaigns and local action, grounded in the sustainable philosophy of the Quechua people, has proven successful in reaching the U.S. Latinx community. 

Sachamama’s work is having a positive impact by investing in U.S. Latinx communities, who we seek to mobilize to leverage greater climate action across the United States, and thus increase benefits for the U.S. population, Latin Americans across the hemisphere, and the global environment. Latinx currently make up 18% of the U.S. population, and will grow to 24% of the population by 2065 - the largest minority group in the country*[1]. Sachamama has focused on Latinx communities because of their particular vulnerability to climate impacts and their increased interest in action. Localized threats faced by Latinx include risks of rising sea level, drought, damage to industries predominantly employing Latinx (ex. agriculture), and health impacts from air and water pollutants directly where they live*2.

Sachamama’s goal is to have its investments in leadership development and community organizing pay off by empowering the huge U.S. Latinx community (27.3 million voters in 2016) to push for climate action at all levels – local, state, federal and international.  Latinx can implement local changes, advocate for legislation, and use their market purchasing power, to leverage progress in weaning the economy away from carbon and toward greater sustainability. 

The Latinx community to date has lacked compelling climate messages from trusted leaders or institutions.  Communities facing local problems have not had solutions available addressing their needs, delivered by known and trusted people. Sachamama develops authentic voices and campaigns to highlight climate risks and help communities make informed decisions on climate issues. We provide leadership tools, networking skills, and know-how to find and implement community-led climate solutions across their communities, such as building defensible spaces in Washington communities to better prepare them for more frequent wildfires due to climate change.

Sachamama’s investments in these communities make them increasingly powerful voices pushing for change – empowering them to solve local climate problems and advocate for broader shifts at the national and global levels toward a zero-carbon economy.  Mobilizing the largest minority constituency in the United States to push for strong U.S. climate leadership is essential to humanity’s long-term ability to survive the climate challenge.

Sachamama serves the Latinx community in the United States and globally. We manage two separate workstreams, on climate communications and community engagement.

As of June 2020, we have trained 1210 climate leaders in the United States, who collectively have taken over 25,250 leadership actions. Through our communications arm, we have built a network of over 200 influencers, produced 10 multiplatform campaigns, and reached millions of people across eight countries. 

Currently, the Climate Innovation Lab (CIL) serves Latinx communities in the states of Washington and Florida. The CIL program is training and building the leadership of 53 participants and directly impacts over 300 families through the implementation of community-led solutions. Our Latinos por la Tierra network is running an educational campaign in partnership with Telemundo Network with an impact to date of 705,000 views on TV and over 300,000 views and 70,000 engagements via digital platforms. Over the next year, we anticipate training 200 additional leaders.

Our objective over the next five years is to train and empower 3000 new climate leaders.  These leaders will participate in a combination of in-person and virtual trainings. We also aim to support approximately 40 community-led local climate solutions and help launch 10-20 climate startups. Our communications platform will continue to produce educational and communications content for millions of Latinx viewers. Through our five-year partnership with Alooh alone, our campaigns are expected to garner over three billion impressions.

In the next year, Sachamama has three organizational goals:

1. Intensify and broaden grassroots support by 50%. We will continue our Climate Innovation Lab in Florida and Washington states. The CIL program will run four cycles per year/per state, to develop 200 new community leaders, implement eight new community-led solutions, and engage locals with over 30 outreach events.

2. Raise organizational visibility on the national and international level. In partnership with Telemundo and Planeta Tierra, we will launch a national campaign tied to the Ocean Climate Action report released by the U.S. Congress in July 2020. For international Ocean Month, we will also launch a campaign, in partnership with Race to Zero, supporting the 30X30 Initiative to protect 30% of ocean territory by 2030.

3. Secure increased annual funding for operational and program expenses. Sachamama has accomplished much on limited budgets.  To expand our impact, we will seek increased funding from existing and new supporting foundations, and will pilot a new social enterprise, the first nonprofit green marketing initiative, to bring in new unrestricted funding.

