“We will have succeeded if everyone in this room leaves 2025 with less money than they came in with.”

This was one of the most striking phrases, among many I heard, at the Nexus Global Summit in NYC, from a female white American philanthropist in her 40s. We were discussing the impacts of USAID budget cuts, perhaps the largest government humanitarian aid fund in the world and what this group of philanthropists and activists can do to mitigate the damage caused by a lack of funding for thousands of projects.

The event happened over four extremely intense days, and I felt as ifI had been catapulted into a parallel reality. Remember the cartoons and comics from the Justice League? At various moments, I felt we were co-creating that same spirit. Superheroes from all over the world united by a single cause: to be agents of transformation for a better world.

We visited the art gallery of a philanthropic family (Brandt Foundation), the Blue Meridian office (a Family Office dedicated to philanthropy and blended finance), IBM’s global strategy office, we had a session at the UN, met with the Brazilian delegation (which was large and shining, especially a group of young people aged 12 and 13 from the NGO Turma do Jiló) and then attended plenary talks and smaller, more intimate sessions, each one more interesting than the other.

I felt an overdose of endorphins and serotonin with so many inspiring stories, with so many privileged people willing to step out of their comfort zones and devote their lives to truly making a difference in the world. I cried, I laughed, I applauded, I hugged, and I talked untilI was exhausted. (And those who know me know I love a goodconversation—so imagine just how much I interacted!)

Nexus is a globally-reaching organization, and the annual event is held in NYC, where this movement was born. It forms a powerful network of philanthropists who elevate the intelligence and global action of philanthropy, as another organization I have learned so much, the Synergos Foundation.

Around 600 people from 50 different countries participated, all interested in philanthropy, impact investing, and socio-environmental activism. And attention: all food at the event (delicious!) was 100% vegan and gluten-free. A true display of coherence.

Some reflections:

There is a clear difference between the culture of giving in countries like Australia, the U.S., and the U.K. compared to Brazil. Today, philanthropy is equipped with strategic intelligence, spiritual connection, and technology. Acting locally and scaling solutions is a shared narrative. It has moved beyond a guilt-relieving, charity-based approach to one driven by the purpose of creating a better world for all. Because there’s no point in me enjoying maximum safety and comfort, reaping the benefits of elite white privilege and having the freedom to do as I wish, while other human and non-human beings suffer without access to basic needs.

In my perspective, philanthropy should challenge the system, not just treat the symptoms of the misery caused by the patriarchal structure that dominates and exploits all living beings. It’s about creating a consciousness that reconnects with nature, so that our projects serve the regeneration of humanity in harmony with biodiversity.

And to move from ego to eco, we must redefine everything—all the inherited beliefs of a society we do not need to perpetuate.

I use my socioeconomic privilege to create a new world.
That is my mantra! This is what “power” means to me: building the dreamed reality where all beings are included.

And to leave behind the broken patriarchy, at Instituto Terra Luminous we’ve chosen to name the new system “naturarchy”—a system where social laws mirror and are inspired by the laws of nature. For this to happen, we must reframe our relationships—emotional, environmental, and financial. I often say that being a millionaire today means influencing over a million people toward a Regenerative Culture.

I sensed that the U.S. remains the epicenter of the philanthropic movement, even though beautiful, highly successful initiatives are happening in Afghanistan, Sudan and several African countries, India, Ecuador, Mexico, and Brazil. 

I noticed that U.S. philanthropy, represented at the Summit, was strongly focused on social programs, filling the gap left by public services and providing healthcare, higher education, public policy advocacy, and support for small entrepreneurs. I was surprised that there was almost no mention of projects with a stronger socio-environmental approach, regardless of the Amazon Investor Coalition,while AI was in the spotlight.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, gave a heartfelt talk about life purpose and how psychotherapy helped him heal his traumas, connecting him with his personal mission. His activism focuses on leading campaigns to reduce the influence of social media, especially in protecting teenagers and young people. This is admirable and necessary, but again, I felt the absence of ultra-influential figures like him addressing more uncomfortable topics that would challenge the comfort zones of the industries their peers are part of. This includes rethinking economic growth and ensuring financial resources flow toward climate justice worldwide.

