ISI Project Results
North Star Project
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North Star Project
Health & Wellness / End of LifeNorth Star operates at the crossroads of stakeholder principles and ethical business practices. We catalyze community collaboration, research, resources, and culture to support individuals who build socially responsible entities to positively impact the world. We believe that stakeholders who share values and work together will create alternative pathways to business as usual.
Our goal is to integrate psychedelic wisdom and principles into the foundation of the emerging psychedelic sector. We aim to serve as a guiding light for purpose-driven entities, helping to mitigate the potential harms of profit-driven motives within the healthcare and wellness industries.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to North Star Project! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “North Star Project” in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Regenerative Economies Organizing Collaborative (REO)
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Regenerative Economies Organizing Collaborative (REO)
Regeneration & Systems Change, Social & Environmental JusticeWe are a growing group of domestic and international progressive funders, organizing in alignment with social movements toward systemic change to a regenerative economy.* Through political education, peer-to-peer organizing, joint action, and collective thought pieces, we call in and support our philanthropic colleagues toward accountability, transparency, and solidarity with frontline communities.
More specifically, this means we shift philanthropy to support locally-rooted Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Workingclass-led transnational movements that are actively building a feminist, inclusive, participatory, democratic, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and anti-capitalist future consistent with the Rights of Nature. Upholding meaningful work as critical to building frontlines power, the Regenerative Economies Organizing Collaborative considers Ecosystem Health, Energy, Food, Waste, Transportation, and Housing as interconnected parts of both the climate crisis and its solutions.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to REO Collaborative! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “REO Collaborative” in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Money Justice Collaborative
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Money Justice Collaborative
Social & Environmental JusticeVision:
The way governments create and control their money supply supports well-being for all, rather than undermining economic, social, and ecological well-being, as it does today.
Mission:
Enable social movements to see and leverage the opportunity to transform national money systems into a powerful force for good. History shows such transformations have been won many times before, often in times of political polarization and crisis such as we have today. While the fight to win such a transformation today will not be easy, it is worth it because history also shows that such wins can bring fast-acting relief for problems such as poverty, affordability, inclusion, economic instability, and even ecological stewardship.
What we do:
- We provide strategic guidance. We empower social movements to advocate for transformational money system policies that match their values and visions for a better world. Our research into past transformations of money systems allows us to guide social movement organizations to strategic points of leverage. Our research into present and proposed money systems helps leaders cut through the complexity of the proposals on the table today.
- We provide education. We provide briefings and workshops that help groups and individuals coming from diverse backgrounds quickly gain an understanding of:
- How nations create their money supply today through bank lending
- Why today’s system of money creation is powerfully intensifying many social, economic, and ecological problems
- How colonization and financial imperialism led to and reinforce the system we have today
- How money creation is “re-making” our economy each year by determining which industries and local economies receive investment, or not.
- What better ways of creating money have been developed and successfully used by human societies, including ways that are proven to be compatible with local economic sovereignty and with large and globally interconnected national economies.
- How money systems have been successfully transformed in the past and how they can be transformed again today.
Contact Us:
moneyjusticecollaborative@gmail.com
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Money Justice Collaborative! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Money Justice Collaborative” in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23 Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Regenerative Education Alliance
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Regenerative Education Alliance
Youth Impact, Community Impact & EngagementRegenerative Education Alliance offers schools an opportunity to expose young students to regenerative agriculture practices, while embracing older students considering agriculture as a career path. Through strategic partnerships with groups, paired with innovative programming, we will bring farms to schools and schools to farms while together increasing Petaluma’s regenerative agricultural landscape.
Goals and Objectives:
1) Foster connections to regenerative agriculture as a life skill and career path
2) Enable students to find and deepen positive relationships with learning
3) Foster positive relationships between youth and the community
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Regenerative Education Alliance! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Regenerative Education Alliance” in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Talent Partners
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Talent Partners
Regeneration & Systems Change, Social & Environmental Justice, Community Impact & EngagementPurpose: Build a workforce and economy that is for the people and by the people. Use cross-sector collaboration to re-imagine a more equitable workforce for all.
“We integrate solutions that are grounded in the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that: “No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.'”
Why: The country needs to re-imagine the workforce sector as AI, climate change, societal inequalities are transforming our world rapidly. There needs to be a central hub where all innovations and strategic data-driven interventions are accessible to all changemakers.
Moonshot: Deploy a system-level equitable people strategy in every Congressional district by 2034.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Talent Partners! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Talent Partners” in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23 Santa Rosa, CA, 95404
Sonoma Mountain Community Trust
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Sonoma Mountain Community Trust
Community Impact & EngagementThe mission of the Sonoma Mountain Community Trust is to serve as a knowledge hub and a brains trust in support of the community in the Sonoma Valley as it explores a greater level of self determination and direct representation in issues that affect its future over the coming decades.
