2021: A Look Back
At TWP our mission is to help communities protect, conserve, and manage their natural resources. In 2021, we improved the lives of even more families with your support.
Dear Friends,
We’re incredibly fortunate to do the work we do at Trees, Water & People (TWP).
Every day we have the opportunity to engage with people across the Americas who live under exceptionally challenging circumstances, and co-create a vision of how to improve on those circumstances. Then, because of
supporters like you, we are able to put resources toward those ideas, and help tangibly improve life for tens of thousands of people annually.
It’s not easy. But every day I remind myself that a difficult day for us is still much easier than what many colleagues, local partners, and community members deal with on a daily basis. This is their life - and we’re privileged to have the opportunity to help them improve it.
This year, the challenges we work on - climate change, forest resilience, gender based violence, migration, open fire cooking, Indigenous territorial rights - all saw setbacks, but we continue to find ways to move forward.
In our 2021-22 annual report you’ll read about the beautiful and complex work that we are proud to do, and some of the people and organizations that make it all happen. Together we form the community that is TWP, and commit to working every day for a culturally, economically, and ecologically sustainable future.
We thank you all for being a part of this journey, and hope you’ll share TWP’s story with your friends, families, and others that care about this planet and the people that depend on it.
In gratitude,
Sebastian Africano
Executive Director
Strengthening Collaboration through Shared Experiences and Open Communication
by Daniela Bueso, CAP Coordinator
Partner representatives visiting Finca el Pilar outside of Antigua. Learning about eco-tourism, birding, and protecting natural areas around the city.
As individuals, we experience personal growth our entire lives, learning through life experiences, relationships, and work. Finding those relationships and partnerships can change everything, and inspire us to adapt and become more self-aware in our lives and work.
This motivated the creation of a four day partner exchange in Guatemala. TWP invited 13 representatives from our partner organizations across Central America to share their skills, backgrounds, and passions. Each organization brought one representative and one community member.
During the exchange, we realized how valuable these shared experiences were for all of us to grow together. All of the countries in Central America share a common reality: climate change, natural disasters, migration, civil war displacement, corruption, food, culture, language, and a unique identity. For many of our partners, their organization’s mission was similar: helping marginalized communities in need, while protecting their natural resources in order to adapt to the rapid social and environmental shifts.
Representatives from EL Salvador (AAP), Guatemala (Utz Che’), Honduras (COEAS), and Nicaragua (La Cuculmeca) shared incredible knowledge,
successes, and challenges they face every day in their work. More importantly, they realized that they all experience similar realities, and this spurred powerful, impactful conversations that brought problem solving and innovation to the table. It also opened the floor to talk about other important topics like equity and inclusion, gender inequalities, adaptability, open communication, participation, and skill-sharing. Our partners said it motivated them to replicate and combine projects, share technical advice, and create new collaborations. They also learned from other local organizations, community visits, and projects to gain more experience.
For us at TWP, it was wonderful to see how open and humble they were, and how self-aware they became about certain topics like gender and inclusion. For some representatives, it was eye opening and motivating to learn and travel, and they shared how they will be taking this knowledge back to their countries. We believe that the mission of the exchange came full circle. We have ever greater faith and optimism that our partners will continue to work tirelessly to heal, lift up their voices, and make their communities a better place.
