The Kalliopeia Foundation is a left-of-center private grantmaking foundation that financially supports environmentalist policies, Native American interests, and stories that promote expanded immigration from a spiritual orientation. It was founded by Barbara Sargent in 1997, who is a practitioner of Sufism,¹ a mystical tradition of Islam. ²

The Foundation claims to promote a global consciousness of oneness, indigenous cultures, and nurturing inner life. ³ The organization supports the idea that there is an ecological crisis which requires an environmental movement that will honor the Earth and humanity. ⁴

Grant Funding

The Kalliopeia Foundation provides grant money to various organizations that work to spread their ideas of spiritual oneness with others and the Earth. Since its creation the Kalliopeia Foundation has funded over 500 organizations. ⁵

Indigenous Peoples

The Hopi Foundation in Arizona is funded by the Kalliopeia Foundation for its work with indigenous people of Hopi and Tewa descent. ⁶ The Hopi Foundation created the Hopi Leadership Program in 2006 to grow and encourage a new generation of Hopi and Tewa leaders. ⁶

The Kalliopeia Foundation funds the First Nations Development Institute (First Nations), which created the Native Youth and Culture Fund (NYCF) project to focus on youth who incorporate culture and tradition to address social issues in Native communities. In 2019, the Kalliopeia Foundation allocated $500,000 in grant money to the NYCF project. ⁷ Native Language Immersion Initiative, a project by First Nations, is a three-year project to create community-based programs that work to prevent the loss of Indigenous languages and cultures. ⁸ Since 2002, the Kalliopeia Foundation has provided most of First Nations’ funding. ⁹

Nature

Orion magazine, the self-described “America’s Finest Environmental Magazine,” is another group to which the Kalliopeia Foundation gives money, a total of $20,000 in 2017. ¹⁰

The Kalliopeia Foundation also provides funding for the Bay Nature Institute, a nonprofit publication and website promoting people’s relationship with nature, specifically in the San Francisco Bay Area. ¹¹

Cultures

The Kalliopeia Foundation is an avid supporter of immigrants. It supports community immigration events around the U.S. In Chicago, the Kalliopeia Foundation sponsored the Monarch Festival 2019, which celebrates the monarch butterfly and its long migration aiming to connect people’s stories of their own migration experiences with that of the butterfly. ¹²

The Spiritual Ecology Fellowship is an initiative within the Kalliopeia Foundation that selects eight emerging young leaders for an experience of deep study and practical application of “spiritual ecology.” The participants develop and create pilot projects that potentially could be funded by the Kalliopeia Foundation’s incubator program. Each participant receives a full scholarship and a $10,000 stipend, with all travel, food, and lodging paid for by the Kalliopeia Foundation. ¹³

History and Founder

Barbara Sargent founded the Kalliopeia Foundation in 1997 because she says growing up, she was lost and without purpose. ¹⁴ Sargent went on to establish the New Field Foundation, which supports rural women in West Africa, and the Tamalpais Trust, which supports indigenous-led initiatives, organizations, and networks. ¹ Sargent practices within the Sufi tradition of Islamic mysticism at the Golden Sufi Center in California. ¹As a practicing Sufi, Sargent follows a mystical form of Islam, which focuses on the inward search for God and shuns materialism².

The name Kalliopeia comes from the first of the nine Greek Muses and means “beautiful voice.” ¹⁵

Funding

The Kalliopeia Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax except private foundation. The Kalliopeia Foundation reported $14,732,960 in expenditures in its 2017 fiscal year. ¹⁶ The organization reported eight employees receiving over $50,000 in compensation. ¹⁷ The organization had two direct charitable activities, the Global Oneness Project and the Spiritual Ecology Fellowship, totaling $1,371,822. ¹⁸

1. Mendenhall, Megan. “Clients in Conversation: Money & Spirit – Part II.” RSF Social Finance. May 12, 2015. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://rsfsocialfinance.org/2015/05/19/clients-in-conversation-money-spirit-part-ii/
2. Specia, Megan. “Who Are Sufi Muslims and Why Do Extremists Hate Them?” The New York Times. November, 24, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/middleeast/sufi-muslim-explainer.html
3. The Security and Sustainability Guide. Kalliopeia Foundation. Accessed October 27, 2019. http://securesustain.org/job/kalliopeia-foundation/
4. Kalliopeia Foundation. Parliament of the World’s Religions. Accessed October 29, 2019. https://parliamentofreligions.org/pop-ups/kalliopeia-foundation
5. About Us. Kalliopeia Foundation. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://kalliopeia.org/about-us/
6. Lavar Butler, Joshua. “A new generation of Hopi, Tewa leaders and professionals.”  Navajo-Hopi Observer. October 1, 2019. Accessed October 29, 2019. https://m.nhonews.com/news/2019/oct/01/new-generation-hopi-tewa-leaders-and-professionals/
7. “Kalliopeia Foundation Provides Continued Funding for First Nations’ Native Youth and Culture Fund Program for 2019.” Globe Newswire. January 29, 2019. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/29/1706766/0/en/Kalliopeia-Foundation-Provides-Continued-Funding-for-First-Nations-Native-Youth-and-Culture-Fund-Program-for-2019.html
8. “Application Period Now Open for Second Year of Native American Language-Immersion Grants. Deadline is December 18, 2018.” Globe Newswire. October 26, 2018. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/10/26/1627796/0/en/Application-Period-Now-Open-for-Second-Year-of-Native-American-Language-Immersion-Grants-Deadline-is-December-18-2018.html
9. “Kalliopeia Foundation Funds Native Youth and Culture Programs.” Indian Country Today. January 29, 2019. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/the-press-pool/kalliopeia-foundation-funds-native-youth-culture-projects-Dct2L27mhEuuMD0bMBFbXQ/
10. The Orion Society Inc., Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Part I, (a) No. 5.

    https://orionmagazine.org/cms/assets/uploads/2018/11/2017-Form990.pdf

11. Bay Nature. About Us. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://baynature.org/about-us/
12. Pandey, Mrinalini. “Celebrating the Monarch Butterfly.” Hyde Park Herald. August 20, 2019. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://hpherald.com/2019/08/20/celebrating-the-monarch-butterfly/
13. Spiritual Ecology Fellowship. List of Awesome. Sullivan Foundation. https://sullivanresources.org/job/spiritual-ecology-fellowship/
14. Mendenhall, Megan. “Clients in Conversation: Money & Spirit – Part I.” RSF Social Finance. May 12, 2015. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://rsfsocialfinance.org/2015/05/12/clients-in-conversation-money-spirit-part-i/
15. About Us. Kalliopeia Foundation. Accessed October 29, 2019. https://kalliopeia.org/about-us/
16. Kalliopeia Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part I Line 26. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943270387/201833179349101998/IRS990PF
17. Kalliopeia Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part VIII Section 2. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943270387/201833179349101998/IRS990PF
18. Kalliopeia Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part IX-A Line 1 and 2. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943270387/201833179349101998/IRS990PF