Over time the Trust will sponsor a variety of conferences, research projects and education programs, while at the same time working in tandem with the Sonoma Mountain Community Services District to provide insights for policy. Where appropriate, the Trust will raise funds from non-governmental and other sources in support of activities in which the District, the Trust, and the community in the Sonoma Valley have a common interest
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Sonoma Mountain Community Trust! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Sonoma Mountain Community Trust” in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA, 95404
Denizen
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Denizen
Regeneration & Systems ChangeVision: Humanity flourishing in harmony with life on earth
Mission: Accelerate a global awakening and galvanize collective action for comprehensive systemic change
Can we envision a society that is more equitable, caring, and regenerative? And if we could envision such a future, how might we transition from where we are today?
Denizen’s work is centered on an ongoing inquiry that explores these questions, spanning six themes: economics, politics, justice, technology, culture, and consciousness. We host a wide range of guests on our eponymous podcast, Denizen.
We are partnered with many leading organizations in the systems change ecosystem, including the Buckminster Fuller Institute, the Academy of Systems Change, Purpose, and the Post Growth Institute. In addition to the podcast, we organize and curate learning opportunities for our audience.
At the heart of Denizen is a community that recognizes the need for a holistic approach to systemic change. In both our personal and professional lives, we are committed to this cause. We are a diverse collective that includes entrepreneurs, technologists, scholars, artists, activists, healers, designers, investors, and nonprofit leaders.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Denizen! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Denizen” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23Santa Rosa, CA 95404
High Country LGBTQ Youth Alliance
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High Country LGBTQ Youth Alliance
Youth Impact, Community Impact & EngagementThe High-Country LGBTQ Youth Alliance is committed to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and inquiry with particular respect to sexual orientation and gender identity for youth 12-18 within Ashe, Avery, and Watauga counties. We facilitate queer visibility by promoting and enhancing awareness, understanding, and acceptance regarding issues of sexual orientation and gender identity being faced by the communities of these counties.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to the High Country LGBTQ Youth Alliance! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “High Country LGBTQ Youth Alliance” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
FASDNow!
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FASDNow!
Community Impact & EngagementFASDNow! is a coalition of individuals and organizations in California with the common vision of seeing FASD recognized as the leading developmental disability in the state. With that recognition, we envision appropriate training of professionals in all systems of care, reduction of the prevalence of FASD, development of diagnostic capacity across the state, and appropriate supports and services for individuals with FASD and their caregivers.
The mission of FASDNow!, a California Alliance, is to have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder recognized as the health crisis it is and marshal resources to combat it, diagnose it, and serve those who live with it in the state of California.
Our vision is that all people with FASD in California are given the opportunity and appropriate support needed to reach their full potential.
FASD is the leading developmental disability in the state, but an estimated 90% of those with prenatal alcohol exposure do not receive a diagnosis or are misdiagnosed. As a result, they do not receive the early intervention and appropriate support they need. We aim to change that through awareness, education, and advocacy.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to the FASDNow! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “FASDNow!” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Re-Cede
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Our Mission
Re-Cede exists to invest in the rest and restoration of racial justice leaders.
Our Vision
To fund, facilitate and preserve rest equity.
Our Purpose
We are an inclusive, multiracial, non-profit committed to equity and justice. We believe that the rest of bodies is an imperative component of equity, justice and inclusion for all — regardless of their race, gender or body identification.
An Inrestment Firm
“Re-Cede” is derived from “re” to receive and “cede” to yield or to give up. It represents the symbiotic relationship of receiving and yielding for true racial repair.
Birthed by a black woman and a white woman who collectively experienced harm and came together to heal and offer that healing to the world.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to the Re-Cede! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Re-Cede” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Sonoma Valley Sun
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Sonoma Valley Sun
Community Impact & EngagementThe Sonoma Valley Sun has been published for nearly twenty years. It will resume publication in June, following the sudden, unexpected death of Owner-Publisher-Editor Val Robichaud, a beloved member of the Sonoma Valley media community.
To preserve Val’s legacy, and to build on the newspaper he poured his heart and soul into, four of his friends and Sun associates have committed to carrying the paper forward while lifting it to new heights to make it bigger, better, and stronger than ever, as a community owned and community operated not-for-profit publication.
To that end, the paper has obtained fiscal sponsorship of the non-profit of Inquiring Systems Inc. and can now receive tax-deductible contribution to underwrite its efforts.
