For thousands of years, the Kichwa people of the Andes have used "k'allam'p" to describe their relationship between the land and their societal knowledge. This symbiotic relationship represents our philosophy. We are a nonprofit organization leveraging our diversity of knowledge and experience to advance regenerative agriculture, social ecology, and holistic resource management through community partnerships, research, and consultancy.
Core Values
Acknowledging the indigenous, social, and natural histories of the land.
Supporting collaborative educational development in indigenous communities.
Sharing knowledge within our local communities.
Respecting the human labor and physical costs of agriculture.
Being transparent in our approach, findings, and potential conflicts of interest.
Impact Areas
Ethnopedological knowledge
Regenerative agriculture
Social ecology
Hyper-local agribusiness
Community-based agriculture
Local biodiversity
Public understanding of, and engagement with agroecology
Katharhy G.
Research & Development Coordinator, Co-founder
Katharhy G. is the Ancestral Land Trustee of the Morales-Cushgua and Arrayanes Indigenous territories in the Ecuadorian highlands where he researches and develops sustainable entrepreneurial systems. He is an earth and environmental scientist (B.A., BSc., MSc.) with an area of concentration in agroecosystems and he is in the track to get a Ph.D. in environmental and ethnosciences at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has managed non-profit urban farms in New York City, consulted for small and middle scale farms with Cornell University Extension, and has taught workshops at the New York Hall of Science, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and NYC Parks GreenThumb. Katharhy is also a research fellow at the Carbon Sponge Art and Science Project (New York Hall of Science), and a lead researcher in ethnosciences at CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center.
Kaya Alta
Cotacachi Extension Coordinator
Kaya Alta is a Kichwa Indigene from the Santa Bárbara community of Cotacachi, a General MD professional, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Quito, Ecuador, and a former Fellow of the Hanns Seidel Foundation. She has investigated the relationships and circumstances in the dichotomy of indigenous midwiving knowledge and the local hospital acceptance of the traditional practice in the northern part of Ecuador. She has managed the Barrio Medical Strategy in the District of Cotacachi and served as Coordinator of the Apuela Operating Unit, Expert in Provision of Health Services of District 10D03 Cotacachi. Currently, she is a General Practitioner in hospital functions at the Asdrúbal Basic Hospital de la Torre de Cotacachi. Alta works in the co-development of the Indigenous Midwives Congress in the City of Cotacachi, Ecuador, and she leads K’allam’p’s extension and scholarship in Cotacachi.
Alonso Córdoba
Education Coordinator, Co-founder
Alonso Córdoba is a biologist (BSc., MSc.) who is currently researching the bacterial composition of urban soils in New York City using molecular data and soil science protocols. He is affiliated to CUNY Brooklyn College as adjunct faculty, teaching microbiology and introductory biology labs. He is also involved in local community gardens and farms applying his expertise in microbial ecology to improve the composting projects and raise awareness of the importance of conservation and remediation of soils.
Corey Tegeler
Communications Coordinator,
Co-founder
Corey Tegeler is a creative technologist working on innovative approaches to sharing public histories, telling journalistic stories, and visualizing data on the web. He has been an adjunct professor at The New School, co-taught a course at Barnard College, facilitated workshops at the Brown Institute at Columbia University, and served for several years as the operations manager of the Windsor Terrace Food Coop. Corey is a collaborator of Carbon Sponge, a soil-based science and art project at the New York Hall of Science and Pioneer Works. He is also on the board of directors of Prospect Farm where he gardens and composts in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.