OUR CASE FOR SUPPORT
Since 2014, Sachamama has made it possible for Latinos to participate in climate decisions, raise their voices, and shape local solutions.
HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS HITTING LATINO COMMUNITIES THE HARDEST
Latino communities in the U.S. are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, bearing the brunt of extreme heat, air pollution, and natural disasters. According to the Pew Research Center, 56% of Latinos in the U.S. live in areas than have experienced an extreme weather event in the last year.
Photo: Marisela Viramontes, standing where her house once was after the Eaton Fire. Part of our investigative series in Los Angeles.
Latinos breathe in 63% more air pollution than they produce, while 48% live in areas with frequent smog violations, compared to 32% of white residents. This heightened exposure increases risks of asthma, heart disease, and other serious health issues. (Env. Defense Fund)
Latinos are disproportionately impacted by extreme heat, facing three times more likely risk of heat-related job deaths and a 43% greater risk of reduced labor hours compared to non-Latino whites. (UnidosUS)
Latino households face disproportionate climate risks, with 27.2% located in high-risk zones and over 40% unable to afford basic energy needs like cooling, refrigeration, or electricity over essentials like food or medicine. (UnidosUS)
Latinos are 21% more likely to live in urban heat islands areas – lacking trees and green space – and nearly 1 in 3 Latino households lack air-conditioning, increasing their vulnerability to extreme heat. (Hispanic Access Foundation)
After Hurricane Harvey, 27% of affected Latinos still lived in unsafe housing a year later, nearly three times more than white residents. This reflects a broader reality: 78% of Latinos report experiencing climate impacts, many living in high-risk states. (Env. Defense Fund)
CLIMATE PROGRESS DEPENDS ON ACTIVATING DIVERSE COMMUNITIES AND LATINOS ARE CRUCIAL TO THIS EFFORT
Photo description: Sachamama Climate leadership training in Denver, CO
74% Latinos want the administration and congress to do more to address climate change. (Yale Program on Climate Communications)
36.2M Eligible voters in the 2024 presidential elections. (UCLA Latino Policy Institute)
81% describe global climate change as a top personal concern. (UnidosUS)
LATINO CLIMATE LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
Sachamama was born from the ancestral and ecological wisdom of the Amazon rainforest, wisdom generously shared by communities who reminded us of a simple yet powerful truth: change starts within, and grows through community.
Today, that spirit lives in a modern platform built for action. We support Latino leaders as they build skills, engage civically, and elevate community voices, turning participation into leadership that helps drive clean, affordable, and just climate solutions.
Photo description: Sachamama community listening session in Miami, FL
SACHAMAMA IS UNIQUELY SUITED TO
DRIVE LOCAL CLIMATE SOLUTIONS THROUGH
OUR ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK
Sachamama is a climate leadership platform. We form people through education, activate leadership through advocacy campaigns, and amplify community voices through media. This integrated system is how we generate Climate Leadership in Action, people actively exercising leadership across our ecosystem.
OUR WORK INCLUDES:
Increase Climate Communications
Campaigns
We design strategic campaigns that shift public understanding, mobilize communities, and elevate the voices of those most effected.
Investigative Reports
Our reports uncover the hidden impacts of pollution and climate change in Latino communities, providing facts that fuel advocacy and public accountability.
Media Partnerships
We collaborate with trusted media outlets to amplify local stories and cultural perspectives, ensuring Latino voices shape the climate conversation.
Develop Local Climate Leadership
Training
We offer expert-led courses, cohorts, and resources that build practical skills in leadership, professional development, communications, and wellness.
Organizing
We connect participants and partners with pathways to lead locally, supporting them in applying skills, building community, and removing barriers to advocate for equitable solutions.
Mobilizing
We turn training into collective advocacy by creating opportunities to engage – advancing climate solutions at the local and national levels.
Strengthen Communities Through Action
Local Solutions
We direct resources to communities most impacted by climate change, supporting locally led solutions that respond to their specific needs and improve daily life.
Unlock Resources
Through our organizing framework, we help community partners access additional funding by strengthening capacity, storytelling, and strategy to grow and sustain their work.
Expand What Works
We document successful local models, then scale them by connecting communities with similar needs – ensuring that proven efforts can inspire and empower others across the country.
COMMUNITY VOICES
Claudia Vera
Community Organizer in Washington
Once a busy farmworker, she joined our leadership workshop in 2020 – and it transformed her path. Today, she serves as a program coordinator at Nuestra Casa and a community leader with Fire Adapted Communities, where she has trained over 200 Latino residents on how to coexist with increasing wildfires to protect their families and neighborhoods. She has also led multiple advocacy trips to Olympia, WA, ensuring local and state leaders hear directly how climate pollution affects Latino communities and agricultural workers.
Through her journey, she’s gained confidence, built a network of changemakers, and helped spark community-wide action for environmental justice in Sunnyside’s farmworker neighborhoods. Her advocacy for the HEAL Act has helped bring critical financial resources to Latino communities, ensuring they are supported in the fight for a healthier, more just future.
“Having a platform where our communities’ stories are heard, and resources are available to take action is crucial. Campaigns like this are significant for our community and the organizations doing the work because they humanize the challenges we encounter daily, giving a face to the issues we confront.”
Rudy zamora
Director of Advocacy for Chicanos por la Causa
“This partnership with the extreme heat photojournalism project, ¡Qué Calor! Historias de Nuestros Trabajadores, helped amplify the everyday experiences of some of Little Havana’s most vulnerable outdoor workers. Together, we turned a growing health threat into a shared movement, helping to bring awareness, spark dialogue, and restores dignity and pride to those who labor underthe sun.”
Ilara souto
Executive Director of Healthy Little Havana
“The information Huella Zero provides is crucial to keeping our readers informed about everything that is happening on climate change and other environmental problems.”
CARMEN VILLAVICENCIO
Director of El Diario New York Newspaper
“The Climate Hub has been an essential tool for informing and strengthening our team and communities, providing access to clear, practical resources in Spanish to grow as environmental leaders.”
CATY PADILLA
Executive Director Nuestra Casa
“The Fundamentals of Climate Leadership course taught me tools for leading a campaign and how to have a strategy and structure around my approach to climate leadership.”
CHOE VORSETH
PhD Candidate FIU
“Thanks for the Communities Adapted to Fire course; I learned how to protect myself, my family, and my community from events as catastrophic as wildfires.
ARMIDA RIVERA
Community Organizer, Latinos Community Fund
“Thanks to the Climate HUB, I understood that in order to rebuild our planet, it is vital to organize, lead, and inspire communities to change.”
ANNETH HERNANDEZ
Community Organizer Familias Unidas en Acción
SACHAMAMA IS A PLATFORM FOR LATINO CLIMATE LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
Through education, advocacy campaigns, and media, we help communities most impacted by climate change build the skills, visibility, and civic power to protect what they love and advance a more just and sustainable future.
This is how we measure impact: Climate Leadership in Action. People actively exercising climate leadership across our ecosystem within 90 day periods.
Partnerships
ORGANIZATIONAL FINANCES
89% Grants
10% Program revenue
1% Individual donations
81% Program expenses
19% Management expenses
49% Salaries
25% Professional and consultant fees
9% General expenses and subscriptions
6% Taxes and benefits
6% Software platforms
3% Office rent
1% Travel expense
1% Insurance
INVESTING IN LATINO COMMUNITIES IS ESSENCIAL TO MAKING REAL PROGRESS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Schedule a discovery call with our leadership and join us today.
Carlos Zegarra+916.833.4413c.zegarra@sachamama.org