David Bolling, former editor and publisher of the Sonoma Index-Tribune, Sonoma magazine and Valley of the Moon magazine; Larry Barnett, former Sonoma Mayor and City Council member, current chair of the Sonoma City Planning Commission, 20-year sun contributor and a retired local business owner; Anna Pier, non-profit executive, bilingual teacher, journalist and civic
volunteer; and Alyssa Conder, a multi-faceted graphic designer, web developer, marketing manager, Facebook group developer and 2021 recipient of the Spirit of Sonoma Award from the Sonoma Chamber of Commerce, collectively represent more than 150 years of living in the
Sonoma Valley have joined together to pursue this task.
The re-launched Sonoma Valley Sun will be an independent, community-driven, nonprofit, bi- weekly newspaper free to the public, incorporating numerous community voices and addressing an agenda of community concerns that will help inform public policy on a wide range of key
issues and subjects of widespread interest.
For more information, email David, Larry, Anna or Alyssa @ sonomasun.com.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to the Sonoma Valley Sun! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Sonoma Valley Sun” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Grazing School of the West
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Grazing School of the West
Regeneration & Systems Change, Community Impact & EngagementGrazing School of the West (GSW) is a nonprofit multidisciplinary vocational training program for aspiring livestock and land stewards. With learning hubs in both southern and northern California, GSW provides agricultural education that addresses the specific needs of varied landscapes across the West, using an ecologically prescriptive approach to sheep, goat and cattle grazing. GSW also offers a working methodology that can be shared with other organizations and institutions with a common vision.
Our mission is to provide meaningful land- and animal-based learning experiences to inspire a new generation of practitioners who understand science, risk, ecology, animal husbandry, and community care. Through building a workforce in prescribed grazing, our goal is to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis by preventing wildfires and restoring biodiversity in depleted and fire-prone landscapes, while also providing opportunities for regionalized food and fiber production.
Our vision is to create a culture of care for the land, for animals, and for each other through experiential education in the fields of land stewardship and regenerative agriculture, leading to rewarding and impactful work opportunities.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to the Grazing School of the West! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Grazing School of the West” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Collective Resilience
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Collective Resilience
Regeneration & Systems Change, Community Impact & EngagementWith ecological and social challenges, humanity is at a crossroads. People from all sectors – community leaders to government officials – must come together to build resilient, regenerative & equitable communities.
Collective Resilience is a Bay Area-based nonprofit organization working on a place-based, community-driven approach to the Climate Crisis.
The purpose of Collective Resilience is to inspire people-powered, nature-inspired and equity-based resilience through place-based projects. Our intention is to help guide resilience hubs, spaces and blocks to evolve and flourish through training workshops, equitable funding distribution and authentic cross-sector collaborations.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Collective Resilience! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Collective Resilience” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Intergen
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Intergen
Community Impact & EngagementGenerational wealth plays a vital role in engaging long-term structural challenges and opportunities few other actors can anticipate and address. Unique to family offices is the responsibility to evaluate risk over an extended timeline, so as to manage wealth across generations.
At a moment when it is possible to identify clear signs that our existing infrastructure and ways of life are at risk of undergoing significant and unprecedented changes, Intergen. Family bridges a crucial gap in succession planning by supporting families to align legacy with flourishing futures. It does so by informing and resourcing the long-term goals of family office stakeholders while providing short and medium-term activities that empower the rising generation (Rising-Gens) to engage in initiatives that take multiple generations to realize.
Intergen’s core competence is facilitating leading-edge learning and action, centered in human development and flourishing that honors freedom of choice and individual purpose.
Please consider making a donation to Intergen! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Intergen” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Myth School
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Myth School
Regeneration & Systems ChangeThe mission is to provide top-quality educational and entertaining online instruction in the field of mythology, including gods, demons, and mythological animals, in the service of the evolution of human consciousness for the benefit of all Life.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Myth School! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Myth School” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
The Institute of Relational Being
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The Institute of Relational Being
Regeneration & Systems Change, Community Impact & EngagementMany individuals in contemporary Western societies, particularly those in the Global North, are grappling with a profound crisis of context. Navigating reality from a human-centered perspective and dominant story in which our species is detached from the rest of nature, and in most cases, believing they are in charge of everything. A shift is needed where humanity moves away from an ownership belief system towards a companionship way of thinking, living, and being. Where we humans humble down and appreciate that we are nature, too. From there we open ourselves up to navigating reality with awe and reverence, in active relationships and collaborations with the rest of this living world.
The Institute of Relational Being and the ReBe App offer platforms and frameworks for nurturing and merging holistic practices and processes which help recombine humans with nature, and culture. Our goal is to honor, highlight, and celebrate the profound interconnected entanglement that binds us all. This is a journey we embark on together with our more-than-human companions. Where every breath is enriched by our awareness and reverence for the multi-species, ecological community we are a part of.
