Our Blog
The stories behind the grants
Reflections from the Greenhouse
“Nothing for us without us.” This basic but powerful idea was the underlying foundation behind this week’s Greenhouse sessions, which explored the value of cultural capital along the path of service. Participants talked about the beliefs, assumptions, expectations,...
Using Yoga and Mindfulness to Fight Against Teen Pregnancy in Rwanda
After attending a training about sexual and reproductive health in Nairobi, Emmanuel Dushimimana was inspired to bring change home to Karongi, Rwanda. “In my community, cases of teen pregnancy were surging, and I wondered - how can I contribute to bring about change?”...
Greenhouse: Material Capital & the Art of Giving and Receiving
This week in Greenhouse, our friend Birju Pandya shared his experiences in experimenting with gift culture, seeing the world through a lens of abundance, and designing an intentional life. He joined us in our second week of Greenhouse to talk about “material capital.”...
A Kid to a Ball: Solving Uganda’s Education Crisis
Far removed while deep in a rural village in Central Uganda, Kenneth Oroma—a then Teach for Uganda fellow—passed the time in the evenings by breaking out his ball for the few children that came to school that day. By the end of 2019, just three months into his...
Social Capital: The Beginning of the Greenhouse Experience
“We are a tall tree in a desert allowing everyone to take shade.” - Greenhouse Participants What happens when you bring together an amazing group of heart-centered changemakers to explore the idea of capital and its many forms through powerful conversations...
Butterfly Academy: Art for All
“I want to say thank you for opening my eyes to new things and now, thanks to you, I love writing, drawing, and most of all, I love art. I love all the projects you bring every Wednesday, even though I face some challenges. Love, Kynnedi” (6th grade)One might suppose...
Spotlight on the Arts
“Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.” - John Lubbock, author When I joined TPP in January of 2020, I...
In Her Own Words: An Essay by Greta McClain, Founder of Silent No Longer TN
Every 73 seconds a woman in the United States is raped - that’s more than 400,000 women a year - and less than 1/3 of those assaults are reported. The secret that those survivors carry is wrapped in such fear and shame, it holds the power to destroy lives. As a...
Focus On Health & Wholeness
At The Pollination Project, we think about the word “health” holistically, encompassing physical health, mental health, and inner transformative practice, as well as considering critical elements within the social determinants of what makes someone “healthy.” Over...
Elly Fatehi: Growing a Healthy Environment for Students
Mill Hill Elementary School’s outdoor classroom began as a response to coronavirus guidelines, but it has – quite literally – grown into something much more significant for the community of Fairfield, Connecticut. For Elly Fatehi, the leader of the PTA's Green Team at...
Focus on Human Rights & Dignity
This week, we continue looking in-depth at stories and projects within each of our focus areas. Through our Human Rights & Dignity panel, over the last ten years the community has supported 486 grassroots projects in 84 countries. These projects vary widely, but...
Robin Valenzuela: Assistance to Immigrants in Detention
Robin Valenzuela had spent years researching the intersection of child welfare and immigration enforcement in the U.S. when, in 2016, the election prompted her to take action. “I wanted to do something more than just write about these issues,” she recalls. She started...
Focus on Education
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”– SocratesOver the last ten years, The Pollination Project community has funded 1,193 education-focused projects in 97 countries. This remains the area in which we regularly receive the most...
The Leaders Readers Network: supporting equitable education for all
“When teachers and students work authentically together to promote early literacy in communities that are underserved and under-resourced, they can help equalize education for all children.” Chris McGilvery is an educator, connector, and kindness crusader. He...
One Women’s Dedication to Creating an Understanding and Peaceful World
As a widow and mother of three children living in Kenya, Mary Oyier works hard in every area of her life - from family to community - to create a world where people not only understand one another, they care for each other in meaningful ways. After losing an...
Spotlight on Women and Girls
Over the last ten years, The Pollination Project has funded 2,208 woman-led projects, and 848 projects expressly focused on empowerment of women and girls. This work is diverse, unfolding across 77 countries, yet many commonalities emerge in reviewing the stories...
Grassroots Animal Advocacy at The Pollination Project
The Pollination Project is committed to a people-powered model of social change that is rooted in grassroots activism. As a compliment and counterpoint to large, top-down approaches that emphasize institutional answers to the most pressing issues facing our world, we...
Robin Singh – Peepal Farm
Growing up, Robin Singh was an animal lover, but as he remembers “in India, when we say you’re an animal lover, we mean just dogs.” Defying this sort of thinking, he became a vegetarian in 1997 and years later, after learning more about animal agriculture, he went...
Stories for Thriving on Earth: Patrick Kasele
Patrick Kasele never expected to work in environmental education. After realizing that his work in corporate communications was not fulfilling his desire to help the community, he quit his job to pursue his passion for sharing and protecting the natural world. “Nature...
Five Unique Ideas in Service of Environmental Regeneration
In The Pollination Project’s ten years of operation, our community has funded almost 700 projects focused on environmental conservation and regeneration! Although every grassroots leadership project is unique, today we are using the blog to highlight a few that...
Using Education as a Means to End Poverty and Create Hope
When Alagie Ndow was only nine, his parents divorced leaving him to be looked after by his aunt who lived in a poor, remote village. As he struggled to complete his secondary education, Alagie connected with various volunteer service programs that not only helped him...
Color My Dreams Africa: an Organization Spreading Literacy and Hope
Edith Cherotich Ndiwa was born in a small village in Kenya to parents who both attended school and it is their education that would come to play a major role in charting the course of her life. Her father, a fan of Stephen King and other authors, invited her to expand...
To Be Rather Than To Seem
My home state of North Carolina’s motto is “esse quam videri,” which translates from the Latin as “to be rather than to seem.” This was on my mind recently in a team conversation about how The Pollination Project, as a global community of changemakers, should respond...
The Abortion Diary: A Unique Space for Stories and Conversation We Need Now
One of the most challenging and important things for our country and our world to try right now is to engage in conversations and hold space for people to share their stories without judgment. The ability to give full, open-heart and mind attention to people - outside...
A Compassionate Warrior’s Heart
In the wake of the decision to overturn Roe V. Wade in the United States last week, I found myself reflecting upon The Future of American Buddhism conference I attended earlier in the month. Buddhism, much like the ethos of The Pollination Project, is steeped in...
Creating an Environmental Brigade in One of the Most Beautiful Places on Earth
Beatriz Carmena was a teenager when she fell madly in love with Nature. Intrigued by everything from erosion and restoration to how Nature maintains its natural order and balance, she decided to study environmental engineering. An internship in Oaxaca, Mexico where...