irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2022
What they reported doing
- #1 primary $10KREGENERATIVE MOVEMENTS - IN 2022, REGENERATIVE MOVEMENTS CONTINUED ITS PLANNING AND COLLABORATION FOR THE LIVING SCHOOL OF THE AMAZON THROUGH A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS INCLUDING POPULAR EDUCATION TRAINING AND CO-DESIGN WORKSHOPS WITH INDIGENOUS EDUCATION EXPERTS, LOCAL COMMUNITY LEADERS, AND YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE IN PUYO AND VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN THE NORTH/EAST OF THE AMAZON. THE FIRE THAT FUELS PROGRAM, A GLOBAL NETWORK OF LEADERS AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS, BUILDING MORE REGENERATIVE MOVEMENTS, LAUNCHED A NEW ROUND OF PEER SUPPORT CIRCLES WITH 4 MONTHS OF ONLINE TRAINING WITH UGANDAN LGBTQ ORGANIZATIONS AND BEGAN PREPARING FOR A 2023 COHORT LAUNCH OF THE PROGRAM IN BOGOTA, COLOMBIA WITH DEFENDERS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.
- #2 $0ORGANIZING & MOVEMENT-BUILDING - OUR ORGANIZING STRATEGIES HEAL AND EMPOWER LOCAL LEADERS, BUILD A POWERFUL GRASSROOTS BASE, AND CULTIVATE LONG-TERM VISIONS TO BUILD STRONG MOVEMENTS.
named programs · 5 · from sources
What they call their work
Collaborative Filmmaking
Feminist and decolonial impact filmmaking projects such as "Above and Below the Ground," which documents indigenous women activists in Myanmar, and social justice music video workshops that empower marginalized communities to create media for advocacy.
Fire that Fuels
Global support program offering regenerative organizing tools including virtual Regeneration Circles, webinars, and training for activists and human rights defenders. Serves LGBTQI activists in Uganda, feminist activists in India, and grassroots leaders globally, with adaptations during the COVID-19 crisis.
Heal into Action
Workshop series in Greece combining psychosocial support, storytelling, theater, and advocacy to help refugees and support staff process trauma, reclaim narratives, and build resilience through a four-stage model: resilience, repair, reclaim, resist. Includes a Training of Trainers program to scale the model.
Living School of the Amazon
Planned educational initiative developed through co-design workshops with indigenous education experts, community leaders, and youth in Puyo and northeastern Amazon regions.
Sustainable Leadership
Leadership development programs for grassroots organizers, including partnerships with the New York Worker Center Federation and Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, focusing on resilience, healing, political education, and skill-building.
activities · 5 groups
What they do
-
Documentary Film Production 3 activities
- Design storytelling campaigns and public narratives for social changeDesigns and implements storytelling campaigns using video, text, oral history, and photography for digital and offline engagement, helping organizations develop their public narrative and theory of change as part of broader movement-building strategies.
- Produce documentary films on social justice and resilienceProduces documentary films that highlight community-level stories of resilience and hope amid forced migration, environmental devastation, and human rights struggles, including the feature-length film _Above and Below the Ground_ about Indigenous women activists in Myanmar. Created through collaborative, co-creative processes with financial support from institutional funders.
- Produce films and media to shift public narratives on frontline respondersProduces short films that highlight the empathy and commitment of Greek frontline responders in Lesvos, offering an alternative narrative to negative media portrayals.
-
-
Trauma-Informed Community Resilience Initiatives 3 activities
- Implement Heal into Action project in GreeceProvides integrated training in trauma management, storytelling, theatre, and advocacy for refugee communities and frontline staff in Greece, including psychosocial support sessions and short workshops in Lesvos and Athens from 2016 to 2018.
- Provide resilience-centered leadership and capacity-building trainingOffers resilience-centered leadership development using healing-oriented assessments, trains community leaders in emotional crisis management, and supports the development of power-conscious practices in organizational development.
- Support regenerative organizing and emotional resilience in crisis contextsProvides support to system change groups transitioning to regenerative organizing practices during and after crises, including hosting webinars on best practices, establishing Regeneration Circles for emotional support and decision-making, and offering technical assistance and resources to sustain community-led emotional support efforts.
-
-
Program Evaluation and Impact Research 1 activity
- Conduct participatory and ethnographic research for organizational developmentConducts collaborative needs assessments, participatory research, ethnographic studies, and survey research to inform program development, organizational evaluation, culture change, and strategic planning, including stakeholder mapping and comparative case studies.
-
-
Leadership Development Programs 1 activity
- Conduct workshops and training programs for grassroots and Indigenous organizationsDelivers workshops and co-design sessions with Indigenous education experts, community leaders, and youth in regions such as Puyo and the northeastern Amazon, as well as leadership development and organizing support for migrant and worker centers in the U.S. and Thailand-Burma border areas. Includes two-day workshop series and peer support initiatives tailored to specific communities.
-
-
Uncategorized 1 activity
- Launch peer support and leadership development programs for human rights defendersLaunches peer support circles and online training programs for LGBTQ organizations in Uganda and prepares cohort launches for global human rights defenders in Bogotá, Colombia, as part of The Fire That Fuels Program.
