About Us
Native Future is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization rooted in Peace Corps service, conservation, Indigenous rights, and the dedication of many volunteers. We partner with Indigenous communities in Panama to protect their land rights, support the stewardship of their rainforest ecosystems, and youth education.
Our Story
Our story begins in 2000, with Peace Corps Volunteers Sara Archbald, Zachary McNish, and Julian Dendy and their experiences living and working in Wounaan and Ngäbe Buglé communities in Panama. They got to know firsthand the often-insurmountable challenges their native counterparts face daily trying to protect their lands from deforestation or just sending their children to school. When Sara, Zach, and Julian returned to the United States, their service to their host communities did not end. Founded in 2004, Native Future is an extension of its commitment to the well-being and future of Panama's Indigenous peoples.
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Today, that spirit of volunteerism and service still drives our mission. Native Future is led by a small but dedicated staff along with the support of a core of volunteers.
Board of Directors
Marsha Kellogg Executive Director
After ten years volunteering for Native Future, Marsha was asked to serve as the Executive Director in 2016 and to advance Native Future’s mission with the Wounaan people of Panama. A participatory planner, facilitator , and grant writer, her leadership has resulted in the design and implementation of Native Future’s Wounaan Bird Count, Native Stewardship, and Territorial Monitoring programs. By 2024, she had raised more than $725,000 dollars of direct support to Wounaan partners and communities for their territorial protection, cultural revitalization and sustainable livelihood goals.
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Marsha first learned about the deforestation of the Darien and its impacts on Indigenous peoples when she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama (1992 - 1994). Before joining Native Future, Marsha led participatory project planning and carried out sustainable forestry and environmental assessments on United States Agency for International Development-funded projects throughout the Americas and in West Africa. In the words of author and academic David Suzuki, Indigenous people are the best bet for protecting our planet “because in most cases, they are fighting through the value lenses of their culture”. Marsha concurs and takes great joy and satisfaction in supporting Indigenous communities to protect and conserve their territories and revitalize their culture.
Peter Hetz
Vice-Chair - Board of Directors
The conservation and management of natural resources cannot happen effectively without the ownership and buy-in of the people who have been its custodians for years. This tenet has been at the core of Peter’s work in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe for the last 45 years. Peter works with Native Future because they share this principle in the approaches and tools used in their work with indigenous communities in Panama. Peter works with Native Future because he is convinced that Native Future can help the indigenous communities of Panama obtain voice and agency.
Ellen Kwiatkowski Director- Board of Directors
Biodiversity conservation and collaboration with Indigenous groups are threads that run through Ellen's 25 years of non-profit work. She firmly believes that partnership, collaboration, trust and relationships are at the heart of how we will build resilient natural and human communities. Ellen has worked internationally, starting with Peace Corps Paraguay and followed by 10 years with The Nature Conservancy in Latin America helping to build capacity for protected area management with in-country partners, including in Panama. She understands that Indigenous communities are our natural conservation partners and on the domestic front has helped with local Native American land rematriation efforts in WI and revitalizing Indigenous cultural burning and collective land stewardship in CA. She currently works for LegacyWorks Group Santa Barbara where she also oversees a body of work that includes advancing wildfire resilience and community building in the wake of trauma.
Richard Warms Secretary - Board of Directors
Rich is professor of anthropology at Texas State University. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso and has conducted research on ethnicity, commerce, religion, and colonialism in Mali. He is the author of Cultural Anthropology (13th edition), Culture Counts (5th edition), Anthropological Theory: an Introductory History (7th edition), and other works in anthropology. Rich is committed to the supporting indigenous communities as they defend their rights, seek justice, and determine their futures. He is deeply concerned with safeguarding the environment and biodiversity. Native Future focuses on supporting indigenous people in one of the world’s most diverse and threatened environments.
Julian Dendy
Since living in Costa Rica in a study abroad program/ naturalist guide volunteer stay more than 20 years ago, Julian has been moved to study and conserve the wonderful worlds of tropical forests. Their incredible store of biodiversity and alarming rates of degradation and disappearance still strike me as the most poignant and irreversible modern problem we face. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, Julian’s acceptance as a family member and resident in the Wounaan community of Rio Hondo was the most meaningful experience of his life and led him to realize that supporting indigenous land and natural resource rights is clearly the most efficient and practical means of ensuring tropical forests continue to exist.
Jed Glosenger
Board of Directors
Jed is new to our Board of Directors!
James Gatzke
Board of Directors
James is new to our board of directors!
Director - Board of Directors
Staff and Volunteers
Sara Archbald
Education Coordinator
Programs & Operations
Clay Mosolino
GIS & Mapping Technician
Programs & Operations
Michael Cook
Graphic Designer
Programs & Operations
Janice Jorgensen
Wounaan Bird Count
Programs & Operations
Robert Mesta
Advisor
Wounaan Bird Count
Advisors
Robert Mesta
Advisor
Wounaan Bird Count
