Join me in welcoming Raft’s newest core team member, Ember Buck!

I (Nathan) am so delighted to introduce you all to Ember Buck, a longtime collaborator of mine and the new, second full-time staff member at Raft. You will see them start to show up in emails as they start to share the workload with me. 

Here’s a little message from them:

Hey y’all! I’m Ember (they/them) and you’ll start to see me more in your emails, raft.talk and elsewhere as your new Program Director :). I’m originally from Kansas City, Missouri, but have lived all over and currently call Wellington, New Zealand home. My interests in community food sustainability, peacebuilding, humanitarian aid and border activism have amounted to a career in non-profits, decentralized tech and activist groups, which has led me quite naturally to fiscal sponsorship. In non-work things, I co-parent 2 kids, I’m a dedicated reader (@quailtea on storygraph! send me recs!), and I support my partner launching a women & queer makerspace in NZ (@cahoots.nz!). I’m thrilled to be teaming up again with Nathan and to work in service to all your incredible efforts

If you want to join me in welcoming Ember, go ahead and send an email to team@raft.foundation with “for Ember” in the subject line :)

Invitation from fellow Raft project, CoLab

CoLab, a.k.a. the Permaculture Collaborative Laboratory, would like to invite you to their latest FREE funding circle event, “Getting Funders to Come to You!” on July 8 at 16:00 - 17:30 UTC (check time in your own timezone here: https://everytimezone.com/s/3de9be66). The aim is to make the funding landscape easier to navigate by creating a direct point of contact between funders and permaculture and aligned projects, in a way that is practical, respectful, and useful for both sides. Join their mailing list at https://perma.earth/funding-circle/ to receive the registration link~

Milestones, continued

Last month, I mentioned that we have been working on our first independent audit. After some intense work to compile all of the documentation they requested, we are now waiting on their response. It’s a little like waiting to get your grade back from a test you studied really hard for… We are hoping that we will have (celebratory) news for you all by the end of June - after all, it is all thanks to your receipts and invoices and hard work that we can meet these government requirements!

Operational notes

• Member Fund: The Member Fund’s balance currently sits at $18,855.73. You can see what funds have been allocated so far here - it updates in real time! If you have not submitted your member fund allocation (pw for all internal forms is “solidarity”), please do so here! I’ve also tasked Ember with following up with you directly :) And you can update your project’s allocation using the same form above at any time.

• New projects: Please join us in welcoming Savage Daughters Apothecary & Botánica!

• Departing projects: This month we are saying “goodbye and thank you” to Emerald City Beacon, which has decided to sunset the project.

• Private wiki access: Join RaftTalk so that you can view the Private Wiki pages! Use this invite link~

• Form password: Don’t forget, the password for all internal forms is currently “solidarity”!

• Announcements and celebrations: Have something to announce or celebrate? Send it our way and we will include it in the next bulletin.

Warmly,

Nathan