Movement Training Network is a left-of-center advocacy group that supports activist training and grassroots projects related to environmentalism and social movements. The group has conducted trainings focused on self-defense for racial-minority and LGBT communities and has produced media content highlighting environmental activism in Native American communities. The group has been funded by left-of-center foundations, including the Third Wave Fund, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, and Resources Legacy Fund. ^{1 2}

Background

Movement Training Network was formed around 2021 and is based in New Mexico. The group provides resources to activists in social and environmental justice causes, with an emphasis on community-led initiatives. The group’s website states that it operates several programs, with many focusing on indigenous and environmental activism in the southern United States. ^{3 4}

The group received tax-exempt status from the IRS in 2021 but was not listed on the IRS’s most recent list of tax-exempt organizations as of late 2025. The group also never published a tax return (form 990) indicating limited financial activity as a standalone nonprofit. ⁵

The Movement Training Network’s website is critical of large nonprofit organizations, stating that “Contrary to the dominant narrative, big-pocketed funders pushing nonprofits created in the image of corporate America is not the solution. Only grassroots-level organizing allows for the flexibility and deliverability of lasting progressive change and services,” and describing its services as “committed to providing critical compensation to local and national grassroots leaders, as well as significant program or project funding for communities.” ^{6 7}

Activities

Movement Training Network has offered trainings such as the Special Assets Safety and Security (SASS) program, which targeted self-defense skills for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) as well as LGBT individuals. The group has also produced a podcast series called “Failing to Save the Earth,” featuring discussions on environmental challenges faced by frontline communities. ⁸

The group’s projects include RAM INC (Resist and Abolish the Military Industrial Complex); Din’e Land & Water, which focuses on environmental activism in the Navajo Nation; Unkicinip, focusing on advocacy in the Lakota Nation; and the Migrant Support Project. ⁴

In 2025, the group published an external fundraising page with its 2025 priorities, which included ten grassroots projects, many of which were existing projects of the organization, such as the Migrant Support Project and Din’e Land & Water. Other projects included the Indigenous Advanced Education Project “to ensure equitable access to higher education and law school for Native American students” and new projects including MTN Mountain Space, Bayou Food Forest, and Be Everything Farming. ⁹

Funding

Movement Training Network has received grants from several left-of-center foundations focused on environmental and social-policy issues. Funders have included Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, Flock Inc., Princeton Area Community Foundation, Rachel’s Network, Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, New Earth Foundation, Partnership Project, Proteus Fund, and Resources Legacy Fund. ¹

Leadership

Cherri Foytlin has served as executive director of Movement Training Network. Foytlin previously founded the L’eau Est La Vie Resistance Camp, which opposed the Bayou Bridge Pipeline project, and the NDN Bayou Food Forest. ^{10 11}

1. “Movement Training Network | Tira Amarilla, NM | 990 Report.” Instrumentl. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/movement-training-network.
2. “About.” Movement Training Network. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://movementtrainingnetwork.com/about/?customize_changeset_uuid=b97c6c5e-990c-4a25-a591-bb0cb009136d.
3. “Movement Training Network.” Movement Training Network. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://movementtrainingnetwork.com/.
4. “Our Projects.” Movement Training Network. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://movementtrainingnetwork.com/portofolio/.
5. “Movement Training Network.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/861287825.
6. “Movement Training Network.” Movement Training Network. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://movementtrainingnetwork.com/?customize_changeset_uuid=b97c6c5e-990c-4a25-a591-bb0cb009136d.
7. “What?” Movement Training Network. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://movementtrainingnetwork.com/what/.
8. “Movement Training Network.” Third Wave Fund. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://www.thirdwavefund.org/grantees/movement-training-network.
9. “Support for MTN Grassroots Projects.” Givebutter. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://givebutter.com/CkKxJJ.
10. “Speaker Bios.” North American Forest and Climate Movement Convergence. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://forestclimateconvergence.org/speaker-bios.
11. “Cherri Foytlin.” Movement Training Network. Accessed December 19, 2025. https://movementtrainingnetwork.com/author/cfoytlin/.