Christensen Fund

Organizational profile: The Christensen Fund is a private foundation founded in 1957. Since 2003, the focus of their work has been biocultural diversity. Through their grantmaking, Christensen aims to realize its vision of “a bioculturally diverse world enriched and sustained by beautiful, bountiful and resilient communities, landscapes and seascapes.” Christensen's grantmaking strategy centers their work on supporting and strengthening Indigenous Peoples’ efforts to secure and exercise their rights to their land, territories, resources, and sovereign systems of governance. The fund has rooted their work in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the global standard that both asserts and recognizes Indigenous worldviews and values and establishes a universal framework for the recognition of their rights.

Financing Instrument: Grants

Project scale: Forest related grants have ranged from US$6,665 to US$300,000.

Recipient countries regions/country groups: The fund focuses on grantmaking in specific geographic regions namely the African Rift Valley, Central Asia, Melanesia, Northwest Mexico, US Southwest, Northern Australia and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Recipient categories: Governments, Businesses, NGOs/NPOs

Eligibility Criteria: Grants support Indigenous Peoples’ efforts to secure and exercise their rights to their land, territories, resources, and sovereign systems of governance.

Application guidelines: The fund periodically lists open calls for proposals, for more information check their official website for any current calls.