NESsT and The Ashmore Foundation announce a three-year partnership to support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC)-led bioeconomy enterprises in the Colombian Amazon. The partnership, which marks a renewed collaboration between NESsT and The Ashmore Foundation, will help strengthen NESsT's ongoing work in the region with a specific focus on opportunities for women and young people within Indigenous enterprises.
NESsT's approach combines business assistance, market connections, access to financing opportunities, and capacity building to support Indigenous entrepreneurs to grow resilient enterprises while preserving local knowledge and advancing stewardship of natural resources. The Ashmore Foundation's contribution will help deepen this work, with a particular focus on ensuring women and young people can participate in and benefit from enterprise development.
Indigenous communities have long played a vital role in protecting the Amazon, and enterprises led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities are increasingly demonstrating how economic opportunity and conservation can go hand in hand. Yet many entrepreneurs continue to face barriers to growth, including limited access to reliable markets, financing, business networks, and specialized technical support. Through this partnership, The Ashmore Foundation will contribute to NESsT’s efforts to expand support for Indigenous-led enterprises, broadening their impact across the Colombian Amazon.
"The most effective solutions for protecting the Amazon are often already rooted in the communities that call it home," shares Alejandra Ramírez, NESsT Country Director in Colombia. "This partnership builds on what Indigenous entrepreneurs are already doing: creating businesses that generate income and strengthen local communities. Together with The Ashmore Foundation, we have an opportunity to expand that impact and ensure more enterprises have access to the tools, markets, and networks they need to grow."
“The most effective solutions for protecting the Amazon are often already rooted in the communities that call it home.”
This partnership builds on NESsT's broader work in the Amazon over 11 years, including the success of its recent targeted program for Indigenous entrepreneurship. Between 2023 and 2025, NESsT, COICA and regional Indigenous organizations in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (OPIAC, AIDESEP, CONFENIAE) implemented the Regional Indigenous Incubator for the Amazon. The pilot program accelerated 13 Indigenous-led enterprises, impacting 1,749 families, contributing to the conservation of more than 84,200 hectares, and mobilizing more than $738,000 USD for Indigenous enterprises. Five of those enterprises were based in Colombia and will form part of this next phase of support backed by The Ashmore Foundation, alongside additional enterprises selected over the next three years.
One of these enterprises is AMITLI (Asociación de Mujeres Indígenas Trabajadoras de La Libertad), a women-led enterprise in Vaupés that brings together members of five Indigenous peoples to produce and sell fariña and other traditional foods. By working collectively, AMITLI has helped its members strengthen their incomes, preserve ancestral knowledge, and maintain sustainable agricultural practices that support both their communities and the surrounding forest.
A distinguishing feature of The Ashmore Foundation's support is its focus on women and young people within Indigenous communities. Across the Colombian Amazon, women often play a central role in preserving traditional knowledge, sustaining local food systems, and generating income for their families and communities, yet they continue to face barriers to financing and leadership opportunities. By incorporating a stronger gender lens into enterprise support, the partnership seeks to ensure that more women and young people can play a greater role as entrepreneurs, producers, and community leaders, helping ensure that the benefits of the Amazon bioeconomy are shared more equitably across communities and generations.
"This partnership reflects The Ashmore Foundation’s commitment to advancing Indigenous women entrepreneurs as a core part of our women’s economic empowerment strategy, one that is deeply connected to climate resilience," shares Esther Arthur, Foundation Director at The Ashmore Foundation. "Indigenous women play a vital role in preserving knowledge and stewarding natural resources across the Amazon. When they have greater opportunities to participate in and benefit from enterprise development, the impact extends beyond individual businesses to families, communities, and future generations."
“This partnership reflects The Ashmore Foundation’s commitment to advancing Indigenous women entrepreneurs as a core part of our women’s economic empowerment strategy, one that is deeply connected to climate resilience.”
Together, NESsT and The Ashmore Foundation aim to support Indigenous female entrepreneurs to strengthen resilient businesses that generate income, preserve cultural knowledge, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of the Colombian Amazon.
About NESsT
NESsT invests in enterprises that create quality jobs for underserved communities while sustaining the planet. Since its founding in 1997, NESsT has invested over $55M and trained and supported over 39,000 entrepreneurs across 50 countries. It has accelerated and financed more than 510 enterprises, in total sustaining more than 211,000 formal jobs and improving the lives of 4.7 million people from underrepresented communities around the world.
About The Ashmore Foundation
The Ashmore Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Ashmore Group PLC. The Foundation is a grant-making organisation dedicated to women's economic empowerment, climate resilience, and youth development in emerging markets. Operating across four core geographies, including Colombia as a long-standing focus of its work, the Foundation partners with locally rooted organisations to expand access to markets, capital, and opportunity for underserved communities — helping create resilient livelihoods and lasting, community-led impact.