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Summary of NYC Regional Meeting March 5-6, 2014 On March 5th and 6th 2014, IFIP held its

3rd Regional Meeting in New York City. The location was strategically chosen to prepare the ground and build momentum for the upcoming World Summit on Indigenous Philanthropy, IFIPs biggest event, which will take place in NYC on September 24-26, 2014. Meant to be a precursor of the Summit, the Regional Meeting aimed to stir new donors interest in Indigenous philanthropy and to reaffirm existing donors support to establish a healthy New York City donor base when the Summit occurs. Indigenous representatives, donors, NGOs, and IFIP members came together to discuss climate change and food resilience, two topics of great importance both for Indigenous peoples and their donors. Over the two days, the Regional Meeting brought together more than 70 donors and NGOs. Three Indigenous speakers, coming from three continents Africa, Asia and North/Central America brought to the table their perspective and stories of their peoples, sharing how they build resilience for food security and how their lifestyles have altered because of a changing climate. The first event of the Regional Meeting was a Luncheon on Philanthropy, held on March 5th at Philanthropy New York. Evelyn Arce, IFIP Executive Director and Nikhil Aziz, Executive Director of Grassroots International, greeted the participants and set the meeting agenda. Shaun Paul, IFIP Board Member who brought to the table a vast experience working with Indigenous peoples, business leaders and philanthropists, moderated the event. The luncheon started with a short clip from the film Seeds of Freedom, which set the tone for the discussions that followed. The panel presented climate change impacts and the role of Indigenous peoples and their territories in mitigating climate changes. An emphasis was placed on the importance of partnering and working with Indigenous Peoples to find viable, long term solutions. The three Indigenous representatives Fatima Jibrell (Somalia), Valentina Dimitrieva (Sakha Republic, Russia) and Pablo Mis (Belize) took the audience on a trip from the plateaus and plains of Somalia, to the tundra and arctic climate of Sakha, circling back to the warm highlands and coasts of Belize. Fatima, Valentina and Pablo shared their experiences and observations on how changes in weather patterns have already made an impact on the livelihoods of their communities. They discussed some of the mitigation and adaptation strategies undertaken back home. One significant factor emerged: From the tundra to the desert to the rainforest, Indigenous Peoples face the same issues and hardships lack of financial support, little or no participation in decision making, lack of capabilities, and institutional challenges to name a few. However, it was very clear that Indigenous Peoples have the necessary knowledge to contribute to the global efforts in bringing our planet and our lifestyles back into an equilibrium. As Fatima said, climate change and food security is our collective problem, we need to act together, if something happens in one part of the world, other countries are affected too.

The second day of the Regional Meeting, held at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, opened with Rachel Leon, Executive Director of Environmental Grantmakers Association and Evelyn Arce giving welcome remarks. Evelyn then gave an introduction to the Grantmakers Guide: Strengthening International Indigenous Philanthropy, an important IFIP publication for any donors that work with Indigenous Peoples, which was distributed to all participants. In the following session, participants debated on issues related to climate change and food resilience. The three Indigenous guests presented relevant case studies from their homelands, accompanied by captivating stories, examples and images. At the end, a dynamic breakout session helped the participants not only to network and get to know each other better, but brought to the table various examples from the field that helped participants better understand how to work with Indigenous communities in a culturally appropriate way, how to efficiently fund them, how to partner with these communities to improve their livelihoods and how to tackle together, as partners, urgent global issues. Suzanne Pelletier, Executive Director of Rainforest Foundation, highlighted the importance of supporting Indigenous Peoples both with funding and capacity building, in a culturally appropriate way and with a deep understanding of the local realities. Donors discussed possible ways to measure success in a manner that would take into consideration the local cultural and social practices, and how to effectively involve the funded communities. Member organizations shared their way of working with Indigenous Peoples and their funding strategies. Some participants even presented new approaches they had recently introduced including accepting oral narratives and videos instead of formal written applications. The Indigenous representatives also identified common challenges they face such as lack of funding, restricted funding, lack of consultation and understanding of how a community functions before making a donation, and funders overlooking what locals truly need by preferring to donate to big projects instead of through small grassroots organizations. There was an emphasis on the important role that IFIP plays as a bridge between donors and Indigenous Peoples, in educating donors in capacity building and enhancing funding partnerships that improve the lives of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples live on the land, they understand the impact of environmental change and devastation and they already know what works and what does not. The role that Indigenous philanthropy plays is increasingly vital in helping solve some of the most pressing issues of our times. Through the Regional Meeting, IFIP was able to successfully expand its network, reach new donors and foster new alliances an important step forward for Indigenous philanthropy. Evaluation: According to the post-conference evaluation, the majority of participants (94%) agreed that the sessions covered the awareness of funding strategies to address climate change and food resilience in Indigenous communities. Everybody agreed the speakers did a wonderful job in their presentations and that the content of the session on Climate Change and Food Resilience was appropriate and informative. All participants were very satisfied with the Grantmakers Guide. Outcomes: The majority of participants (88%) reported that they gained a greater awareness of why and how to engage with Indigenous communities. Also, participants agreed that as a result of the meeting, they gained greater awareness of what IFIP believes in and what its core activities are. The meetings were attended by 50 potential members, 5 former members and 15 IFIP members and affiliates.

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