The Rising Foundation https://therisingfoundation.org Cooperating for a Better Tomorrow Thu, 29 Jan 2026 19:45:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://therisingfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/favicon2.png The Rising Foundation https://therisingfoundation.org 32 32 Belltower Commoning https://therisingfoundation.org/2025/11/12/composters-2/ Wed, 12 Nov 2025 16:10:27 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=3074 Belltower Commoning is a multi-stakeholder real estate cooperative in the Rondout Valley of Ulster County, NY. Our vision is to create community-owned and governed spaces that are free from speculative market pressures and nurture the local community and ecology. This initiative seeks to foster community self-determination and stewardship by developing real estate practices that promote connection, liberation, and care. Ultimately, it intends to provide secure access to land and property for all, especially those systematically excluded, and inspire new models of non-extractive relationships with communities and the Earth. We intend this to serve as a model for development elsewhere and will openly share our process and resources with the movement.

]]> Compostars https://therisingfoundation.org/2025/11/12/composters/ Wed, 12 Nov 2025 15:13:12 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=3071 The Bionutrient Food Association is hosting a series of strategic convenings in Europe, North America, and Australia, bringing together thought leaders from agriculture, nutrition, business, and related fields. These events will offer opportunities for expert insight, refinement of our strategy, and formal coalition-building – inviting key stakeholders to provide guidance, endorse and actively support our approach to defining nutrient density, in order to improve the quality in the food supply.

]]> Bionutrient Food Association https://therisingfoundation.org/2025/07/21/bionutrient-food-association-2/ Mon, 21 Jul 2025 00:00:52 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2920 The Bionutrient Food Association is hosting a series of strategic convenings in Europe, North America, and Australia, bringing together thought leaders from agriculture, nutrition, business, and related fields. These events will offer opportunities for expert insight, refinement of our strategy, and formal coalition-building – inviting key stakeholders to provide guidance, endorse and actively support our approach to defining nutrient density, in order to improve the quality in the food supply.

]]> Fresh Approach https://therisingfoundation.org/2025/07/18/fresh-approach/ Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:00:19 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2928 Fresh Approach collaborates with communities and farmers to increase access to locally grown food, culturally relevant nutrition education, and urban agriculture—rooted in the belief that everyone deserves nourishing food and the knowledge to support their well-being. We do this through Mobile and Traditional Farmers’ Markets with accompanying incentives programs, trauma-informed VeggieRx nutrition workshops, and community-based agriculture programs. 

This grant will support monthly, hands-on cooking and nutrition classes at Bay Area food pantries, where participants will learn how to prepare and preserve culturally relevant produce. Each class includes VeggieRx vouchers to help families access fresh fruits and vegetables at local farmers’ markets. Participants will also be invited to join a 16-week bilingual “Food as Medicine” online series, providing deeper insights into nutrition and chronic disease prevention. To build long-term sustainability, the project includes a train-the-trainer model to equip pantry staff and community leaders to deliver culturally responsive nutrition education. Together, these efforts will reach ~170 households, increase access to healthy and locally-grown food, and strengthen community-based food systems through education, empowerment, and dignity.

]]> AfriPeace https://therisingfoundation.org/2025/04/11/afripeace/ Fri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:06 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2934 The 2025 Afripeace Youth Cultural Exchange Program will empower Sacramento-area high school students through peace and conflict resolution education and a 10-day cultural exchange to Ghana. By emphasizing cooperative, humanitarian, and diversity principles, this immersive experience fosters respect, compassion, cross-cultural understanding, leadership, global connections, and civic engagement through educational excursions, community service, and cultural activities with Ghanaian peers and leaders.

]]> Doula For The People https://therisingfoundation.org/2025/04/02/doula-for-the-people/ Wed, 02 Apr 2025 00:00:40 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2925 The Bionutrient Food Association is hosting a series of strategic convenings in Europe, North America, and Australia, bringing together thought leaders from agriculture, nutrition, business, and related fields. These events will offer opportunities for expert insight, refinement of our strategy, and formal coalition-building – inviting key stakeholders to provide guidance, endorse and actively support our approach to defining nutrient density, in order to improve the quality in the food supply.

