©Lucia Hofmaier
In 2018, Panta Rhea President and Co-Chair Dr. Lisl Schoepflin was at the Thousand Currents Academy when a new vision for Panta Rhea snapped into focus.
She had just spent nine months in Peru. She was living in Mexico with her future husband and his family, pregnant for the first time, and understanding her life with added perspective. As a US and German citizen, she enjoyed self-determination, freedom of movement, and social and economic stability. Meanwhile, billions of people around the world were constrained by unjust ecological, economic, and socio-political conditions.
“I was deeply influenced by the concept of reciprocity in the Andes, and how it could be applied to the redistribution of wealth and power,” she says. “It was a vision of an embodied, creative, and inclusive philanthropy working towards social justice and ecological sustainability."
In the six years since, Panta Rhea has been steadfastly moving toward this new vision. New non-family trustees will be identified in 2025 to further reflect the new strategy, joining Lisl, Co-Chair Holly Roberson, Cedric Brown, Solomé Lemma, and Daidie Donnelly on the board. Our organization now has a diverse staff team with roots across the Caribbean and Americas—CEO Connie Archbold Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer Amalia Brindis Delgado, Grants and Administration Lead Gerlie Collado, and a Regional Program Manager joining in early 2025.
“At the end of 2023, the Panta Rhea leadership team met with local community and cultural leaders in Mexico,” says Connie. “This was the moment we were all in, having spent years refining our mission, vision, grantmaking, governance, and operations in solidarity with a vibrant network of community partners.”
Now, in partnership with so many of you, we are pleased to unveil our new strategy: Panta Rhea is a family foundation that supports people building power, honoring culture, and regenerating nature across the Caribbean and Americas.
“Our grantmaking and programming will boldly reflect the self-determined priorities of Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and other communities working toward justice,” adds Amalia. “Our goal is to connect grassroots partners in the Caribbean and Americas with resources of all kinds.”
We invite you to our new website to learn more about our new vision and mission, our updated values, and the throughline between where we’ve been and where we’re going. Early next year, we’ll share more about our strategy, introduce you to some of our community partners, and provide more details about grantmaking resources and investments.
Thanks for joining us on this journey,
Panta Rhea
