Homepage

Revitalizing cultures, conserving resources, and building sustainable futures.

About
Nativa Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to biocultural preservation, defending the inseparable bond between Indigenous languages, ancestral wisdom, and their native ecosystems.We partner directly with Indigenous communities in the Andean and Caribbean highlands of Colombia and stand alongside BIPOC migrant communities in the United States. Our work is built on collaborative action: we advance bilingual education to revitalize linguistic heritage, implement sustainable practices that protect biodiversity, and foster community empowerment to ensure dignified livelihoods.By bridging ancestral knowledge with contemporary challenges, we don't just protect culture and nature—we empower communities to be the lasting guardians of their own rights, territories, and futures.
Mission
Nativa Foundation operates on the conviction that the defense of fundamental human rights and biocultural preservation are one and the same purpose. Our mission is to forge deep alliances with Indigenous communities in Colombia and BIPOC migrant communities in the United States to protect, indivisibly, the sacred triad of their existence: language, land, and Living Heritage.
Vision
We dream of a world where the reciprocal relationship between peoples and their territories is restored and honored as the deepest model of sustainability.

Our Programs

Women Weavers of Peace

Women Weavers of Peace stands with women in conflict-affected territories. We support leaders who transform ancestral practices, like weaving into acts of resistance and healing, strengthening their communities and weaving a new future of peace.

Multicultural Education

In territories marked by war and school dropout, we work alongside communities to create safe spaces of belonging. Through community-led bilingual education and cultural immersion, ancestral languages become acts of resilience, strengthening identity, preventing forced recruitment, and reconnecting youth with their roots and future.

Biocultural Conservation

Guided by communities, Nativa advances biocultural conservation by recognizing the reciprocal relationship between people and their environments. Ecosystem protection, cultural meaning, language revitalization, and place-based stewardship are understood as interconnected pathways that sustain biodiversity, socio-ecological balance, and cultural legacy.

What We Do

Transforming the Community Kitchen
This image captures the harsh conditions faced for years: an indigenous cook preparing the daily meal for over 300 students over an open wood fire on the ground at the Palmichal School in Cauca, Colombia. It represents the immense labor and health challenges the community endured.
"The smoke clung to our clothes and our lungs, but it was the only way to feed our children at school."
The community kitchen is now a safe, fully equipped space powered by biogas, improving the daily lives and health of students, teachers, and the entire community.
Local Territorial Engagement for Peace
Institutional coordination to engage the Presidential Council for Human Rights in the pilot plan for Territorial, Community, and Spiritual Healing within the Nasa Yuwe Indigenous Reservation, with a focus on preventing the forced recruitment of children and adolescents.
Support BIPOC Immigrant Communities
Through strategic interinstitutional and governmental partnerships, including collaboration with consulates, community-based organizations, and public agencies, we empower BIPOC immigrant communities. Our work strengthens protection pathways, expands access to culturally responsive resources, and actively advances the human rights and well-being of migrant communities.

Our Team

Saday Osorio Córdoba

Co-Founder, Executive Director

Daniel Nelson Hood

Co-Founder & Director of Field Programs

Valeria Rueda

Public Relations & Communications Manager

Press

Human rights advocacy for an Afro-Colombian migrant

Human rights advocacy for an Afro-Colombian migrant

12/17/2025

The San Francisco Standard — Coverage of the human rights case of an Afro-Colombian migrant

Read More
Our Bodies Are Not a Battlefield.

Our Bodies Are Not a Battlefield.

12/6/2025

As a featured speaker for the United Nations Association of San Francisco’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Saday Osorio Córdoba shed light on conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia, sharing firsthand narratives of how armed groups have targeted Indigenous, Afro-Colombian, and campesina girls.

Read More

Strategic Partners

Contact

  • 1955 Chestnut St, Berkeley, CA, United States