Opening Keynote + Plenary | Integrated Capital Main Stage Event | Closing Keynote + Plenary | Field Days | Key Takeaways | Continue the Conversation | Forum Gallery
A Transformative Gathering to Redefine the Future of Food Systems Philanthropy
The 2025 Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) Forum was a groundbreaking event on the sacred lands of Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. More than 360 attendees—from 39 states, Puerto Rico, and the UK—came together for SAFSF’s largest and first-ever sold-out conference. This one-of-a-kind convergence challenged assumptions and amplified bold strategies to address the intersecting crises of our time—climate disruption, health inequities, and capital misalignment.
Over four days, funders, investors, community leaders, farmers, and advocates gathered to explore what SAFSF Executive Director, Clare Fox, described as “funding praxis— the theories and practices of how we move philanthropic and other impact capital to create systems change in food and agriculture.” This year’s theme—Resilience, Justice, and Democracy—feels especially urgent as we navigate challenging times. Acknowledging the current dismantling of federal funding and attacks on immigrant communities, civil liberties, and Tribal sovereignty, and inviting the notion that “every breakdown holds the seed of a breakthrough,” Clare urged us to unite as allies, pooling our resources to protect communities and forge a new, justice-centered food and agriculture paradigm.
Our Forum Journey
The Forum’s main stage hosted three powerful main stage events and two incredible keynote speakers that framed our theme of Resilience, Justice, and Democracy.
Opening Plenary: All Our Relatives: Reflections on Resilience
The conference opened with a grounding keynote from Native rights leader and climate justice advocate Jade Begay. She presented a historical and cultural grounding to the land of the Tewa peoples, including the way the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 shapes modern-day New Mexico. She offered the perspective that “the greatest gift we can offer is not charity, but solidarity.” The keynote address flowed into a panel of all Native American local leaders, called “All Our Relatives: Reflections on Resilience”, moderated by Dr. Amanda Montoya, Executive Director of the Chamiza Foundation. Phoebe Suina, Owner and President of High Water Mark, LLC, and her uncle Dr. Joseph Suina, Former Governor of Cochiti Pueblo and Professor at the University of New Mexico, joined with Jade Begay and Dr. Montoya to explore Indigenous understandings of resilience through themes of “land as relative, not resource,” community responsibility, Tribal sovereignty, and the opportunities and financial burdens that can come with returning land to Tribes and Native communities. Weaving traditional knowledge with contemporary challenges, the panelists offered a vision of climate justice rooted in cultural preservation, collective well-being, and reciprocal relationships with the earth.
Integrated Capital Main Stage Event
Moderated by Julie Menter, Program Director at Transform Finance, this plenary featured Mark Watson, CEO/Co-Founder of Potlikker Capital, Rudy Espinoza, CEO, Inclusive Action for the City (CDFI) and Steering Committee member for Equitable Food Oriented Development (EFOD), Kathleen Simpson, CEO of The Russell Family Foundation, and Renske Lynde, General Partner at 1st Course Capital, in a dynamic conversation on how funders can harness the full capital spectrum to influence the market economy and catalyze regenerative and equitable food, agriculture, and values-driven economic systems. Following the discussion, Anthony Chang, Partner, Manzanita Capital Collective, Avery Anderson-Sponholtz, directs philanthropy for the #NoRegrets Initiative, Yolunda Harrell, Co-Founder and CEO, New Hill Development Corporation, and Katherine Pease, Managing Director, Pathstone, presented tangible case studies for how integrated capital not only unlocks more resources for impact but also models the possibilities for new forms of community-led solutions to scale.
View Yolunda’s full presentation here.
Closing Plenary: “What Time Is It On The Clock Of The World?”
Diverse movement leaders in conversation with funders closed the conference with a reflection on “What Time Is It On the Clock of the World?” This profound question—originally posed by revolutionary food sovereignty leaders Grace Lee Boggs and Jimmy Boggs—challenges us to locate ourselves within the broader arc of social transformation and the path to justice. Malik Yakini, founder of the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network, offered a rousing keynote address that reminded us that understanding the historical moment is essential to creating the just food systems our communities deserve. Baba Malik joined fellow movement leaders and panelists Dãnia Davy, Owner, Land & Liberation, Samir Doshi, Director of Just Transitions, CS Fund, and Paula Garcia, Executive Director, New Mexico Acequia Association, for a conversation moderated by Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, Land and Agriculture Policy Officer, Thornburg Foundation. Panelists reflected on the urgency of this political moment—marked by rising authoritarianism and climate crisis—and called on funders to engage in visionary organizing to defend democracy, reimagine food and farming systems, and invest in resilient, multiracial movements for justice.
View Malik’s full presentation here.
Workshops, Learning Dinners, and Networking
21 expert-led breakout workshops across themes of climate, health, capital strategies, funder praxis, and more created spaces for deep learning, featuring over 100 speakers, moderators, and organizers who brought their lived experiences and expertise to every conversation. Sample sessions include:
- Food As Medicine: Healing Our Bodies, Healing the Earth
- Uplifting Farmworkers’ Justice and Health: Countering Threats and Advancing Rights
- Everything Everywhere All at Once: Black Agrarian Feminists Weigh In
- Action on Agrochemicals: Intersections of Climate, Health, Agriculture, and Justice
- Accelerating Food Systems Transformation Through Impact Investing
- State Leadership in Advancing Agriculture Policy Amid Federal Uncertainty
11 Learning Dinners fostered more intimate connections. Topics included:
- Engineering the Farm: What Should We Know About Ag Tech
- From Water to Table: Integrating Blue Foods into Food Systems Change
- My Story, My Voice: Centering Grantee Storytelling in Reporting
- How Movements are Liberating Investment in the Food and Farm Ecosystem
4 Climate Lightning Talks covering a range of topics, including:
- Beyond Factory Farms: Real Climate Solutions for Animal Agriculture
- Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Fertilizer Production and Use: Educating Policymakers
- Shifting Our Food System Requires Shifting Culture
- The Methane “Emergency Brake”: Fast Action to Fight Climate Change
7 SAFSF member-led networking sessions for regrantors, investors, health funders, and climate partners, as well as interactive sessions on sustaining Indigenous food systems and movement building, these sessions became seedbeds for future collaborations and mutual support.
