One Equal Heart Foundation

One Equal Heart is a Seattle-based nonprofit that collaborates with indigenous leaders to honor and nurture sustainable agriculture, equitable communities and traditional knowledge.

Our programs focus on:

• Growing Food & Building Economies
• Advancing Rights of Women & Children
• Strengthening Language & Culture

We are a team, working collaboratively with indigenous communities and our partners in Chiapas, our donors and supporters, Board members, volunteers, and community allies. In an environment of mutual accountability, openness and humility, we learn and grow from each other.

We work with Mexican nonprofit organizations, including the Center for Indigenous Rights (CEDIAC), the Center for Educational Support to the Community (CAEC), and Cooperación Comunitaria, to implement development programs in indigenous villages in rural Mexico.

One Equal Heart makes project grants, provides training, and facilitates peer-to-peer exchanges.

Our programs focus :

(1) Foundations for Growth:  This programs links ecological farming, community-based training and economic initiatives.

We provide funding for agroecology training for the next generation of teacher-facilitators and their students who learn to farm more sustainably, increasing their food independence. They sell surplus produce in local markets and then leverage earnings through savings and credit cooperatives, where they learn to save for emergencies expenses and loan to each other to start communities projects.

We also provide funding for construction of permanent learning spaces in village agroecology training centers. Guided by a team of architects and engineers, agroecology teacher-facilitators and their students learn to build using local materials and traditional techniques adapted to create structures that are more habitable and more resilient to climate change.

(2) MILPA: The MILPA Project (Indigenous Women for Leadership, Participation and Action) works to eliminate violence against women and children and to build a culture of respect for human rights.

(3) SIET: The SIET Program seeks to strengthen language, culture and traditional knowledge--all vital to sustainable development. SIET increases access to educational materials in the Tseltal language through the community library and radio, encouraging fuller participation of women and families in the development process.

In collaboration with UW's Information School, we provide training to staff and volunteers to develop a community library and radio. We are also developing a new technique for measuring impact of community training and education programs through fotohistorias (oral testimonies paired with photographs) and culturally-appropriate surveys.