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Mission Statement
The Rivera Sierra Foundation supports women owned and women operated grassroots organizations focused on sustainable farming, agroecological, and food distribution practices throughout Puerto Rico. Our understanding of the term woman is expansive and includes anyone for whom the term resonates.
About Us
The Rivera Sierra Foundation is a small private Family Foundation, established in 2023 honoring Jorge Rivera and Victoria Sierra, lifelong residents and generous contributors to their communities in and around San Juan, Puerto Rico. We are driven to continue their legacies through direct grant giving to organizations who contribute to the cultivation of land, nourishment of communities, and advancing food sovereignty efforts in Puerto Rico. Steering away from traditional, colonial philanthropic practices, we empower our grantees greater flexibility and freedom to utilize grants in ways that best serve their organizations.
Did You Know?
According to the latest report from Hispanics in Philanthropy, less than 1.3% of philanthropic dollars are directly invested in Latinx based organizations. That's less than 2 cents out of every dollar that are explicitly designated for Latinx programs.
Of the dollars that go to Latinx communities, agriculture and farming focused efforts receive the least amount of dollars, compared to all other causes. US territories also receive less donor funding than any other mainland US geographical region.
Source: LatinxFunders.org Funding Trends
Before Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans were approximately three times as likely to experience food insecurity as people on the U.S. mainland. After the hurricane, hunger became even more acute, but agroecological projects recuperated more quickly than conventional farms, according to farmers and scholars, and fed communities where other help didn’t come for a long time.
Source: 2022 New York Times "Can an Island Feed Itself?"