Our Partners

 

Strong Leaders.

Stronger Communities.

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Brazil National Congress Representative

Célia Xakriabá is a teacher, poet, and activist from the Xakriabá people in the Cerrado biome of Brazil. She is one of the founders of the National Association of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA) and a leading member of the Indigenous women’s movement in Brazil. She also helped to create the “Reforesting Minds” movement based… Read more »

Célia Xakriabá

Célia Xakriabá is a teacher, poet, and activist from the Xakriabá people in the Cerrado biome of Brazil. She is one of the founders of the National Association of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA) and a leading member of the Indigenous women’s movement in Brazil. She also helped to create the “Reforesting Minds” movement based on Indigenous ancestry and wisdom which advocates for a change in consciousness among the global public about planetary preservation.

Himalayan Trust Nepal

One of Grand Circle Foundation’s strongest and most enduring partnerships is with the Himalayan Trust Nepal. The partnership began in 1993, with a focus on improving education, and our donations total $793,499 to date. The next project we are supporting will provide $40,988 in funding for the Shree Juving Secondary School in the Mapya Dudhkoshi… Read more »

Mingma Norbu Sherpa

The leader of the Himalayan Trust Nepal is busy planning and celebrating the Centenary of Sir Edmund Hillary. Our interview will be posted soon.

International Funders for Indigenous People

With a population of more than 370 million in 90 countries—and a culture of self-help, innovation, and sharing—indigenous peoples can be invaluable contributors toward solving today’s most pressing problems, including climate change, biodiversity preservation, and sustainable management of natural resources. For 17 years, International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) has sought to build mutually beneficial… Read more »

Lourdes Inga

Of Quechua heritage from Peru, Lourdes Inga was born in Lima and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years. A career in philanthropy culminated in her joining the board of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP). She now serves as Executive Director.

OnePlanet

Assisting indigenous and traditional communities in the creation of sustainable development projects that help to generate income without jeopardizing their biological and cultural resources. We have partnered with One Planet NGO to support the Maijuna community to raise stingless bees in the Amazon. Amazonian stingless bees produce a type of honey that is highly valued for… Read more »

Michael Gilmore

Community organization and well-being, biocultural conservation, and responsible development are the goals of OnePlanet, a nonprofit that partners with indigenous and traditional communities to build a more sustainable world. An Associate Professor of Integrative Studies at George Mason University, Mike Gilmore is also the president and founder of OnePlanet. He shares his thoughts on the organization’s community-driven activities, including a stingless beekeeping project in the Peruvian Amazon supported by Grand Circle Foundation.

San Francisco Microfarm

Grand Circle Foundation has partnered with the San Francisco Chachagua School in Costa Rica to create a sustainable microfarm that not only feeds 184 students breakfast, lunch, and sometimes even dinner, but it also impacts the entire community with its surplus food supply and lifelong lessons in sustainable agriculture. Funding was provided to purchase the… Read more »

Eulin Chacon

As the principal of the San Francisco School for 21 years, Eulin Chacon has been a leader in making the microfarm a success. Grand Circle Foundation has partnered with the San Francisco Chachagua School to create a sustainable microfarm that not only feeds 184 students breakfast, lunch, and sometimes even dinner, but it also impacts the entire community with its surplus food supply and lifelong lessons in sustainable agriculture.

Serengeti De-snaring Project

The Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania is a world-renowned natural landscape. The Great Migration of wildebeests, zebras, and Thomson’s gazelles that takes place there is the largest hoofed mammal migration on earth. With resilient populations of predators and iconic wildlife such as elephants, giraffes, and rhinos, the Serengeti National Park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. … Read more »

Willy Chambulo

Willy grew up in a mud hut in a small village in Northern Tanzania. His parents could only afford 7 years of formal education, after which Willy headed to Arusha to work as a mechanic. He worked his way up and went on to create the best safari business in the country.

Shake Hands with the World

Grand Circle Foundation (GCF) partners with Shake Hands With the World to provide additional support to the Duc Son Orphanage in Hue, Vietnam, also known as the Minh Tu Orphanage. GCF has funded projects at the orphanage since 2002, and was happy to collaborate with Shake Hands with World on a project to provide a… Read more »

Gregg Marston

The owner and retired president and CEO of VBT Bicycling & Walking Vacations, Gregg Marston and his wife Caroline were on a tour of Vietnam with a small group of VBT travelers when they came upon the Duc Son orphanage in the city of Hué. They were instantly moved by the children they met there and decided to do what they could to help them. That determination led them to create Shake Hands with the World.

Shuar People of Ecuador

Josefina Tunki lives and travels in the heart of the Cordillera del Condor from where thousands of tons of gold and copper are extracted. She is the first female president of the Shuar People in Ecuador. In recent years, she has become the Indigenous leader who is the face of the anti-mining struggle in her… Read more »

Josefina Tunki

Wine to Water

Grand Circle Foundation and the Lewis Family Foundation have funded $1,101,125 to Wine to Water to support our WASH (Water, And Sanitation, Hygiene) initiative. Launched in 2015,  the goal is for every school and village we support to have access to an adequate supply of clean water, and toilets that meet or exceed local standards…. Read more »

Doc Hendley

Doc Hendley dreamed up the concept of Wine To Water while bartending and playing music in nightclubs around Raleigh, NC. In February 2004, Doc held his first fundraiser. And by August, he was living halfway around the globe in Sudan, Africa installing water systems for victims of the government-supported genocide.