Within the next five years, we plan to expand CIL from a community-led solutions incubator to a platform supporting start-ups and entrepreneurs seeking to scale climate solutions in the marketplace. We will also complete the shift of our Latinos por la Tierra Network from a communications initiative into a social enterprise, building a sustainable model for brands, influencers, and media to intensify climate and sustainability conversations.

We in Sachamama face two major barriers over the next year, and three barriers over the next five years, to accomplishing our goals. While the climate emergency is clearly the greatest threat humanity faces, over the next year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will understandably occupy the attention of governments, publics and donors. This challenges us in possibly causing funding shortfalls, which would limit substantially our ability to support our climate solutions incubator and conduct other educational events. Apart from funding, the pandemic also threatens our ability to conduct in-person trainings and work to mobilize communities around local climate solutions, because of staff inability to travel, the continuing need for social distancing and/or because of competing urgent health and economic challenges faced by the communities.    

Over the next five years, we are optimistic Sachamama can retain its focus on the long-term climate emergency. However, we face a major long-term financing challenge if we are to scale our work further. We need additional funding to add more full-time staff beyond the Executive Director, finance our overhead expenditures, and expand the scope of our programs. We also anticipate the need to redesign our program models to fit future realities as communities’ needs change, and we will have to find inroads to continuing to educate Latinx about the pressing climate emergency when Latinx will face economic, healthcare, inequality, immigration status and other competing concerns in the near future. 

This year, despite the COVID-19 crisis, Sachamama has a stable balance sheet, and we expect it to remain solvent in the near future. In order to reach our goals, however, Sachamama needs additional resources, to maintain and expand the scope of our programming. We therefore continue to seek unrestricted funding and to solidify and leverage partnerships with current supporters to ensure funding is in place through the crisis. To overcome the challenge of limits on in-person training and engagement, we are piloting our eight-week solutions incubator as a virtual program in Washington state.  This has allowed us to maintain active participation by 53 local leaders. We hope to deploy the virtual training more broadly over the next year, as the COVID-19 crisis persists. 

Longer term, Sachamama has a strong development focus through its Executive Director and its network of supporters. Through this network, we continue to seek unrestricted funding to move beyond just one full-time paid staffer, manage our overhead expenditures and expand our capabilities and reach. We are also designing a new social enterprise model, in the form of a nonprofit marketing and media agency, through brand integration and content development, we will focus on delivering messages on climate change and the need to shift to a green economy, to audiences in the United States and beyond. This would create a new revenue model for Sachamama while educating new communities, particularly millennials, on the climate emergency.

We continually seek allies who can help transmit our message to broader audiences, doing so under UN Sustainable Development Goal #17, Partnerships for the Goals. Since our inception, we have established over 70 local, state, national and international partnerships, holding co-branded events with the United Nations, WWF, the Nature Conservancy, NRDC, C40, Climate Reality, and Ocean Conservancy, among other groups.  We have garned support for these events from internationally known leaders including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Chilean Environment Minister and COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, and former Ecuadorian President Rosalía Arteaga.

We have strong partnerships which we will continue to leverage to advance our community leadership and organizing efforts. Our CIL partners include The Nature Conservancy, Washington state, WAFAC - a coalition of 13 organizations in Washington, and others. We are also working on a new initiative, with Ocean Conservancy, the VoLo foundation, and Florida International University, which will address south Florida environmental and climate issues, including defining hotspots of plastic intakes into the Miami River.

Our media partnerships include campaigns with the U.S. and international Telemundo networks. Also, in June 2020 we launched a partnership with Race for Zero and Alooh, the largest advertising platform in Latin America, promoting the 30x30 Ocean Initiative. We project this will hold broadcasts in 10 countries and produce over 200 digital public displays in open spaces, to reach an estimated 150 million people with a message emphasizing the linkages between ocean health and climate change.    