-
financials · form 990EZ · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$27K
Contributions & grants$25K95%
Program service revenue$1K5%
Investment income——
Other revenue—
expenses
Total expenses$60K
Program expenses96%
Admin / overhead4%
Fundraising0%
Salaries & benefits$16K
Grants paid out—
Largest expense lineProfessional Fees
balance sheet
Total assets$49K
Cash$35K
Investments$0
Liabilities$0
Net assets$49K
Liquid reserves7.0 mo
3 years on record · 2022–2024 · YoY revenue -86.2%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 3
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAGGIE HOLDEN | BOARD MEMBER & CO-FOUNDER | 5 | $13K |
| EMILY TEERA-HONG | BOARD MEMBER & CO-FOUNDER | 5 | $8K |
| ARIANNA SCHINDLE | BOARD MEMBER & CO-FOUNDER | 5 | $2K |
board members · 4
- ALISA DEL TUFO — DIRECTOR
- CHRISTINA FOX — DIRECTOR
- SHINICHI DAIMYO — DIRECTOR
- ZOE WESTHOF — BOARD MEMBER & CO-FOUNDER
relationships · 37
Who they work with
- ANTARES FOUNDATION Partner — Partner organization listed in Rhiza Collective's network
- ASHOKA Partner — Partner organization listed in Rhiza Collective's network
- Amnesty International USA Partner — Partner organization listed in Rhiza Collective's network
- Ashoka: Innovators for the Public Partner — Collaborated with Maggie Lemere on the “Storytelling for Changemakers” initiative.
- BERTHA FOUNDATION Partner — Partner organization listed in Rhiza Collective's network
- Bertha Foundation Funder — Financial supporter of the film production.
- Brown Girls Doc Mafia Partner — Provided in-kind support for the film production.
- Center for Asian American Media Partner — Provided in-kind support for the film production.
- Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law Partner — Hosted Ria Singh Sawhney as a Research Fellow and collaborated on research related to mental health in human rights work.
- Centro de los Derechos del Migrante Partner — Developed leadership development and intersectional organizing workshops for the Migrant Defense Committee.
- Cornell University’s David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement Funder — Financial supporter of the film production.
- Doc Society Climate Story Fund Funder — Financial supporter of the film production.
- Echo Park Film Center Partner — Collaborated with Echo Park Film Center to conduct a workshop on social justice music videos.
- Echo Park Film Center Partner — Conducted a workshop on social justice music videos for participants from media-marginalized communities.
- GoodFight Media Partner — Co-produced the film Everyone a Changemaker: The Story of Pinelands North with Maggie Lemere.
- Haverford College’s Hurford Center for the Arts and Humanities Funder — Financial supporter of the film production.
- Indigenous education experts Partner — Co-designed workshops for the Living School of the Amazon with Indigenous education experts in the Amazon region.
- Jafra Partner — Palestinian Syrian refugee-to-refugee support network with which RHIZA INC collaborated through the Heal Into Action program.
- LGBTQI activists Partner — Collaborates with LGBTQI activists in East Africa to design culturally and politically grounded regenerative organizing tools.
- Local community leaders Partner — Engaged local community leaders in co-design workshops for the Living School of the Amazon in Puyo and northeastern Amazon regions.
- National Science Foundation Funder — Financial supporter of the film production.
- New York Worker Center Federation Partner — Ongoing partnership supporting worker centers representing diverse low-wage worker populations
- New York Worker Center Federation Partner — Ongoing partnership to provide leadership development and organizing support.
- Open Society Foundations Partner — Partner organization listed in Rhiza Collective's network
- Rockefeller Foundation Funder — Awarded the international Storytelling Challenge award in 2015 for a film co-produced by Maggie Lemere.
- The Gotham Film & Media Institute Partner — Provided in-kind support for the film production.
- Tribeca Film Institute Funder — Financial supporter of the film production.
- Ugandan LGBTQ organizations Partner — Collaborated with Ugandan LGBTQ organizations through four months of online training and peer support circles.
- Visual Culture, Arts and Media & Office of the Provost, Haverford College Funder — Financial supporter of the film production.
- Voice of Witness Partner — Co-published the oral history collection Nowhere to Be Home: Narratives from Survivors of Burma’s Military Regime with Zoë West and Maggie Lemere.
+ 7 more
strategies · 3
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Collaborative Storytelling & Filmmaking for Movement Buildingmethodology: collaborative_filmmakingBy using feminist and decolonial collaborative storytelling and filmmaking, we advance social transformation because sustained community authorship over narratives fosters agency, deepens engagement, and centers frontline voices in advocacy and policy change.
- Grassroots-Academic Integration for Evidence-Based Advocacymethodology: grassroots-academic integrationBy bridging grassroots activism with academic research through participatory and ethnographic methods, we produce actionable knowledge that strengthens movements, because collaboratively grounded evidence increases strategic impact and legitimacy in policy and public discourse.
- Healing-Centered Organizingmethodology: healing-centered_organizingBy integrating healing practices with community organizing, we build resilient grassroots movements and sustain long-term activism, because addressing personal and collective trauma strengthens leadership, fosters collective care, and grounds action in systemic justice rather than extractive models.