Authors Mago Smith is a co-founder of Gamsa Gardens, an agroecology collective based on Hawai’i Island, and Kumsa Maphalala, daughter of NI advisor Malaika Maphalala, is a Mahi’ai Technician at Hui Malama Ola Na ‘Oiwi.
In March, the 2026 Bioneers Conference brought hundreds of people together to reimagine our connection to land as a personal relationship, one that is especially important to remember for those of us who are guests.
Corrina Gould of the Lisjan Nation grounded us in that reminder during the opening of the conference, when she spoke about what it truly means to be a guest on Huichin land, also known as Berkeley, California. Her message was simple but powerful: Remember where you are. Move with humility. Let go of ego. Care for the land as if it were your own responsibility, because it is. That might look like picking up trash, tending to shared spaces, or simply walking with awareness and respect. Being a good guest, she said, is an active practice.
“Human beings have forgotten their place in that creation story we were given a long time ago. We find ourselves apart from rather than a part of. I hear people talking about goingback to nature. But we are nature. We don’t have to go back.”
Corinna Gould, Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation
This principle came to life during a panel of seven environmental activists and legalists, who sat in a row that included one empty chair. “This chair
here is for the spirit of the mountain,” Kumu Ramsay Taum, coming from Oahu, explained while pointing to the chair before the dialogue began. As a Native Hawaiian guest on Huichin land, Kumu understands the immense power of using ceremonial practices to bring natural forces into an academic space like the conference.
He spoke about ‘āina, the land, as a living relative rather than a resource to commodify. If land had a voice, would we be willing to listen? Instead
of buying and selling land, what would it look like to protect and treat the Earth as our own mother and care for her accordingly? Even movements
like Land Back, while essential and necessary, still operate within a colonial framework of ownership that keeps land within a framework of ownership that leaves it vulnerable to capitalist pressures and extraction. He asked, “How can we own something we fundamentally belong to?”
The deeper invitation is to transform our relationship with land altogether. This means reconnecting with place in meaningful ways, through song, dance, ritual, and cultural memory. Knowing your territory isn’t about possession; it’s about relationship. Kumu Ramsey brought forward a perspective that resonated deeply: the idea of a sacred contract with land. What if land could “own itself,” and humans simply acted as guardians?
If we are to sustain the complex and delicate web of life on Earth, we must shift our economic priorities to support her guardians, the people working to protect and regenerate land—and restore humans’ relationship with it. We need an economy that repairs the world, not one that extracts from it. That means valuing environmental and land-based work in real, tangible ways. If people are working multiple jobs just to survive, how can we expect them to also carry the weight of climate action? Paying people well to restore ecosystems, steward land, and care for the community shouldn’t be idealistic but necessary.
In October, the administration released a $1.5 trillion proposal for the 2027 Pentagon budget, a massive increase from the current, unprecedented
U.S. spending on wars in other countries. In the face of our polycrisis—the overlapping crises of climate catastrophe, pandemics, war, and systemic
injustice—leaders at Bioneers invited us to imagine the possibilities of shifting resources into solutions rooted in the Earth.
“Non-kin thinking is the root problem,” said Leah Penniman, food sovereignty activist and cofounder of Soul Fire Farm. “It leads to racialized
oppression and Earth-ravaging. It severs our family and relegates others to non-person. And only when you relegate others to non-person can you conceive of enacting violence upon them.”
Raj Patel, a journalist, activist, and board member of Natural Investments nonprofit client Just Associates (a feminist movement support organization rooted in the Global South), drew parallels to historical moments times of upheaval— like the Russian Revolution—that ignited powerful social movements rooted in food, care, media, and solidarity. The extreme uncertainty of those moments called for either action or surrender.
Both Penniman and Patel emphasized food justice as a bridge from the local to the global. They reminded us that real change happens at the intersections where movements meet, where people come together across differences.
“If you choose optimism as a practice—I’m going to get up today and plant this crop, take care of my community—maybe there’s a chance we will win, but in the meantime, today, I can alleviate suffering for the beings in my immediate community,” Said Penniman.
One concept Leah offered is called “strategic optimism.” It is not a naïve optimism, but a daily practice rooted in truth and small, intentional actions. Choosing joy and hope after fully facingthe facts is a discipline. Penniman and Patel also called on all of us to build and strengthen community and kinship, stay close to our neighbors, and invest in relationships. When systems fail, as they undoubtedly will, it’s our connections that will hold us. As Raj put it: “Turn your zip code into a village.” Make friends. Know your people and your connection to them.
Caring for each other may be one of the most powerful investments we can make.
The Bioneers Conference philosophy and values, centered on nature-based solutions, community organizers, and Indigenous leadership, resonates deeply with Natural Investments and our clients. We were honored to have activists Mago Smith and Kumsa Maphalala attend the conference and share highlights of the conversations with us from the 2026 gathering held in Berkeley, California. In alignment with their values, Natural Investments clients have invested in powerful organizations working at the intersection of land stewardship, social justice, ecosystem repair, and food systems:
Malaika Maphalala
*ʻĀina Aloha Economy Fund supports regenerative economy enterprises across Hawai’i.
*The Black Farmer Fund works to nurture Black community wealth and health by providing technical assistance, grants, and loans to Black-led farm and food enterprises across the Northeast United States.
*Iroquois Valley Farms supports organic farmers and bioregional food systems for the health of our soil, communities, and the planet across the US.
*NESsT Lirio Fund provides loans and technical assistance to Indigenous-led agroecological enterprises accelerating environmental conservation and regenerative systems in the Andes Amazon region.
*People’s Land Fund provides resources, land, and infrastructure needs to Black Indigenous and People of Color farmers and ecological land stewards.