Thousand Currents
Supports grassroots movements with funding and capacity building.
Company facts
- Founded
- 1985
- Employees
- 35
- Headquarters
- United States
- CEO
- Solomé Lemma
- Type
- Non-Profit
About
Thousand Currents is a social justice foundation that provides long-term, flexible funding for grassroots groups and movements in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific who are working to transform food systems, address climate change, and build more equitable economies. Founded in 1985, the organization believes that those closest to the challenges are also closest to the solutions, which is why they fund differently than traditional philanthropy. For forty years, Thousand Currents has walked shoulder-to-shoulder with visionary grassroots organizations, providing not just financial resources but also relationships and platforms that amplify community leadership. The organization has invested over $60 million in more than 650 grassroots groups and movements across 85 countries, collectively reaching and mobilizing more than 200 million people. Their movement partners are driving practical change by reviving traditional seed systems, restoring ecosystems, expanding clean energy access, and organizing women-led cooperatives that strengthen local communities. Thousand Currents operates as a registered 501(c)(3) charity and is headquartered in the United States with a global and remote workforce. The organization practices solidarity philanthropy, which centers mutual trust and recognizes interdependence between funders and communities. They work with individual donors, families, philanthropic advisors, and private foundations to resource transformative solutions and back long-term visions for a world where people and planet thrive together.