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Organization

The Cultural Conservancy

The Cultural Conservancy, a Native-led San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit founded in 1985, supports Indigenous land access, stewardship and cultural revitalization.

Kind
501(c)(3) (registry name Cultural Conservancy Sacred Land Foundation)
Native-led
unverified
Works with
Native communities, mainly California and Southwest
Region
San Francisco, CA
Focus
Indigenous cultural and land stewardship partnerships
Registry
EIN 94-3003900 (ProPublica; exempt 1986; FY2024 revenue about $3.0M); Charity Navigator 4/4 stars

What happened

The Cultural Conservancy (TCC) calls itself a Native-led nonprofit founded in 1985 and based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its website says its land base lies in the sovereign territories of the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo peoples. ProPublica lists the IRS registrant as Cultural Conservancy Sacred Land Foundation, EIN 94-3003900, with tax exemption issued in June 1986.

TCC's team page lists Caesare Assad (Kickapoo, Assyrian, Irish-British) as executive director. Melissa K. Nelson (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) became the first Native American executive director in 1993 and has chaired the board since 2021, according to TCC's own biography of her.

TCC's history page lists land-related work from its first 30 years. It says that through "land acquisition support, cultural conservation easements, and conservation partnerships" it helped protect traditional lands and gathering sites, and helped create Hui Aina o Hana, a Native Hawaiian land trust on Maui. It also says it helped California tribes and communities not federally recognized with land access and protection.

Its stated mission is "to protect and restore Indigenous cultures, empowering them in the direct application of traditional knowledge and practices on their ancestral lands." TCC also runs a regranting program and a farm, per its site. These are TCC's own descriptions.

Good to know. Its website is nativeland.org, not to be confused with the Native Land Digital mapping project. Its legal name is Cultural Conservancy Sacred Land Foundation, which may appear at checkout.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

  1. We are a Native-led nonprofit organizationThe Cultural Conservancy - About
  2. land acquisition support, cultural conservation easements, and conservation partnershipsThe Cultural Conservancy - History
  3. Executive DirectorThe Cultural Conservancy - Team
  4. became the first Native American executive director of The Cultural Conservancy in 1993The Cultural Conservancy - Melissa K. Nelson
  5. Tax exemption issued: June 1986ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer - Cultural Conservancy Sacred Land Foundation

Research notes. The record's website field (cultural-conservancy.org) did not load; the organization's site is nativeland.org (this is not the separate Native Land Digital mapping project). The IRS name is Cultural Conservancy Sacred Land Foundation; confirm the payee at checkout. Project claims are the organization's own and cover 1985-2015; recent land outcomes were not checked.

We have not verified this organization well enough to link to it. See our donation integrity policy.

Corrections to this record

  • The website was listed as “https://www.cultural-conservancy.org/”; corrected from nativeland.orgWe are The Cultural Conservancy, a Native-led organization founded in 1985.

Connections

These links were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Works in 1

Works with 1

Sources

  1. cultural-conservancy.org/self-description
  2. nativeland.org/unclassified
    We are The Cultural Conservancy, a Native-led organization founded in 1985.
The record’s fields
Vetting notes
Website blocked automated reading, so mission, leadership and donation page were not verified. Led by Dr. Melissa K. Nelson (Anishinaabe/Metis/Norwegian) (, unverified). Hold for manual review. [V3 2026-10-16] ProPublica and Charity Navigator list EIN 94-3003900 under the name "Cultural Conservancy Sacred Land Foundation" (San Francisco, exempt June 1986, FY2024 revenue $3,047,113, 4/4 stars). The seeded name "The Cultural Conservancy" is the organization's working name; because cultural-conservancy.org blocks automated fetching, V3 could not confirm the website belongs to this EIN. Hold for manual review.not yet checked against a source
Kind
Organization
Confidence
Low
Notes
  • Some details not yet checked against a source
  • Some details unverified

Correct this record