A Year in Review

Welcome to our 2021 Annual Report

Discover the transformation you supported WiseTribe in influencing across Food, Learning & Well-being from January until December.

365 days of momentous effort.

Post-pandemic(ish).

2021 was full of uncommon, uncomfortable, and unexpected challenges, plus unprecedented discord. Pandemic fatigue deepened, becoming even more pronounced in schools as educators powered through extreme stress, facing exhaustion, while students struggled to keep up.

This volatility, uncertainty, and complexity merged into a new norm ... one that introduced inflation, food and medicine shortages, and the risk of global wars.

Yet, there were bright spots as well. 

In a way, 2021—filled to the brim with lessons, projects, conversations, and new relationships—helped people move forward. 

Thanks to your generosity of time and money—our volunteers, donors, and community members began to apply ordinary skills in new ways. We began to build a new system against the constraints of the old one.

In small examples, well-being went from a "way of being" to a skill worth exploring and developing in classrooms. Learning returned from online to in-person, reestablishing our relationship-building capacities. And so on.

Together, our community resumed moving towards our vision: A healthy, wise future.

This report summarizes how your support helped WiseTribe move the needle in 2021, from Food and Learning to Well-being. At the end, we'll look at where we go from here.

A student drawing of WiseTribe Community Gardening
WiseTribe Community Gardening

Reflections on 2021

With your support, WiseTribe accomplished a lot in 2021. Here are a few highlights:

  • Your generosity allowed us to offer ongoing hands-on learning programs in the classroom at SouthTech Preparatory Academy in Boynton Beach. Efforts to promote Food Citizenship included installing classroom-based grow towers, hosting cooking parties, building a pollinator garden, and observing caterpillars transform into butterflies, and more.
  • The support of our well-being volunteers provided educators with stress-relieving practices via wellness workshops to support school administrators.
  • Our biggest supporter of the year, Impact 100 Men, offered a grant that helped us start an outdoor learning lab for STEM at SouthTech Preparatory Academy.
  • Before summer, we watched our first Jr. WiseTribers head to college, Middlebury College & FIU on full scholarships.
  • In summer camp, we helped campers find their superpowers through weekly creative expressions. Chiemecka, a Florida State University graduate, former Jr. WiseTriber, and camp counselor, who has used a wheelchair since middle school, gave a powerful talk on the subject of personal transformation by embodying resilience that set an inspiring tone for our days together. 
We are grateful to you — all of our generous supporters, volunteers and partners — for your commitment to a shared vision of a healthy, wise future.
Read on to discover some of the incredible highlights you helped accomplish this year!

Food Citizenship

We help schools build capacity for Food Citizenship, a focus on food to solve significant challenges facing our future.

Our youth-led programming focuses on sustainable food production and building a healthy future through food.

Hands-on experiences link to academic standards for science, math and civics, nurturing students as future leaders.

Check out just some of our successes: 

  • 3400 lbs of food distributed to SouthTech Preparatory Academy & Carver Middle School
  • 1024 lbs of food waste composted, bringing our total to over 27,000 lbs of food rescued to date
  • 220 youth educated on healthy eating, sustainable diets, and regenerative agriculture 
  • 205 lbs of food harvested from our community and educational gardening
  • 16 sustainable youth culinary adventures addressing the environmental impacts of animal agriculture and benefits of plant-based meals
  • 8 community partnerships formed for sustainable food
  • 1 Outdoor Learning Lab for agri-STEM at SouthTech Preparatory Academy started
WiseTribe, united for a healthy and wise food future

Learning: Jr. WiseTribers Unite

We support youth, schools & volunteers who seek personal growth.

WiseTribers receive forward-thinking learning experiences that lead us toward a sustainable future.

