Dear CAGJ Community & Friends:
We have exciting news: CAGJ received a bequest from a long-time supporter that has breathed new life into our organization – see below for details!
2025 started out as a big year of change for CAGJ. With funding tight, I moved to part-time and CAGJ reverted to our original all-volunteer collective model, with Sara Lavenhar continuing to coordinate operations; we are so grateful to Sara for her dedication and expertise!
In the first half of the year, CAGJ gathered community locally and globally, and laid the foundation for 2026:
- We hosted Whose Stories? Our Stories! WTO Memory Sharing with MOHAI to mark the 25th anniversary of the WTO protests.
In March we co-convened a 2-day Art & Revolution Convergence with MOHAI and artivists (artist-activists) David Solnit, Dana Schuerholz, Jo Redline Christian and Julie Searle, to inspire participants to amplify their message and impact by integrating art into all of their campaigns. You could see the outcome in some of the outstanding art on display at the No Kings rallies and marches in Seattle (photo by Kurt Smith)!- In June, AGRA Watch hosted Gates’s Global Power Grab: Building a Movement Against Oligarchy, a webinar that brought together leaders who critique each of the sectors Gates has negatively affected – agriculture in Africa, climate, health, and education. Hosted by author and investigative journalist Tim Schwab, the webinar was a call to action to confront the growing power of Gates and oligarchy.
As noted above, we recently received a bequest which will enable me to stay in the Executive Director role at least part time, and also possibly hire a staff person to move our ambitious agenda forward. The call for solidarity from our Farmworker and African Food Sovereignty partners has never been stronger, and we are energized to continue partnering through creative and steadfast resistance.
CAGJ marching on International Workers’ Day/May Day
In 2026, CAGJ will continue and expand our much-needed work, and we need your support. Your gift will help us continue to infuse activism through another Art & Revolution Convergence in the Summer of 2026, to sustain AGRA Watch’s campaign to hold the Gates Foundation accountable, and to call out the unjust power of billionaires!
I want to share some of the work I’ve been doing with sister organizations Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network North America (PANNA) and US Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA); at the beginning of next year, I will continue working part-time for CAGJ, while also holding these two contracts:
- I am working with USFSA to help organize our members around the country in the lead up to the first in-person gathering since 2018, when we last held a National Assembly in Bellingham. Over a dozen USFSA members participated in the recent Nyéléni Global Forum, with the goal of creating a roadmap for the food sovereignty movement, while recognizing the intersections with other movements including health and climate justice. USFSA’s 2026 gathering will take inspiration from Nyéléni, and determine a collective vision for moving our work forward in the US.
- I’ve been supporting the International Agroecology Working Group of PANNA who recently published Agroecology is a Climate Solution: Sharing farmers’ expertise from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, a set of case studies produced as a resource for decision-makers and social movement actors attending the recent Climate COP30 and the People’s Summit. The collection includes studies from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Argentina and Costa Rica, including one from G-BIACK, a longtime partner of AGRA Watch!
Heather (on right) with longtime CAGJ members Chris Iberle & Maria Elena Rodriguez
In 2026, CAGJ will celebrate twenty-five years of organizing. We are living in terrifying times. And yet so many are standing up to the unhinged and cruel attacks on vulnerable peoples’ livelihoods here, and around the world, which gives me hope. I am so grateful and proud that we have reached this milestone with your support.
I know that together we will continue to speak truth to power, standing shoulder to shoulder with farmers, fishers and farmworkers at the front lines, demonstrating the power of solidarity. Our Members are CAGJ’s engine: Thank you for continuing to support with a generous donation this Giving Tuesday.
With gratitude and hopes for a very Happy New Year,
Heather Day
All gifts are tax-deductible: tinyurl.com/FundCAGJ
- Monthly Sustainers give by automatic deduction once per month, and help us concentrate more energy on organizing. Give $5, $10, $20 or $100 per month!
- One time donations will help us reach our goal of raising $10,000 by December 31
- Do you work for a company that provides matching funds? Let us know how we can connect!
- Can’t donate, but want to become a Member or renew? Just fill out our online Membership form: tinyurl.com/joinCAGJ – Thank you!
