Creative Action Institute

05/29/2026

We've been gathering materials from the last round of Creative Advocacy Practicums and are so excited to start getting them up on our website!

First up, this incredible project from Kajiado, Kenya with our partners at The Malkia Initiative where 33 girls from the Sauti ya Dada cohort used posters and dance to investigate and address what was keeping girls out of school in their community: teenage pregnancy.

Check out some photos from the project, and head to the link in bio to read more!

05/20/2026

20 moments from our Creative Environmental Leadership Course! 🌿

Last week our participants successfully completed the first module of our creative environmental leadership course. Congratulations to them all!

Next they're on to deepening their collaboration skills and creative capacity over the next 12 months.

This program wouldn't exist without our partners doing the real work on the ground!

💚

05/11/2026

Bienvenidos a Antigua!

Today we launched our Creative Environmental Leadership Program, a year-long course that develops the leadership skills of key changemakers across our partner organizations in Latin America.

Participants flew into La Antigua yesterday and are settling in for an intensive week of workshops with our incredible LATAM team.

Day 1 looked like: Ice breakers, life stories, honest reflections on leadership styles, and a deep dive into emotional intelligence.
..and because nobody can sit in a classroom all day without moving, we obviously threw in some dance breaks too. 💃

This is just the start! Over the next 12 months, these leaders will develop the resilience, collaboration skills, and creative capacity they need to become catalysts for change across their communities and the region.

Welcome to the journey! 🌿💚

04/29/2026

04/29/2026

For 20 years, Creative Action Institute has been training courageous grassroots leaders to champion gender equity and climate justice around the world. Behind that work is a pretty mighty (and adorable) team!

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day 🌎

We believe that people protect what they feel connected to. That's why we partner with communities around the world to strengthen their connections to land, water, culture, and each other.

That looks different in every place. In Qenqo, Peru, it meant bringing together primary school students to learn about their local environment, build confidence in leadership, plant 1,000 trees, and establish a greenhouse for ongoing learning and restoration.

We hope this video inspires you as much as it inspires us!

🎥 Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gzBQrHIllg

Campesina Forestal

5 likes, 1 comment. "Empoderar el liderazgo de los nin@s en el Bosque Comunitario Qoricocha"

04/20/2026

Over two decades, Creative Action Institute has supported partners working to protect the species our ecosystems and communities depend on. Here are 20 snapshots from that work! 📸

Some recent species we’ve worked with include:

🐾 Giant Frog (Rana gigantea) — with RANA
🐾 Yellow-naped Parrot — with Fauna & Flora
🐾 Antillean Manatee — with Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development - Belize

04/16/2026

In Pisac, Peru, our partner K**i Kawsay has been working to build awareness for the value of Andean foods such as quinoa, tarwi, corn, potatoes, and many others that have sustained life for generations, but are being replaced by processed foods.

🪻Tarwi, for example, is a highly nutritious Andean legume, rich in protein and minerals, and has long been a key part of ancestral diets in the Andes.

In their Creative Advocacy Practicum, they invited students and community members to:

🌱 Explore the links between climate change and food sovereignty.
🌱 Revisit ancestral practices, highlighting ways to care for both human health and the natural world.
🌱 Reflect on how ultra-processed foods are reshaping daily life and what's being lost in the process

These conversations are part of a growing movement to protect not just what's on the plate, but the knowledge, culture, and ecosystems behind it.

Which traditional foods are still part of your daily life?

03/26/2026

This week, our Sauti ya Dada mentors came together for three days of training on the SYD curriculum. 🌱

From exploring their own leadership roots to practicing facilitation skills, teaching mini-lessons, and presenting full SYD sessions, these mentors showed up fully and left ready to guide the next cohort of girls through the program.

Congratulations, and thank you to our incredible mentors for your commitment, your energy, and everything you bring to this work! The girls are lucky to have you. 💛

03/23/2026

What does youth-led environmental action look like? 🌳 In Totonicapán, Guatemala, it looks like this:

Through workshops, a community clean-up, and a visit to their local tree nursery, 45 youth, teachers, and community leaders came together to create a mural that now inspires people passing by every day.

Their message: "Caring for natural resources begins at home and is strengthened in the community."

▶️ Watch clips from the project here!
🔗 Watch the video in entirety here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1LrxJB4FoQ

This project was developed by EcoLogic Development Fund as part of Creative Action Institute's Creative Advocacy Practicums (CAPs) 2025 program, with support from the New England Biolabs Foundation.