Grounded in relationships, our mission is to embark on a vulnerable exploratory process of reorientation and remembrance. Involving practices rooted in a devotion to being present. Through this process, you, as a human being, can gain a clearer understanding of your place as part of this shared journey, not only as a human being, but also as a Relational Being. Our goal is to encourage mindful and caring engagement, in collaboration with the shared ecology you are intimately intertwined with. From an eco-centric framework, moving outwards, this allows you to embrace the magnificent relationships you have all around you that exist beyond the human-centered realm. Through navigating reality in this way, ideally you are better able to see that you belong as part of this living planet, along with the rest of nature.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to the Institute of Relational Being online or by check.
You can make checks payable to ISI with the Institute of Relational Being included in the memo & send checks to ISI.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Our Lived Experience
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Our Lived Experience
Regeneration & Systems Change, Social & Environmental Justice- Our mission is rooted in the conviction that every person’s lived experience is a valuable asset, capable of driving positive change and shaping a world that reflects the principles of justice, equity, and progress. We spent our careers in social justice work. As we rolled up our sleeves and dug into hard social problems across the country, we met the most authentic, real-deal social innovators, with groundbreaking outcomes, but they’re not Google-able.
- For lived experts, we are a space where our stories matter, our voices resonate, and our lived experiences shape the narrative. At Our Lived Experience, we are not just a community; we are a movement, a collective force for change, progress, and social justice.
- In a world that sometimes struggles to truly listen, we’ve created a haven where every voice finds its chorus, and where your unique journey contributes to the vibrant tapestry of our shared existence.
- For organizations, systems, and institutions, we are phone-a-friends when you’re wrestling with complex issues that impact the good of humans where you live. We offer everyone ONE FREE HOUR, and will curate you a team of practical-wisdom consultants who will make sure you don’t step in the rabbit holes.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Mindful of Nature
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Mindful of Nature
Regeneration & Systems ChangeMindful of Nature Mission
Mindful of Nature is a nature based organization, that helps foster people’s connection, awareness and love of the natural world through offering mindfulness-based nature practices, programs and retreats, which in turn helps people develop a care and stewardship for the earth and all species.
Mindful of Nature origins
Mindful of Nature draws on the work and teachings of Mark Coleman, Buddhist meditation teacher, author and founder / director of Awake in the Wild, an organization dedicated to delivering mindfulness in nature retreats, programs, classes and teacher trainings for over twenty years worldwide.
Mindful of Nature Objectives are:
- To educate and guide people in the techniques and practices of mindfulness in nature that support a deeper and more engaged relationship with the natural world.
- To offer programs where people access a natural sense of well-being, healing, joy and peace through meditation in nature.
- To increase access to nature for underserved populations, elders and communities who have diminished access to the outdoors.
- Offer programs encouraging youth and young adults that foster understanding and connection to their local environment.
- To offer programs to first responders, health care workers, teachers and other service professionals as a support for resilience, mental health and well-being.
- To work with leaders, change-makers and environmental visionaries and support them using nature-based practices and perspectives.
- Delivering evidence-based programs and courses available in various formats, from half-day to one day offsite programs, to multi-week courses, to residential retreats.
- To conduct research on current nature meditation programs that demonstrate the efficacy of cultivating mindfulness in nature
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Please consider making a donation to Mindful of Nature! You can donate online or make checks payable to ISI with “Mindful of Nature” included in the memo.
Mailing Address:
887 Sonoma Ave, #23
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Great Green Way
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Great Green Way
Regeneration & Systems Change, Social & Environmental JusticeEmpowering farmers through regenerative agriculture
The Great Green Way project focuses on developing resilient rural farming communities in various bioregions. The program promotes knowledge transfer of regenerative farming methodologies to create food security and economic independence for rural communities in various bioregions in Colombia.
Since 2018, the project has supported female rural farmers in the bioregion around the community of Almaguer, located in Colombia’s South Cauca region, by improving their access to resources and facilitating the transfer of agricultural knowledge. By prioritizing the empowerment of rural farmers and women, our efforts served as a testament to systemic change and advancements in rural communities.
In the last few years, the Great Green Way Project has supported 960 rural female farmers and their families in developing self-sufficiency, stability, and self-confidence. 10,377 trees have been planted, and the women gained knowledge in regenerative agriculture methods such as crop care, natural fertilization, pest and disease management, harvesting, and distribution of the harvest to local markets.
Download the program brochure here.
Project Director: Claudia Meglin
You can make checks payable to ISI with the project name included in the memo & send checks to ISI.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Network of Applied Pharmacognosy
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Network of Applied Pharmacognosy
Regeneration & Systems Change, Health & Wellness / End of LifeThe mission of the Network of Applied Pharmacognosy is to share the real-world applications of the synergies of nature by analyzing data and communicating research and educational information to the public.
We prioritize promoting and integrating within the natural medicines community and will communicate research findings through the lens of scientific advocacy and lived experience.
Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404