In my view, given the escalating tragedy unfolding before our eyes on this planet, we need to put the crisis of biodiversity loss, in oceans and forests, at the heart of global discussions. We must give proper attention to the global water and food crises. These are far more urgent topics than AI and social media. Strategically investing in a standing forest economy should be the priority.

“We can’t talk about Climate Emergency here in the U.S. anymore.”
I heard this from more than one person during the week in NYC. I suspect that political pressure, almost resembling censorship, underTrump’s government may have influenced the diminished use of terms like Climate Justice, Biodiversity Credits, SociobiodiversityEntrepreneurship, and Ecological Restoration during the event.

Still, the overall impact was extremely positive.
I am deeply grateful for the invitation extended by Ana Marina de Castro, coordinator of Nexus Brazil, and for the incredible welcome from the entire Nexus team guided by the brilliant Tatiana Piva. Our dear Atlantic Forest, which is often invisible outside Brazil, was proudly represented through the strength and inspiration of the projects, programs, and research center we have been sustaining over the past 10 years at Instituto Terra Luminous, in the stretch of forest with the greatest tree diversity in the state of São Paulo (according to NewFor/ESALQ-SP research).

Yes, philanthropy does make a difference in the world. 

Events like this can catalyze deep change.

Let ‘s keep sharing!

By Fabiana Maia

2025

O post Meanwhile, at the Justice League…Reflections on the Nexus Global Summit NYC 2025 apareceu primeiro em Terra Luminous.

With the entry into force of the Climate Convention in 1994, representatives of signatory countries began to meet annually at the Conferences of the Parties to discuss the progress of the implementation of the Paris Agreement and set new goals, as the global scenario leads to a considerable increase in the average annual temperature instead of its reduction.

The CASA Fund invited Glenn to join its delegation of 17 people, consisting of team members and leaders of supported groups, due to his excellent work as an environmentalist with over two decades of dedication to the preservation and regeneration of the Atlantic Forest, especially in the last eight years, during which he has been a part of the Luminous Earth Institute.

The CASA Fund is a Brazilian organization that supports over 3,000 projects of high relevance and socio-environmental impact. ITL has received financial support from CASA since 2018 for waste management and advocacy programs.

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This semester, 300 elementary school students from Juquitiba had the opportunity to reconnect with nature amidst the Atlantic Forest, a brazilian gem just 70 km from São Paulo.

An immersive experience of knowledge and connection with nature amid the lush Atlantic Rainforest, one of the most biodiverse biomes on the planet, and home for 70% of the brazilian population. This spring, students from the municipal school system enjoyed a ‘forest bathing’ — also known as forest therapy — in Juquitiba, one of the brazilian cities with the highest vegetation coverage, located just a few kilometers from São Paulo, the most populous city in the Southern Hemisphere.

Coordinated by the Luminous Earth Institute (ITL) in partnership with the Municipal Department of Education and Culture, the EcoLab project connects the new generations to this precious biome, in a preserved stretch of the Atlantic Forest right in the central region of the municipality.

The project kicked off with the arrival of spring at the end of September, bringing over 300 students from the 4th to the 9th grade of elementary school, along with 130 educators, to the recently revitalized Juquitiba Ecological Park. The activity combines forest therapy and environmental education, and was made possible with the support of the local business sector in Juquitiba.

Eleven-year-old Damaris da Silva Pinto says she will take away an important lesson from the visit: “I loved all this nature, but to preserve it, it is very important that people stop littering in the water and on the ground.”

Ecosystem Services

The Ecological Park is located along the São Lourenço River and is part of one of the most important sets of water sources for the water supply in the state. The São Lourenço System, managed by Sabesp, is the main water source for 2.5 million residents in the southern and southwestern regions of the São Paulo Metropolitan Area.

“To have good water, it is necessary to preserve the forest, but this is just one of the countless benefits that children can perceive by walking a trail among the trees, sharpening their senses and paying attention to uncommon stimuli in their daily lives,” explains Glenn Suba, executive director of ITL.

Showing the series of benefits that standing forests offer to humans—the so-called ecosystem services—is one of the main objectives of the project. It started as a pilot last year with students from a public school near ITL and is now extended to the entire municipal school system. “By visiting the forest, children are enchanted and can understand, in practice, the importance of preserving nature to ensure fundamental things for life, such as clean air, clean water, and a more predictable climate,” says Glenn.