Check out (some) of our results: 

  • $10,000 first-ever scholarship awarded to a graduating Jr. WiseTriber. The teenage Haitian immigrant heading to Middlebury College said our programs help "define her values system." 
  • 413 hours from 42 volunteers to support youth training & education. Topics included: Financial literacy, landscape architectural design, mindfulness-based relaxation practices, Wisdom Exchange events, and more.
  • 16 Wisdom Exchanges (community conversations). 
  • 6-week virtual, volunteer-led "Walking With Nature" camp collaboration with Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to help youth connect nature with well-being.
  • 4 educator visioning sessions addressing work/life balance for greater school well-being.
WiseTribe - United for a healthy and wise Learning future

Well-being

We support schools, students and personal growth-oriented volunteers.

We provide experiential learning opportunities to support the growth of wellness practices. Activities address various concerns, issues and challenges to well-being, including the role our environments play in it.

Our science-backed practices, tips and techniques provide actionable resources that aid participants in increasing total health and well-being at home, in the office, and beyond.

Check out (some) of our results:

  • 4 professionally led yoga nidra sessions for 57 educator participants. 
  • 6-week nature-based learning series and pollinator garden creation by a master gardener volunteer and donor. 
  • 4-week Camp for a Health Future for 22 middle and high-school-aged students to practice well-being skills taught: mindfulness, financial fitness, cooking, journaling, and more.
  • 12 final presentations showcasing the sustainability and/or well-being practices the campers pledged to build as lifestyle habits to support the healthy leader they are becoming. 
WiseTribe - United for a healthy and wise Well-Being future

Community, Fueling a Healthy & Wise World

WiseTribe is a small and expanding nonprofit organization that pledges growth and transparency. 

We are always examining our organizational and operational excellence and remain committed to continually learning. The following financial details reflect what was recorded in 2021, and we anticipate continued — and even greater — transparency in 2022.

Operating Income Events - $5,419 Donations - $146,114 Grants - $60,986
Operating Expenses Administration - $21,862 Fundraising - $45,611 Programs/Grants - $73,206
In-Kind Services & Contributions Volunteer Services - 5.5% Food/Supplies - 7.3% Professional Services - 87.2%

 

 

2021 Financials

Covers 12 months ending 12/31/21

Besides cash donations received from our donors, WiseTribe also received in-kind contributions for professional and volunteer services, food, and supplies. Receiving these needed resources in kind allows us to use our cash to implement program services. Although these in-kind donations are not shown in our financials, they add significant value to the organization.

Our Future Leaders: Jr. WiseTribers

Meet Jr. WiseTriber, Dina, who matriculated to Middlebury College, Vermont, on a full scholarship. Congratulations, Dina! 

Meet Jr. WiseTriber, Dina, who matriculated to Middlebury College, Vermont, on a full scholarship. Congratulations, Dina! 

Junior WiseTribers is a subset of students who participate in after-school educational programming—those whose leadership potential is catalyzed as they build grassroots change.

As Junior WiseTribers become experienced in project management, mindfulness, financial literacy, and other subjects, they gain foundational competence in teamwork and resilience.

These and other transferrable skills are known to drive overall health and success. And from children to families and schools to communities, Junior WiseTribers make a difference.

They count on WiseTribe to help them build aptitude for bright futures. And WiseTribe depends on them to be great leaders when they get there.

Our Community Brings Learning to Life

 

Right now, things feel uncertain. It's hard to envision that the future can be positive, healthy and wise. But we're already on the way. 

We are bringing a healthy, wise future to life. 

The power of community in this moment in time.

WiseTribe is not a single-issue nonprofit. We address systems, which requires examining challenges thoughtfully and thoroughly. We aim to produce solutions that aren't linear but are circular, ensuring that they will continue to evolve as future needs require.

Sometimes, the time or complexity of our projects can make our impact more difficult to feel. But it only takes a spark to get a fire going. 

You can get involved and help us do this work.

  1. Become a leader: Reach out for information about joining our board as it strives to increase impact. 
  2. Support our work: Become a WiseTriber for as low as $5 per month. Or, volunteer on a project basis to produce impact over a 90-day period.
  3. Become a mentor: Provide friendly, trusted input as a role model for youth implementing WiseTribe projects. 

Thank you again for your involvement and engagement with WiseTribe. Together, we are making a difference in building a healthy, wise world.

Celebrating 2021 volunteers

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