Henry Rael has been with the McCune Charitable Foundation, a strong supporter of TWP’s work in New Mexico, for more than 13 years. As the director of strategy and initiatives, Henry has been instrumental in helping position the foundation as a leader in deeply collaborative, trust-based approaches to grant making.
Amidst the economic turmoil of USAID closures, tariffs, deportations, and other shifts in Mesoamerica, the need to invest in resilient economies has become even more clear. The region’s long-term stability will come from supporting the communities who know it best, and many of those communities are already finding ways to sustain their livelihoods while also protecting their landscapes, culture, and people.
In June, TWP’s Indigenous Lands Program team participated in a 3-day staff retreat with our partner, Montezuma Land Conservancy. Bringing together 6 staff from each team in Cortez, CO, the retreat focused on visiting sites of the traditional harvest program and river restoration structures, planning shared work in coming years, and celebrating our new joint staff member, Wyatt Wilson. TWP’s ILP resource coordinator, Zoe Bashkin, shares her experiences and insights from her days with the team
Breathing smoke from burning firewood and spending money every day to obtain it was part of the daily life of Eula Ortéz, a 71-year-old housewife from the community of Bañaderos, Teupasenti, El Paraíso.