Our current food and farm system fails communities, harms ecosystems, and perpetuates historic injustices. Native communities feel these failures acutely, facing unequal access to healthy food, threats to Tribal sovereignty, and structural barriers that have long blocked resources from reaching Native-led organizations. Native communities receive only about one-quarter of one percent of all philanthropic giving, and only a small portion of those grant dollars go to Native-led organizations.

Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) envisions a future where our food and agriculture systems are rooted in Indigenous knowledge, and shaped by community empowerment and self-determination. For more than 20 years, SAFSF has connected funders with the people, organizations, and Tribes leading this work. Funders have the opportunity and responsibility to shift power and resources toward Native communities, change funding practices from within their own organizations, and directly increase the flow of philanthropic and investment dollars where they are needed most.

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2026–2027 Indigenous Food Systems Community of Practice

Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) and First Nations Development Institute (FNDI) are offering the Indigenous Food System Community of Practice for diverse capital partners seeking to deepen their understanding, effectiveness, and relationships with Native American communities, Tribes and Native-led organizations. 

This program is a transformational, in-depth, cohort-based learning experience expertly led by  Melvin Consulting PLLC, a Hopi owned and led firm. During this year-long program, participants will:

• Learn from and build relationships with Native American practitioners, organizations, and communities offering food systems solutions;
• Share and sharpen skills and strategies for investing in Indigenous partners who are leading sustainable agriculture and food systems work in Indian Country;
• Build awareness of and respond to the historic, structural, current , and philanthropic barriers that Native communities and Tribal governments face in obtaining funding; and
• Enjoy the fellowship and support of other funders committed to investing in Indigenous communities.