Get Involved.
For both funders and frontline food, land, and economy solutionaires, there are several ways to get involved with LIFE. You can sign up for our mailing list to stay updated on our work, follow us on social media to engage in discussions and share our content, as well as explore opportunities to participate in our upcoming events and campaigns to advance food and agricultural justice.
For Funders: Foundations, DAFs, and Individual Donors
The state of our food and farm ecosystems are not only direct outcomes of unfettered business and bad policy, but also broader misalignment of progressive philanthropic pursuits for the “greater good” coupled with shallow investments for frontline solutions and organizing. In our collective response to recalibrating our strategy and tactics, it is clear we must fill this critical gap that builds bridges between philanthropy and the frontlines, as well as amplifies critical messaging that can meet the moment. Liberating Investment in the Food and Farm Ecosystem (LIFE) isn’t only a movement-led fund, but also a funder organizing effort built by national grassroots coalitions, regional networks, and frontline local organizations to mobilize the field of food and environmental funders.
Join our Funder Ally Network
Cultivating Solidarity and Alignment (CSA), is both an organizing practice and a physical space where movement meets philanthropy to address the wealth, power, and strategic resourcing divides across the food and environmental funding field.
By filling out this form, you are committing to deepening relationships with frontline folks across our foodshed and your foundation, fund, DAF, or other wealth distribution vehicle. In return, LIFE is committing to directing you to the right fit for your engagement at this time, whether this may mean direct engagement in our funder ally network or adjacent spaces.
Sponsor or support our work
As a movement-led, community controlled fund, we are committed to expanding resources for the frontline ecosystem of solutionaires who have been underfunded and disenfranchised by traditional funding systems. We believe we can change that. Reach out to LIFE Co-Directors, Melanie Allen and Shantell Bingham, at hello@liberatefoodfunds.org, to see what work is moving you can sponsor, and visit our donate page to make an immediate contribution.
Take Action
Read and share our current statements, op-eds, or articles, seeking to drive deeper alignment between movement and progressive food system funders
Incorporate these three actions in your work to ensure we safeguard movement wins while continuing to build the new
Join debates and dialogue online by following us on LinkedIn
Frontline Food, Land & Economy Solutionary Orgs and Alliances
If you are in an organization in the food and farm ecosystem leading solutionary work, please consider becoming a member of the formations in our membership including HEAL Food Alliance, National Black Food Justice Alliance, Food Chain Workers Alliance, and Northeast Farmers of Color Network Land Trust, if you are not already. In addition to these national formations, being in deep relationship with LIFE’s place based governing members located throughout the country is another way to get plugged in.
If you are interested in working with LIFE directly, it is important you understand LIFE’s values (see below) in addition to being deeply collaborative, have capacity and a deep commitment to principled engagement with this work. Having a strong infrastructure led by trusted, dedicated representatives from organizations committed to the wellbeing of the broader food and farm ecosystem is important to building and maintaining the integrity of a resource sharing vehicle such as LIFE.
If you are with an organization or formation working towards food sovereignty in the food and farm ecosystem and are:
Committed to collaboration, community and ecological care, collective power, ecological sustainability, resilience, racial justice and community self-determination with a demonstrated value of relationships
Believe deeply in and are committed to shifting resources and decision-making back to the frontlines
Invested in contributing to an organized frontline working together to shift power in philanthropy and back to the rightful place of organized communities. Follow our work, get involved and keep in touch with us.
Reach out to LIFE Co-Directors at hello@liberatefoodfunds.org, to learn more about where we are at in building space for ecosystem-wide dialogue.