Currently, Sachamama is supported by a funding model where we derive the majority of our revenue from partnerships and foundations. This revenue funds our community organizing and awareness campaigns for our key beneficiaries, Latinxs in the United States and Latin America. Latinx communities, particularly in the United States, have strong environmental concerns, and studies show they are particularly vulnerable to climate-related problems. U.S. Latinx want and need more and better targeted information and local solutions to such concerns. Our value proposition is to fill a unique niche in the non-profit marketplace, by providing this information and training leaders to find and implement local solutions.

We provide information to Latinx communities through our climate communications platform, which brings together a unique network of influencers, media, brands, and audiences, to increase climate awareness and the social impact of our message. Our climate solutions incubator trains new activists, engaging them in building community-led solutions. Both programs run in partnership with larger nonprofit groups interested in activating Latinx communities around environmental issues. These partnerships enable us to run our programs, but most of the funding is tied to program expenses, limiting our ability to build organizational capacity.  We, therefore, plan to strengthen our business model by launching a new social enterprise, or “nonprofit green marketing agency,” to supplement our revenue to build the organization (see more detail below).

First, Sachamama will continue to focus on securing revenue via partnerships with existing nonprofit organizations and foundations. To build initial organizational capacity, all of our new partnerships develop a joint workplan under a Learning Exchange (LE) framework. The objective of an LE is to share expertise and organizational knowledge to strengthen capacity and advance each organization’s mission beyond merely coordination on specific projects. Each LE includes a requirement to help build development capacity within Sachamama.

Second, to expand our revenue stream and strengthen our long-term financial sustainability, we are launching an innovative new social enterprise, the first “nonprofit green marketing agency” to cater to sustainable businesses. This will be the first platform bringing together media, influencers, brands, and nonprofits to raise awareness and encourage action among Latinx audiences around the world, within the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The agency will leverage our video production expertise, existing relationships with influencers, and media partners to provide original content and brand integration services at a reasonable cost to sustainable brands, helping them expand their message, while together cultivating sustainable attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyles. Additional revenue from the agency remaining after operational costs will be allocated to Sachamama’s unrestricted funds.  

We have piloted this model at a small scale for the past two years, and have multiple successful case studies. 

Sachamama’s funding model is supported by two main sources of revenue: Grants and Partnerships. Over the past 12 months we have received the following funds:

•       Grants.

The VoLo Foundation $60,000 – Sep 2019 (25k), Nov 2019 (35k)

Lush – Charity Pot $15,600 – Dec 2019 (15.6k)

Goodwin Simon Strategies $24,900 – Nov 2019 (24.9k)

Resources Legacy Fund $25,000 – Jun 2020 (25k)                          

•       Partnerships.

The Nature Conservancy $90,000 – Aug 2019 (45k), Dec 2019 (45k)

Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council $90,000 – Jan 2020 (25k), Mar 2020 (25k), Jun 2020 (45k)

Total Expenses                      

Programs                                                                                Annual

The Big Blue Initiative (BBI)                                                    $87,791.50

Climate Innovation Lab (CIL)                                                  $193,183.00

Total Program Expenses                                                         $280,974.50

Administrative Cost                                                              $55,159.50

Grand Total                                                                          $336,134.01

Program Expenses (Direct Costs)                 

BBI                                                                                         Annual

Program Management                      

Executive director                                                                 $16,222.75

Fringe benefits                                                                      $3,618. 75

Subtotal                                                                               $19,841.50   

CIL Curriculum/Logistics       

Location                                                                                $9,000.00

Food and beverage                                                                 $4,050.00

A/V                                                                                        $1,000.00

Monthly materials                                                                   $750.00

Travel expenses                                                                      $4,650

Marketing and promotion                                                         $1,000.00

Subtotal                                                                                 $20,450.00   

Organizing, Mobilization, Local Actions                   

Communications/ Digital/social media/content                       $31,000.00

Partnerships                                                                           $6,000.00

Project implementation (1 local solutions)                              $4,000.00

Local Mobilizations                                                                 $5,000.00

Subtotal                                                                                 $46,000.00            

Research and Measurement   

Subtotal                                                                                 $1,500.00

