Nia Tero Foundation

About Nia Tero Foundation

A defining thread in Nia Tero Foundation’s recent grantmaking is direct support for Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship of lands, waters, and oceans. The foundation backs that work across stewardship, rights protection, governance, capacity building, and communications, with grants that range from operating support to project-specific awards. Recent funding shows a mix of large commitments and mid-sized community grants, including $644,000 to Amazon Frontlines for Indigenous guardianship in the Amazon and $350,000 to One Reef Worldwide Stewardship for Indigenous guardianship in the Pacific Islands. The foundation also supports global policy and advocacy, Indigenous-led security, and research or knowledge-sharing efforts tied to Indigenous leadership. Its grantmaking reaches Indigenous communities and organizations through both direct funding and intermediaries, including awards for community stewardship, protection funds, and storytelling work. The pattern is consistent with a funder focused on Indigenous-led approaches rather than general conservation alone. Several grants also show support for place-based work in the Amazon, Micronesia, Papua, Vanuatu, and North America, along with efforts that connect Indigenous practice, governance, and planetary health.

What Nia Tero Foundation Funds

Indigenous guardianship is the center of the portfolio. Nia Tero Foundation gave $500,000 to Conservation Agreement Fund for Indigenous-led conservation efforts and $200,000 to Indian Law Resource Center Inc for safeguarding Indigenous peoples, lands, and natural resources. It also supported rights and advocacy work with $223,089 to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for Indigenous-led global policy and advocacy. The foundation funds ocean and island stewardship as a separate strand. One Reef Worldwide Stewardship received $350,000 for traditional stewardship for ocean protection in Micronesia and another $350,000 for Indigenous guardianship in the Pacific Islands. New York Botanical Garden received $140,000 for forest guardianship in Vanuatu, showing that the portfolio includes island and forest protection work linked to Indigenous governance. Cultural continuity and knowledge transfer also appear in the grants. Blackfeet Eco Knowledge received $296,230 for Indigenous curriculum, language intensive, and buffalo reintroduction, and Pacific Resources for Education and Learning received $200,000 for a North Pacific Indigenous ways education pilot.

How Nia Tero Foundation Gives