NYC Climate Week 2025 served as a reminder that Mother Earth cannot wait for bureaucracy to protect her. As we navigate democratic backsliding in the so-called United States, we continue our efforts to defend our homelands across Turtle Island against extractive industries, including fossil fuels, artificial intelligence, and hypermilitarization.
Our team on the ground at Climate Week met with dozens of relatives from around the world as well as accomplices to keep Indigenous-led solutions at the forefront of these conversations. These discussions around coalition building, resource channels, visibility, and the need for ongoing support of climate organizations, provided insight for the road ahead.
At NDN Collective, it is built into our mission to protect Mother Earth for the betterment of all people. At this year’s Climate Week, that sentiment was the same. Our team brought Indigenous representation to several events and panels, including the conversation Indigenous Peoples Resisting the Climate Crisis, Fossil Fuel Colonialism, and the expansion of AI, cohosted by NDN Collective and iINDIGENOUS.
We showed up to this year’s Climate Week gathering with the same holistic approach we carry in all our work. The team members of NDN Collective who took part in discussions, events, and meetings carried with them the varieties of expertise and knowledge that represent our organization, from unlocking loan capital, to our philanthropic partnerships, political education and advocacy, to our grassroots organizing.
We came to Climate Week to create strategy, partnerships, and connections between Indigenous Peoples and different movement partners. We also met with funders to not only open doors but also develop the keys for other Indigenous Peoples to access these spaces.
Here are five takeaways from our team on the ground:
#1: Big Bets Need to Be Sustained at Scale
One striking theme from NYC Climate Week was how many organizations that once received major “big bet” grants—large, one-time infusions of funding—now are feeling pressure from less resources. While these investments were meant to catalyze long-term growth, many recipients shared that they’ve since struggled to attract continued support. The perception that they’re already “well-funded” has, paradoxically, made them less competitive for future grants.
At NDN Collective, we’ve seen this dynamic firsthand. After receiving large, transformational gifts, we’ve also experienced how funders can assume the work is fully resourced or “taken care of.” In reality, the scale of our vision—and the needs of Indigenous movements across Turtle Island—requires sustained partnership that matches the scale of the change we are creating in the world. Philanthropy must move beyond big bets toward long-term commitments that match the scale of the change we’re all working toward.
#2: Native Community Development Financial Institutions are leading innovative resource channels and transforming investment in Indigenous-led climate solutions
With the need to shift away from government funding, the impact investing community is actively exploring how to channel resources—through grants, loans, and innovative financial mechanisms—into Indigenous-led initiatives that protect biodiversity, strengthen communities, and address the disproportionate impacts of climate change for Indigenous Peoples. This theme guided the conversations during the co-hosted NDN Collective and Collective Action for Just Finance lunch. The Indigenous organizations of the global Transformative 25 network shared innovations in resourcing community-led climate solutions and Indigenous organizations, allies, and investors had thoughtful discussions about catalyzing greater investment in these and other initiatives. Many attendees shared that the lunch stood out as an inspiring gathering, giving concrete next steps and hope for the future.
The need for capital structures in greater alignment with Indigenous communities globally was echoed in numerous other events, including a gathering hosted by NDN Fund investor Heading for Change, in partnership with USB and Impact Alpha. It’s evident that momentum is growing, potentially transforming investment in Indigenous-led climate solutions.
#3: Strengthening alliances and coalition building
One of my biggest takeaways was strengthening alliances and partnerships with other Indigenous organizations as well as supporting their work. It was also great to connect with coalitions that are intersectional across movements. Meeting with key partners, allies, and accomplices helped us strengthen our own work and the work of other Indigenous organizations. Our team co-hosted two events and met with more than thirty relatives, donors, and accomplices to help connect those doing climate work with those who can support that work.
Climate mitigation, climate justice, and lots of other climate work has been severely affected by this authoritarian administration. That is precisely why we need to unite around climate change and climate justice conversations – this work needs to continue. Climate justice doesn’t stop just because the government doesn’t support it. Because it is such a threat – even the word itself – it’s that much more important to resist and continue to do the work regardless of governmental support.
#4: Funders need to continue funding climate work
There’s a move to support democracy work and figure out how to move resources to democracy work, but we can’t leave climate work behind. It can’t be either or, these systems are interrelated and the funding strategies should match the strategies of movement infrastructure organizations. There still needs to be an increase in funding to Indigenous organizations that are doing climate work. As we continue to face climate crisis and see defunding of climate work in the federal government there is a critical role for philanthropy to play. We need philanthropy to fight authoritarianism in multiple levels and sectors. From building a true multi racial democracy to fighting on the front lines of climate change, these strategies go hand in hand. Movement infrastructure organizations are working across strategies and so we cannot see a retreat of climate funding in this moment when communities need these resources more than ever. Long term support is still critical for this work.
#5: Sustain visibility and keep (kicking) doors open for Indigenous People
Maintaining relationships and keeping doors open for Indigenous Peoples are important aspects of building the effective solutions our world needs.
Climate Week hosts spaces where people are deepening and developing partnerships, setting priorities and agendas, but this happens behind closed doors with private interests and powerful organizations. The groups that work on the ground building these solutions are too often left out. We have had to work hard to access every space we get into, and we continue to be kept out of many important spaces and discussions because we refuse to compromise our values and politics when it comes to addressing climate change. We know all these things are connected.
When dealing with authoritarianism, the frontlines are everywhere. The efforts to put movement organizations into survivor mode or force them into a reactionary position are tactics meant to prevent us from being in spaces that weren’t built for us. Showing up to Climate Week was a statement that we will not be invisibilized, silenced, or locked out of spaces that impact our ability to resource and uplift meaningful solutions.
In the wake of major cuts to climate funding by this authoritarian administration, it is important to maintain hope in our values as Indigenous People and our mission to build a better world for all people and Mother Earth. Any spaces to create partnership, open doors, and create systemic change, we need to show up and be there. As we do that, we have continued to center the voices of Indigenous People – not just NDN’s but the work of our partners too.
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NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