TOTAL BBI                                                                             $87,791.50         

CIL (2 STATES: FL – WA)                    

Program Management                      

Executive director                                                                   $32,445.50

Fringe benefits                                                                        $7,237.50

Subtotal                                                                                 $39,683.00                      

CIL Curriculum/Logistics                   

Location                                                                                  $18,000.00

Food and beverage                                                                  $26,100.00

A/V                                                                                        $2,000.00

Monthly materials                                                                   $3,000.00

Travel expenses                                                                      $9,300.00

Insurance - Annually                                                               $2,500.00

Marketing and promotion                                                        $3000.00

Subtotal                                                                                $63,900.00                        

Organizing, Mobilization, Local Actions

Communications/ Digital/social media/content                      $45,600.00

Project implementation (8 local solutions)                              $32,000.00

Fellowships – CIL Lead                                                           $4000.00

Curriculum and Toolkits                                                         $5000.00

Subtotal                                                                               $86,600.00

Research and Measurements                       

Subtotal                                                                               $3,000.00

TOTAL CIL                                                                            $193,183.00                         

Administrative Cost (Indirect Costs)                                 

Personnel       

Executive director                                                               $16,222.75

Fringe benefits                                                                    $3,618. 75

Subtotal                                                                              $19,841.50      

Non-personnel                  

Business development expenses                                           $4,200.00        

Box                                                                                    $4,320.00  

Classy                                                                                $2,388.00 

EveryAction - CRM Software                                                $4,800.00        

Xero - Accounting software                                                 $ 540.00    

Gusto - Payroll software                                                     $870.00            

Office equipment                                                               $8,200.00 

Accounting QTLY reviews and audits                                   $10,000.00     

Subtotal                                                                             $35,318.00

Total overhead                                                                  $55,159.50

Passionate people who share a common vision on climate and sustainability have driven Sachamama from the beginning; this has been our biggest strength. We have achieved a great deal over the past six years through generous in-kind contributions from individuals, leveraging our existing relationships with media networks and influencers, and limited resources from nonprofit organizations and foundations. We will continue to operate a lean budget by leveraging this in-kind support.

Sachamama is poised to do much more, and dramatically increase our reach and impact, but this will require substantial additional resources and new partnerships.  The scale and prestige of the Elevate Prize would provide us with the ability to exponentially expand the scope of our work further across the U.S. and hemispheric Latinx communities.  Elevate Prize resources would allow us to overcome the barriers we face in the coming years, in enabling us to compensate for potential COVID-19 caused funding shortages, to reach more people via larger campaigns, to increase our capabilities by expanding our full time leadership team staff, and to restructure our models in keeping with evolving Latinx community urgent economic, environmental and social priorities.  Early stage funding via the Elevate Prize would enable us to take our already proven work to the next level.

Sachamama will continue to focus on UN Sustainable Development Goal 17 - Partnerships for the Goals. Whether we are collaborating at an individual organizational level or through large partnerships between groups, harnessing the strengths and abilities of value-aligned groups from different corners of our ecosystem has been key to our success in executing our programs and positioning our work on platforms ranging from local to international.

Moving forward, we would like to reach broader communities and expand our international presence. To achieve this, we will seek stronger partnerships with media outlets like Telemundo, Univision, El Pais, and CNN en Español and build a deeper relationship with the UNFCCC.

Media partners have been instrumental in our work. We are currently building the next phase of our communications initiative, Latinos por la Tierra, Red Climática de Medios. This will be the largest Spanish-speaking media climate network, working to increase media coverage and generate targeted content on climate change and sustainable development at a global scale. This will highlight the issue of climate change while helping deliver our message to broader audiences.

With the UNFCCC, we would like to co-host our initiative the No Planet B Latino Summit at COP26 in Glasgow, UK. Last year, we launched our summit as an official event of COP25 in partnership with the Government of Chile (holding the COP presidency), COP25, and CC35. This will allow us to elevate the leadership of Latinx at the most important annual global climate change event.