The Cultural Conservancy

2016 and 2017 Grantee

The Cultural Conservancy (TCC) is a native-led nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, CA, founded in 1985. Their mission is to protect and restore indigenous cultures, empowering them in the direct application of their traditional knowledge and practices on their ancestral lands.

How the program contributes to peace and social consciousness:

Native Youth Guardians of the Waters Program (GOTW) provides young adults an immersive indigenous-based educational experience designed to explore personal and collective identities in an urban context, and facilitate cultural, spiritual, and emotional healing through the revitalization of personal and inter-personal relationships to native lifeways, arts and traditions.

The GOTW program contributes to peace and social consciousness through its holistic approach which includes inter-tribal and inter-cultural sharing, and promotion of eco-cultural health. Through mindful practices, listening, dialogue and group processing, participants explore the connections between cultural healing and ecological health, as well as traditional and new arts.

How we collaborated

In 2019 Melissa K. Nelson, President and CEO of The Cultural Conservancy co-facilitated with the Peaceful World Foundation on the topic of Organizational Change. We explored the question; “how do we manage the change and growth of our organizational programs while adhering to our organization’s mission?”

In 2017 Maya Harjo, Food-Ways Coordinator from The Cultural Conservancy co-facilitated a conversation with our 2017 grantee, Sustainable Solano on the topic: The Joys of Connecting with the Earth where she highlighted the value in seeing our Earth as our Ancestor.

In 2016, Melissa and Nicola Wagenberg from The Cultural Conservancy co-facilitated a peaceful world conversation with our 2016 grantee, Circle of Ancestors, on the topic Bringing Peace into our Modern Lives. The highlights of the conversation included, sensing and valuing the importance of having gratitude for the things that give us life.

Later in 2016, Melissa and Nicola in collaboration with our 2016-2017 grantee, California Consortium of Urban Indian Health (CCUIH) lead the Water Prayer Gathering at El Polin Springs in San Francisco and the 2017 Autumnal Gathering in the Presidio.

We are deeply grateful for the support and friendship found with the staff at the Cultural Conservancy who were actively involved in our peace building efforts.