Sachamama (Quechua word, it means Mother Jungle)

Passionate people who share a common vision for a sustainable future have driven Sachamama from the beginning; this has been our biggest strength. We have achieved a great deal over the past six years through leveraging our existing relationships with individuals, 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, we are finalizing our start-up stage where core programs are already developed, and we are going into a growth phase where we will need to focus and invest in infrastructure (process & systems) to expand our impact across the U.S. The scale of the Elevate Prize would enable us to take our already proven work to the next level: i) to reach more people via larger campaigns, ii) to impact more communities through community-led solutions, iii) to increase our organizational capacity - currently one fulltime employee, and iv) to continue building the community support where sustainability is the cultural standard, individual actions are the engine of change, and where we all come together to honor and cherish our common home, the Pachamama.

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

After working on several environmental projects, I saw the vital need for more and better environmental information targeted to the Latinx community. In response, I co-founded Sachamama, a non-profit organization born to fill a unique niche - to increase climate information and opportunities for engagement to communities of color. Since then, the organization has developed over 10 media campaigns in partnership with Telemundo, Univision, and other outlets to educate and empower diverse communities, reaching over 80 million people in eight countries and spearheaded community-led climate solutions, generating over 25,250 leadership actions in the U.S.

In the next two years, we want to broaden our grassroots support by 50%, raise the need for climate action at a national and international level, and acquired the capacity to optimize and streamline our process to strategically and exponentially reach more people in the coming years.

Climate change is humanity’s greatest challenge, and widely affects environmental systems, public health, national security, food security, and water scarcity around the world. In the United States, Latinx are on the frontlines of these challenges, facing climate impacts and health threats where we live and work. Systemic disinvestments in these communities, where 30 million Latinx live, have made them the most contaminated and vulnerable areas in the nation. Florida, for example, home to 4.2 million Latinx, suffers some of the most severe climate-related threats: flooding, extreme heat, and water quality declines are some of the challenges ahead.

Although the 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 community-led solutions that promote equity, community ownership, and civic engagement. While at the same time, setting the ground for transparent long-term community relationships.

The commitments required to meet our climate challenges will be unique in their scope and scale, but agreements and policy alone will not get the job done; we are missing a deeper spiritual narrative that creates affiliation across diverse groups – differing backgrounds, belief systems, geographies, etc. – which binds us together in this human experience and builds actionable political will to create sustainable and regenerative communities.

 Sachamama brings a path forward rooted in science-based education, ancestral knowledge, and community ownership. It leverages its experience educating diverse leaders, its deep connections to the media industry, and its understanding of effective communications to foster renewed commitments that replace the failed narratives of the past - rooted in division and fear - with new awareness of love and interconnectedness with the natural world. We have accomplished this through educational campaigns, leadership development platforms, and the implementation of community-led environmental solutions. One example was through building defensible spaces in Washington-state communities to re-connect them to their land and help them live better with frequent wildfires due to climate change. We move communities’ narratives forward, where individuals do the self-exploration work needed to understand their relationship with nature and improve their quality of life.

At present, there is no other climate change organization focused on leveraging the power of Latinx communities through a more holistic and cultural approach. Sachamama’s ladder of engagement has two fronts – communications and community engagement.

We conduct large-scale communication campaigns, in partnership with media outlets and influencers, to inform the public on climate issues. To date, we have secured over 180 appearances on media, conducted 10 multiplatform campaigns, and reached millions of people nationwide. We then train and mobilize interested participants, at the community level. Through participatory learning processes, we tap into communities’ knowledge to advance community-led climate solutions. To date, 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 Latinx community. Elevating U.S. Latinx to press for climate action is critical to mobilizing the broader U.S. and global communities to push for faster results, which are essential to humanity’s long-term future.