Field Days
Field-based learning opportunities provided Forum attendees with experiential learning “in the field” and with community. Seven full and half-day field visits took participants beyond conference walls to witness the incredible work happening on the ground in New Mexico.
Acequia Field Day: Water, Community, and Local Food Systems immersed participants in New Mexico’s centuries-old acequia system, where the principle el agua es vida, water is life, guides a powerful movement to protect and share irrigation water through community governance. A visit to a 400-year old working acequia farm, paired with dialogue led by elders and youth acequia leaders, sparked rich conversations on the intersection of water rights, climate resiliency, and local democratic governance. Hosted by New Mexico Acequias Association.
Reshaping Tribal Buffalo Food Systems: Mobile Field Harvest Trailer Demonstration showcased how Tribes are reclaiming food sovereignty through a innovative mobile field harvest trailer, developed through a groundbreaking collaboration between the Intertribal Buffalo Council and USDA. This mobile processing trailer honors Indigenous values by allowing buffalo to be processed on traditional lands in a ceremonial way rather than through commercial facilities. Presented by the Intertribal Buffalo Council, Tribal Buffalo Lifeways Collaboration, World Wildlife Fund, and the Pueblo of Pojoaque Bison Program.
Tribal Food Systems and Food Is Medicine in New Mexico highlighted how community-based Food is Medicine programs like the New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association’s FreshRx can collectively strengthen Tribal food sovereignty, community health outcomes, and local economies. Featuring a visit to Black Mesa Farm on San Felipe Pueblo, where Bryce Townsend grows FreshRx produce, a tour of the Indian Pueblo Entrepreneurial Complex (IPEC), where FreshRx produce packages are prepared, and a panel of experts who make FreshRx implementation and distribution possible, attendees gained insight into the compounding benefits that produce prescription programs bring to the food system. Hosted by New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association and sponsored by: #NoRegrets Initiative, the Lydia B. Stokes Foundation.
Agri-Cultura Cooperative Network – A Community Driven Model Addressing Food Justice showcased a powerful, community-driven model of regenerative agriculture and food justice. Featuring visits to their farm training program, cooperative farm, and aggregation facility, all rooted in the South Valley’s rich legacy of ancestral farming and collective care for land, food, and community. Hosted and sponsored by Agri-Cultura Cooperative Network.
Public Education to Transform Food Systems: The Story of Garden of Dreams / Jardin de Los Sueños showcased how Polk Middle School’s Jardin de Los Sueños (Garden of Dreams) integrates sustainable agriculture, environmental STEAM education, and food justice into public education—highlighting student-led initiatives, innovative growing systems, and community partnerships that root learning in culture, land, and local leadership. Hosted by Jardin de Los Suenos/Garden of Dreams and Polk Middle School, and sponsored by Southwest Organizing Project.
Transforming Indigenous Food Systems: Chefs, Farming, and Culinary Sovereignty explored Indigenous food sovereignty through traditional culinary practices, and entrepreneurship, highlighting how Indigenous chefs are building climate resilience, restoring land, and strengthening farm-to-table networks despite systemic barriers to capital and market access. Hosted and sponsored by The James Beard Foundation.
Santa Ana Pueblo: Ecological Agriculture on the Tamaya Indian Reservation explored the Santa Ana Agricultural Enterprises, a demonstration of cultural, economic, and ecological restoration led by Santa Ana Pueblo Tribal leadership. The tour highlighted the Santa Ana Grain Mill and production of the famous ‘Tamaya Blue’ blue corn pancake mix, Plant Nursery, and Vineyard Production, with conversations on sustainability, farm labor, climate resilience, and seed sovereignty woven throughout. It concluded over lunch in conversation with Tamaya’s head chef on the resort’s sustainability and sourcing practices.
Ground and Connect with the Sacred Lands of Tamaya offered a rich exploration of Tamaya Resort’s cultural, ecological, and culinary landscape through a tour of the Cultural Learning Center, a guided nature walk through the Bosque, time with rescued animals at Tamaya Horse Rehab, and a conversation with the head chef about the resort’s garden-to-table practices, composting, and food donation programs.
Heard At The Forum
We launched “Heard At The Forum:” A Live Recorded Podcast, featuring four dynamic conversations exploring critical intersections of food, agriculture, and funding. Topics ranged from navigating funder-grantee relationships and building equitable supply chains to creating resilient local food systems and developing movement leadership infrastructure. These inspiring discussions, produced in collaboration with Buoyant Partners, will be released as a podcast series following the Forum to share these insights with the broader food systems community.
Keep the #2025SAFSFForum Conversation Going
Share your insights and keep the conversation going on LinkedIn, SAFSF’s Member Listserv, and through the SAFSF blog.
If you’re interested in contributing a guest blog post to SAFSF focused on a session topic or other conference themes and insights, please contact SAFSF’s Communications Director, Maggie Mosley.
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Forum Gallery
Experience key moments from the 2025 SAFSF Forum through our online photo gallery. If you have additional photos you would like to share from the SAFSF Forum, please email them to [email protected].
Don’t miss next year! Join us for the 2026 SAFSF Forum in Savannah, Georgia, June 22-25, 2026. If you have ideas, tips, or partners to highlight in the region, please reach out to SAFSF Executive Director Clare Fox.