Low-income populations tend to have difficulty meeting the requirements of collateral or consistent income, leaving billions of people without access to basic financial services. Ventures like peer-to-peer lending and village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) are innovative solutions that address a critical gap in financial inclusion while creating sustainable pathways out of poverty to build financial resilience. 

Whole Foods Market Foundation is excited to announce our March 2025 funding!

Whole Foods Market Foundation invested $14M in 39 countries around the world supporting 1,239 organizations and schools to help advance healthy food access, nutrition and economic opportunities. Read on to learn more about the commitments from each project.

We are thrilled to kick off 2025 with Daniel Zoltani as Whole Foods Market Foundation’s new Executive Director! He has served as a Foundation Team Member and leader for over 16 years, including roles as Whole Planet’s Interim Executive Director and Global Programs Director. Read on to learn how Daniel will lead us into the future while honoring the legacy and missions of our three projects.

Meet Haley Benes, a returning Whole Cities Community First Grant participant and store trainer at the Laurelhurst Whole Foods Market store in Portland, OR. Read on to learn more about her partner, Zenger Farm, and see how the Community First Grant works in action during a recent volunteer opportunity.

Learn more about the recent Whole Foods Market Foundation Board Member and Whole Planet team trip to Senegal to visit three partners that are helping microentrepreneurs and smallholder farmers increase their income and improve their financial resiliency.

To celebrate a decade of Whole Cities work, we’re announcing 71 Community First Grants to U.S. and British Columbia nonprofit organizations. This year’s grantees will receive an average of $9,000 each for a total investment of over $639,000! 

Earlier this year, Whole Kids invested $1.75 million in edible educational gardens by awarding 583 Garden Grants to support more than 290,000 students in 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and nine Canadian provinces. Now, we are thrilled to announce that we are investing $498,000 to fund an additional 166 Garden Grants, which will serve more than 126,000 additional students. 

Every year, Whole Planet invites partners to participate in the Field Officer Appreciation Awards to honor their front line field staff who are working directly with entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers.

We’re excited to announce Whole Planet has supported over $6.6 million in funding, in partnership with the Kasperick Foundation, from July to September 2024, to thirteen organizations providing income-generating opportunities for entrepreneurs around the world to help strengthen their financial stability.

Watch the Whole Cities Community First Grant in action as the Queens County Farm Museum works to make fresh food more accessible and build a stronger local food system. Watch the video below to see how urban farming is making a real difference.

Amazon Fresh is supporting this year’s Whole Kids Garden Grant with a $250,000 donation, funding 83 gardens for more than 50,000 students in the communities we serve.

Learn how Whole Planet partner, J-Palm Liberia, works to improve production efficiency and sales for smallholder wild palm collectors in rural communities by providing access to modern, more efficient processing technologies.

Whole Kids is awarding $1.75 million in Garden Grants! That’s 583 new garden grants — each worth $3,000! These grants will support more than 290,000 students in 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and 9 Canadian provinces.

June is National Pollinator Month, and the perfect time to spotlight the significant impact of pollinators, especially honey bees, on our environment, health and livelihoods. Their potential extends even further offering significant income-generating opportunities around the world too.

Whole Cities is awarding 10 community-directed organizations an average of $19,895 each to advance community health through our Newark Fresh, Healthy Food Access Grant. It’s a $198,950 investment in locally led initiatives that spans all five wards in Newark, New Jersey!

As our new President and Chairperson, Alyssa Vescio is known for her emphasis on authenticity, connectivity and collective strength. We recently sat down with Alyssa to talk about her path to Whole Foods Market Foundation, her experiences visiting community partners, and what’s on the horizon.

Our programs have been helping individuals and their communities thrive for many years, and that work isn’t changing. It’s evolving.