Mission/Giving Statement: The Christensen Fund believes in the power of biological and cultural diversity to sustain and enrich a world faced with great change and uncertainty. Its mission is to buttress the efforts of people and institutions who believe in a biodiverse world infused with artistic expression and work to secure ways of life and landscapes that are beautiful, bountiful and resilient.
Grantmaking Program Areas: Landscapes, Livelihood & Foodways; Cultural Expression & Land; Education/Leadership/Networking
Grantmaking Program Area Descriptions:
Landscapes, Livelihood & Foodways: The persistence and adaptation of indigenous systems for managing landscapes that sustain cultural and biological value and diversity; and maintaining the diverse agricultural, hunting, gathering and cooking traditions that sustain community foodways, diets, livelihoods and wellbeing; including the traditional varieties of crops first domesticated in our geographic regions essential for the future of agriculture globally.
Cultural Expression & Land: Artistic and cultural expression--both traditional and contemporary--to maintain continuities of relationship with place and the experience of the natural world, including music, dance and associated expression.
Education/Leadership/Networking: "Bothways" education in indigenous societies that better enables people to access and value both heritage and innovation within their own societies, as well as engage richly with the rest of the world.
Application Instructions: Submit a pre-proposal via online form.
Notes: The Fund's Greater American Southwest founding covers the US Four Corners region and Northwest Mexico covering the Colorado Plateau and Delta, the Pueblo and Hispanic communities of the Rio Arriba/Rio Grande, the Sonoran Desert on both sides of the Mexican-US border (east of the Colorado River), and the Sierra Tarahumara.
