Giving Circles
Join the 2026 Thousand Currents’ Giving Circle for Agroecology
If you’ve ever wanted a grounded way to learn, plug into proven global climate solutions, and move more money with peers across generations who share your values – this is for you!
Together we’ll explore agroecology as a critical, scalable climate solution led by social movements in the Global South, and we’ll organize our resources accordingly. Strong social movements make climate solutions stick by protecting civic space, advancing gender and racial justice, and deepening democratic participation.
Apply today! Application deadline extended to January 15, 2026
What’s involved?
As an intimate group of about 15 participants, our Giving Circle for Agroecology will build relationships amongst the cohort; learn from and with visionary Global South movements leaders; receive personalized fundraising coaching; and have the opportunity to make a bold and meaningful personal gift toward grassroots climate solutions.
This giving circle focuses on learning, community, and fundraising, not participatory grantmaking. Thousand Currents program staff steward the pooled resources with long-term partners, centering equity and community self-determination.
The Details/Syllabus
- Duration: January–June 2026
- Meetings: Monthly on Tuesdays (times vary); all on Zoom
- Between sessions: Short readings/podcasts; optional 1:1 coaching; occasional virtual offerings
What should I expect?
- Connection: true relationships amongst peers, with key allied funders, and grassroots movement leaders. The feeling that you are not alone.
- Hope: the knowledge and inspirations that true solutions to the climate crisis are out there, and could truly save us and our planet. The feeling that we can do this!
- Knowledge: concrete information and stories about agroecology and how it fits in as a critical, scalable, and attainable solution to the climate crisis in the long-term and immediately. Through this giving circle you will have access to world-renowned movement leaders in a setting where you can authentically connect and engage. The feeling that I have reliable, specific information and examples of how agroecology works as a climate solution now, and what more could be possible.
- A path forward, together: a clear analysis of impactful ways to organize and fund, moving forward. The feeling that I understand my unique role in catalyzing resources and influencing others who do, too.
Why Agroecology?
The worldwide interconnection of our food systems is more apparent than ever. From local farmers across the US squeezed out by corporate control, to communities denied access to fresh, affordable food, to climate‑fueled storms destroying harvests from California to the Caribbean–it is clear that the systems are broken. Millions in the US already experience food insecurity and live in neighborhoods without real food options, as federal nutrition programs face uncertainty and families are left wondering how they’ll get by. Meanwhile, industrial agriculture continues to erode soil, harm our health, and fuel the climate crisis. These aren’t isolated problems; they’re symptoms of a food system built for profit, not people.
Across the globe, and here at home, people are reclaiming their right to grow food in ways that nourish land, culture, and community. Food sovereignty puts decisions back in the hands of those who plant, harvest, and eat, reminding us that we don’t have to choose between mutual aid and systemic change.
Agroecology–rooted in Indigenous knowledge–regenerates soil, protects biodiversity, strengthens local economies, and reminds us that defending food sovereignty is defending the future of our communities and democracies. Agroecology transforms the soil into a powerful tool for climate action. Research shows it can sequester up to 2.5 metric tons of carbon per hectare annually, simply by improving soil health and reducing erosion.
Agroecology is more than just a sustainable farming method. It’s a strategy to address food insecurity, climate mitigation and adaptation, and economic resilience. Like renewable energy, whose benefits go far beyond power generation to include economic transformation, environmental health, and equity, agroecology’s impact is multidimensional, such as:
- Human health improves with nutritious, chemical-free food
- Planetary well-being thrives as soil health and biodiversity are restored
- Farmers teaching farmers multiplies impact faster than any top-down solution and cultural diversity flourishes as traditional knowledge is preserved
- Economic resilience grows through sustainable livelihoods
For example, agroforestry systems that are integral to agroecology not only increase above-ground and soil carbon stocks, but also reduce soil erosion and degradation, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
This is why we’re bringing together a community of donors who refuse to accept business as usual. Together, we will explore agroecology as a community-rooted climate and food solution, connect it to energy democracy and land stewardship, and draw lessons from movements in the Global South and in the US that speak to food justice struggles globally and here at home. Over six months, we will learn alongside farmers and organizers and move resources to the solutions already working.
Who should apply?
The Giving Circle for Agroecology is designed for progressive donors who are committed to supporting climate solutions and want to go deeper in their understanding of, and advocacy for, agroecological solutions. If you have signed Resource Generation’s Redistribution Pledge, if you’re in Solidaire’s pooled-fund community, if you’ve been to a NEID “lunch and learn”, if you’ve simply just read a lot about the climate crisis and are yearning to be more deeply engaged in funding solutions — this will bring you deeper. Participants should each be able to donate a minimum of $10,000 toward the giving circle effort, and fundraising at least an additional $10,000 from your networks.
Giving circles support, challenge, and inspire donors to give more, fundraise more, and make longer-lasting commitments to supporting climate justice movements in the Global South. We hope you will join us!
We anticipate the possibility of an add-on donor journey visiting Indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon between June 6-13, 2026. Please email gifts@thousandcurrents.org if you are interested!
Apply here! Applications are due by December 1, 2025.
Questions? Contact Jessie Spector, Director of Donor Organizing, at givingcircles@thousandcurrents.org
Let's make this world possible together.