2021-2022 Financial Report
Revenue
| Public Support | $982,961.00 |
| Corporate | $236,772.00 |
| Foundations | $781,500.00 |
| TWP Tours | $49,734.00 |
| Investment Income | $10,631.00 |
| Interest income | $7,551.00 |
| Misc Income | $18,466.00 |
| In-kind Income | $63,800.00 |
| Total Cash Revenues | $2,151,417.00 |
| Volunteer Services | $26,955.00 |
| Total | $2,178,372.00 |
Expenses
| Central America | $1,063,724.00 |
| El Salvador | $138,425.00 |
| Guatemala | $177,974.00 |
| Nicaragua | $79,583.00 |
| Honduras | $667,742.00 |
| Indigenous Lands | $595,640.00 |
| South Dakota | $327,602.00 |
| New Mexico | $226,343.00 |
| CO/Local | $41,695.00 |
| Management & General | $111,989.00 |
| Fundraising | $204,134.00 |
| Total Cash Expenses | $1,975,487.00 |
| Volunteer Services | $26,955.00 |
| Total | $2,002,442.00 |
Statement of Financial Position
| Cash Assets | $770,066.00 |
| Investments | $246,402.00 |
| Fixed & Other Assets | $551,298.00 |
| Total Assets | $1,567,766.00 |
| Total Liabilities | $60,411.00 |
| Net Assets | $1,507,355.00 |
| Total Liabilities & Net Assets | $1,567,766.00 |
Overcoming obstacles and growing stronger together
by TWP Indigenous Lands Program Staff
In a world affected by a shifting climate and economic hardship, it’s inevitable for Indigenous communities to struggle. Despite it all, they have been able to adapt, evolve and succeed. Resiliency has been key for Trees, Water & People’s (TWP) Indigenous Lands Program and our Tribal partners.
In the past few years, we’ve experienced various challenges affecting our society— hotter annual temperature, prolonged drought, and higher severity of forest fires. These challenges evoke the need for more Indigenous voices in pressing conversations around climate change and how to fight it. Moreover, how can Indigenous knowledges be an integral factor in this fight?
The recent Cerro Pelado wildfire in New Mexico made us encounter a harsh reality: in an instant, years of hardwork and investment went undone, as it decimated microsites of planted trees. Processing this terrible loss, it has fabricated the need for more responsibility and inclusion of Indigenous knowledge into our work. This motivates us and our partners to think critically and creatively in developing a more holistic approach to fight climate change.
Fire in the lens of our partners in the Northern New Mexico Pueblos is not always seen as bad. Instead it’s seen as a form of medicine for the land and people. Living with fire has always been seen as a way of life for the Pueblos. The responsibility of being active stewards of the land has allowed Indigenous peoples to study and use fire in an effective way for people, land and fire to coexist with one another. Valuing Indigenous Knowledge keeps us optimistic with our approach- investing in long-term solutions, inclusivity of Indigenous Knowledges, and focusing on stewardship practices through a wider lens.
At TWP, it’s our commitment to create a more fair and equitable world where everyone is heard and valued. We continue to craft honest and healthy relationships, built on equal footing and voices from everyone in our communities.
As we look over the horizon, we see many challenges but also many opportunities. But we know we can’t take this path alone. The journey is special and it stays possible because of supporters like YOU!
Thanks to these innovative partnerships, we have been able to complete important community-based sustainable development projects. To learn more about our Partners for a Sustainable Planet program, please visit treeswaterpeople.org/partners.
Together with its generous community, Humble Bundle has contributed over $200,000,000 to important causes around the world since its inception in 2010. Soon after reaching out to us at the beginning of this year, they fundraised $120,955.63 for Trees, Water & People, which allowed them to make an impactful investment in our community-based sustainable development projects.
To date Positive Legacy has offset 42,595 tons of CO2 from music festivals by helping plant trees and build cookstoves through TWP. Given the challenging times for the live music industry, Positive Legacy and Cloud 9 Adventures launched a COVID-19 Relief Fund to benefit music
industry workers and artist crews currently out of work,
as well as a back to school program for low income youth.
As a responsible and activist company, Avocado Mattress donates a portion of all their revenue through their 1% for the Planet membership, where they first found TWP. With various sustainability and climate certifications under their belt (including a pending B-Corp certification), their environmental and social responsibility goes beyond organic.
Since 2010, The Green Team Real Estate has supported TWP by donating after every home sale or purchase. In addition to helping home-buyers reduce their carbon footprint through energy-efficient homes, The Green Team has partnered with TWP to help fund our various projects in Central America and U.S. Tribal Lands.
