Wisdom and Innovation: Indigenous Knowledge and Grassroots
In the rush toward high-tech climate solutions, traditional wisdom and grassroots innovation are often overlooked — yet they hold answers that are practical, affordable, and deeply rooted in community resilience. From Pacific Island lifeways and indigenous foods used as medicine, to local makers bridging digital skills with ancestral knowledge, these approaches offer pathways to sustainability that are inclusive, culturally grounded, and proven across generations.
This session will explore how indigenous expertise and grassroots innovation can be recognized, resourced, and scaled — not as “alternatives,” but as central to peacebuilding, health, and climate resilience.
Speakers
B. Kainoa Azama — Associate Director at Olohana Foundation and Skoll Fellow, mobilizing youth leadership from grassroots to global levels.
Jedidah Maina — Executive Director of TICAH, advancing gender and sexual and reproductive rights with 15+ years of activism and leadership.
John Rexford Nzira — Executive Director of Twende in Tanzania, empowering grassroots innovators to design technologies that address local challenges.
Lorreen Ajiambo — Associate Director & Global Lead for Strategic Communications at IDinsight, using storytelling and influence to drive social impact.
What to Expect
Surface hidden wisdom – Examine how indigenous lifeways and food traditions support health, climate action, and community resilience.
Explore grassroots innovation – Highlight local makers and innovators blending traditional and digital tools for sustainable development.
Bridge knowledge systems – Discuss how non-Western expertise can gain traction, visibility, and legitimacy in climate and development spaces.
Rethink high-tech dependence – Consider the “high cost of high tech” and how traditional wisdom can inform alternative solutions.
Why Join?
Reframe indigenous and grassroots knowledge as central, not peripheral, to climate and development.
Learn from real-world examples of communities sustaining health, food security, and resilience.
Contribute ideas on how funders, policymakers, and practitioners can respect and integrate diverse knowledge systems.
Walk away with strategies for elevating wisdom and innovation from the ground up.
Who Should Attend?
Indigenous leaders and grassroots innovators driving community solutions.
Funders and policymakers seeking to resource alternative approaches to climate and health.
Practitioners and researchers working at the intersection of traditional knowledge and modern systems.