Just Futures Collab is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island-led giving circle activating resources for climate justice.
We shift money and power to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island-led solutions that strengthen communities — and the climate they depend on — to thrive. When communities are resourced to lead, everyone benefits.
Support projects that safeguard the environment, protect the oceans and build community resilience in the face of climate change.
Climate justice is everyone's responsibility. Whether as individuals, communities or partners - we each have a role to play in building a just, equitable future. Together we can shift power, protect Country and stand with those on the frontlines of the climate crisis. We’re flipping the script on philanthropy to ensure funding lands where it’s needed most.
When we fund initiatives that support cultural preservation and revitalisation:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities can reclaim, sustain and share their languages, traditions and practises to protect Country and the environment.
We strengthen cultural pride, intergenerational knowledge and cultural survival.
When we fund community-led decision-making:
We support self -determined initiatives that reflect the unique priorities and values of each Aboriginal and Torres Strait island community.
We enable greater community cohesion, accountability and ownership over development outcomes.
We shift money by redirecting resources across three fundamental areas towards climate justice:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples have cared for Country for millenia, guided by deep ecological knowledge and spiritual connection to land, sea and sky Country. In the face of accelerating climate and biodiversity polycrisis, safeguarding the environment is not just conservation - it's a justice issue.
The ocean is life for coastal communities whose identities, economies and cultural survival are tied to the sea. Rising sea levels, warming waters, industrial fishing and pollution are threatening livelihoods and sacred connections.
As the impacts of climate change escalate, frontline communities - especially remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities - are already adapting with limited support. True resilience is not bouncing back to a broken system but about transforming the condition that created the crisis in the first place.
We foster safe spaces for knowledge sharing and build the capacity for self-determined leadership.
Picture a coconut tree.
The roots of the tree ground us in our shared values. They keep us connected to the truth that guides our giving.
The trunk is the fund itself. Each time someone joins the circle and donates $5 per week, it’s like a drop of water nourishing the tree. Over time, those small contributions build a strong, resilient trunk.
The coconuts are the fruit of our collective giving: microgrants that drop when the tree is strong. These coconuts go directly to grassroots, remote, or frontline Indigenous communities doing the work.
The palm fronds represent the impact that reaches far and wide - stories from our grantees, ripples of change, and the strength of shared action.
Our coconut tree is a powerful symbol of strong roots, community nourishment, and collective growth. It shows that everyone has a role to play in building a just future.
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Just Futures Collab was started by Tishiko King (or Tish, like fish), a proud Kulkalaig woman from the Island of Masig. Tish is a dedicated climate justice advocate committed to addressing the interconnected crises of environmental degradation and economic inequality.
Masig ~ daughter of the sea, held by land and guided by my ancestors.
Sea levels are rising, king tides are eroding shorelines, and sacred sites are being lost in the Torres Strait Islands.
I witnessed firsthand how climate change is already impacting island life, culture, and community.
Antarctica ~ a mirror to home.
Ice sheets are collapsing, ecosystems are destabilising.
Two places, far apart, connected by the same global crisis driven by fossil fuels.
Listening, learning, standing in SOLIDARITY!
Frontline communities hold the deepest knowledge and courage.
Years of organising and supporting communities made clear: the strongest climate solutions come from those living the reality.
A critical gap in the system.
First Nations organisations are too often competing for the same limited resources.
This scarcity model doesn’t reflect our values of care, kinship, and collective responsibility.
Seeds of a new approach.
With the support of Groundswell, we gathered around the table.
Together, we asked: How do we shift power, not just resources?
A pilot takes shape.
At Groundswell Giving, a pilot grant round was led by First Nations people, for First Nations people — funded by the Eisen Family Private Fund.
Decisions were grounded in trust, relationships, and lived experience — not applications, bureaucracy, or distance.
It showed what’s possible when communities lead, and philanthropy follows.
Strengthening the weave.
Through truth-telling and shared purpose, the circle widened.
More partners stepped in to learn and walk alongside community leadership:
Oranges & Sardines Foundation, The Dusseldorp Forum, Gumtree Foundation, and the Groundswell community.
With each step, power began to move back to community — not as a theory, but in practice.
A turning point in the climate crisis.
We are nearing critical tipping points.
The Australian Government continues to export coal and gas. The fight for climate justice is urgent, and deeply unjust—yet hope lives in collective action.
A new way forward walking together: Just Futures Collab
Inspired by community foundations, collective giving circles, and cultural immersions on Masig.
Philanthropy has a role—but we all have a role.
Just Futures Collab is how we come together.
This is our collective fight for a Just Future.
And everyone is invited.
We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.First peoples of this lands, waterways and seas. We pay respects to elders who have guided us. We pay respects to ancestors who watch over us. We celebrate their deep connections and honour their contributions and commitment to community, culture and Country.
Our first season of redistribution will begin in 2026. We are choosing to grow the roots before the branches - building a strong, shared pool of resources so that when funds move, they move with care, abundance and accountability to community.
Just Futures Collab is a Named Fund at Australian Communities Foundation (ABN 60 094 503 300). All donations over $2 are tax-deductible in Australia. You will receive a gift receipt via email after your donation is processed.