]]> Modern Family Institute https://therisingfoundation.org/2025/01/02/modern-family-institute/ Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:00:22 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2909 TThe Modern Family Institute will contribute to several events aimed at advancing cooperative and community-centered housing initiatives. We will co-host the third-annual Community Living Wisdom Exchange: a two-day conference for community members, nonprofit organizations, architects, urban designers, housing lawyers, builders, and folks redesigning financial systems to explore the practicalities and possibilities of community-based housing models. Through a vibrant mix of discussions, workshops, panels, storytelling, and organic connections, we aim to consolidate and share practical skills and inspiring ideas related to community-centered housing.

The Modern Family Institute will also participate in an intensive 3-day workshop hosted by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Economy and Society called “Beyond Yimbism,” bringing together policymakers, scholars, and practitioners from the housing space to identify actionable strategies to further the development of pluralistic housing models in the United States. The Institute’s Executive Director, Dr. Lily Lamboy, will work with workshop participants to distill the conference’s findings into actionable strategies to make cooperative housing more accessible, understood, and widely adopted by uncovering innovative housing designs, addressing policy barriers, and providing practical tools for immediate use.

The Institute will host regular Cooperative Housing Fairs around the Bay Area to make these housing models more clear to the public and connect community members with opportunities to identify concrete housing possibilities. 

]]> Sustainable Economies Law Center https://therisingfoundation.org/2024/12/12/sustainable-economies-law-center/ Thu, 12 Dec 2024 00:00:05 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2907 Based on extensive evaluations, feedback and discussions with our community partners in the Nonprofit Democracy Network, the Sustainable Economies Law Center came to recognize that one of the most substantial barriers to successful democratic self-management within social justice movement organizations are internal conflicts and the lack of skill and capacity to manage those conflicts. To create self-organizing, Sociocratic and democratic, thriving organizations, we need to build our conflict resilience skills and capacities. Through the Rising Foundation’s generous support, we were able to create and fund the Conflict Resilience Council for solidarity economy and social movement organizations.

]]> Children of the Rainforest https://therisingfoundation.org/2024/08/22/children-of-the-rainforest-2/ Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:45 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2903 Children of the Rainforest (COTR) is a U.S. based nonprofit operating as an
Indigenous Language and Education Fund serving the Yawanawa people of the Amazon
rain forest in Acre, Brazil. COTR is on a mission to help the Yawanawa save their critically
endangered language and strengthen their cultural traditions.

The Nuke Tsãi Initiative is an Indigenous-led three year project by Children of the Rainforest and Chief Isku Kua Yawanawa in partnership with First Languages AI Reality (FLAIR) Initiative by IndigiGenius and Mila. FLAIR utilizes immersive AI technology to create Automatic Speech Recognition models, the likes of Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, tailored to revitalizing endangered languages with scarce linguistic resources and limited speakers. Nuke Tsãi Initiative, the first iteration of FLAIR outside of the United States, will harness AI to revitalize the critically endangered Yawanawa language. The Nuke Tsãi Initiative is centered at Isku Vakehuhu, Yawanawa Traditional School located in New Hope Village in Acre, Brazil, within the 500,000-acre Amazon rainforest reserve of the Yawanawa people.

]]> Future Whenua https://therisingfoundation.org/2024/06/22/future-whenua/ Sat, 22 Jun 2024 13:50:42 +0000 https://therisingfoundation.org/?p=2829 TThe Future Whenua Collective is an innovative initiative focused on regenerating the land and fostering deep community connections across Aotearoa, New Zealand. It operates on a cohort model, selecting ten proven regenerative leaders to engage in a 10-week learning journey, culminating in a three-day gathering. This process involves collaborative discussions, skill-sharing, and the creation of an archival video pitch for each project. Funded participants receive $1,000 for their time, with an additional financial pool distributed through sociocratic decision-making. Inspired by the need for grassroots-driven environmental stewardship and resource allocation methods, the Collective aims to build a bioregional fund, attracting significant philanthropic support to empower local communities and enhance ecological resilience. This initiative embodies the principles of sustainability, collaboration, and holistic care for both the land, its people, and our kin, envisioning a future where interconnected efforts lead to a thriving, regenerative society.

]]>