Around the globe, grassroots movements are shaping some of the most grounded and effective responses to the overlapping climate, economic, and political challenges facing our world. These movement leaders are regenerating ecosystems, strengthening local economies, expanding democratic participation, and stewarding land and water so that people and planet can thrive together.

This visual essay highlights six movement leaders and communities–all Thousand Currents movement partners–whose work is rooted in place, people, and collective change. From Thailand to South Africa, from the Dominican Republic to Senegal, Peru, and Fiji, these movement leaders are organizing across communities, tending to and protecting land, and building a future where we can all eat well, breathe well, and live well.

Movement Leader Spotlights

Nonhle Mbuthuma

Co-founder and Spokesperson, Amadiba Crisis Committee | South Africa

Nonhle Mbuthuma grew up along South Africa’s Wild Coast, where livelihoods are rooted in farming, grazing, and fishing. When mining companies began seeking rights to extract titanium, promising jobs while threatening displacement, Nonhle became one of the community members organizing village meetings to ensure residents understood the long-term consequences. In 2007, she co-founded the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) to defend their homelands through collective decision-making and legal action.

As a spokesperson, organizer, and movement leader, Nonhle has helped coordinate resistance across five villages, navigating court battles and state pressure. Under her movement leadership alongside others, ACC won a landmark ruling affirming that communities must give full consent before mining can proceed on their land. In 2022, ACC also prevented destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off the Wild Coast—protecting migratory whales, dolphins, and other wildlife from its harmful effects.

“We always say that the bird builds the home with the other birds’ feathers. It means that you cannot work alone; you need other people. That’s solidarity.”

— Nonhle Mbuthma, Amadiba Crisis Committee

Lourdes Huanca

President | Federación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas, Indígenas, Nativas y Asalariadas de Perú (FENMUCARINAP)

As president of FENMUCARINAP, a national women-led movement spanning all 25 regions of Peru, Lourdes Huanca Atencio works alongside thousands of peasant, Indigenous, and artisan women to defend territory, water, seeds, and ways of life threatened by extractive industries and patriarchal policies. Movement leaders and members of FENMUCARINAP gather in community halls, markets, and villages across the Andes and the Amazon, organizing to advocate as movement leaders and as a collective for justice, rights, and decision-making power.

Read the full article about movement leaders building a collective future at Thousand Currents.