Forest Bathing

Systematized in Japan since the 1980s and adopted as an effective form of stress reduction, the forest bath provides relief from the excess distractions of urban life. This is because it situates participants amid the subtle diversity of stimuli and forms of life encountered on a forest walk. Alternating between moments of guidance and silence, the practice allows an experience of ‘reconnection’ with nature. During this time, participants discover new meanings in their relationship with the surrounding environment, other living beings, and their own feelings and emotions.

For educators, in addition to forest therapy and outdoor lessons on the importance of forests in sustaining human life, the experience serves as a laboratory for their training as environmental educators. The mission of these professionals is to help preserve the Atlantic Forest in one of the most threatened stretches of this biome.

One of them is Nika Machado, 53, a public school teacher for over 30 years, who takes her students to the park every year. “Environmental education is not about preparing for the future; it’s for now. It is urgent for humanity to understand the relationship between consumption, waste disposal, and sustainability.”

Vision for the future

Juquitiba has 100% of its territory in a protected watershed area according to state legislation. The region is also considered a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and is the habitat for threatened species such as the jaguar, tapir, and juçara palm.

However, despite having one of the highest vegetation coverage rates in São Paulo, Juquitiba falls below the state average in the Human Development Index (HDI). The city offers few income opportunities, and a large portion of the population is in a vulnerable situation. Rapid urban growth, driven by the real estate expansion of Greater São Paulo, poses a threat to its green areas due to land fragmentation, irregular settlements, deforestation, and predatory exploitation of natural resources.

These threats limit the municipality’s ability to fulfill its natural vocation as a provider of ecosystem services, such as water supply, climate regulation, and nature tourism. “Ecotourism, in particular, has enormous potential to boost the socio-economic development of this region and curb the current model of real estate exploitation and natural resource exploitation,” explains Rafael Oliveira, EcoLab project coordinator for ITL. “It is to cultivate this vision of the future among the younger generations that the project was born. The protection of the forests depends on them.”

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Biodiversity Hotspot

The Atlantic Forest is considered a global biodiversity hotspot, meaning it is one of the most biologically rich and threatened areas on the planet. According to a 2023 study by IBGE, there are 2,845 endangered species, including animals and plants, within this biome.

Ecosystem Services

The biome is home to 72% of Brazilians and contributes to 80% of the national GDP. Essential services such as water supply, climate regulation, as well as agriculture, fishing, electricity generation, and tourism depend on the Atlantic Forest. Seven out of the nine major Brazilian watersheds are located in Atlantic Forest areas.

Continuous Threat

Between October 2021 and 2022, over 20,000 hectares of forest were deforested. The conflict between human settlements and forest conservation is an extremely relevant issue, especially in the region that houses approximately 10% of the Brazilian population—the São Paulo Metropolitan Area.

How We Choose to Care for the Atlantic Forest

The Luminous Earth Institute is dedicated to preserving, protecting and regenerating territories located in the Buffer Zones of Conservation Units, such as the Serra do Mar State Park, where our headquarters is situated in Juquitiba. We understand that, as important as reforesting degraded areas, is maintaining and enriching the forest sections along the boundaries of Conservation Units, still teeming with natural life and under threat from real estate speculation, logging, and palm harvesting, among others.

Caring for the forest ensures life in the present and the future, not only for humans but for all living beings on the planet.

O post Why preserve the Atlantic Forest apareceu primeiro em Terra Luminous.

Last weekend I participated in LAB * NVC – the Terra Luminous Non-Violent Communication Retreat with Fabiana Maia, Rodrigo Cardoso and Pierre Stocker. One of the most edifying experiences of my life. Solid content, true and – best of all – without mysticism. An intensive course on communication in the midst of native nature and, of course, a 5 star vegetarian restaurant. I highly recommend that you get to know Terra Luminous’s jaw-dropping structure and the courses offered by it´s team!

Thiago Brizola, participant LAB * NVC March 2017

And for me, getting to know Terra Luminous was without a doubt a great gift!Wonderful place! The most welcoming energy I have ever experienced in life! Sensitive, caring, dedicated, loving hosts .. .. a very special place and I want to return many times !!!

Flavia Rubim (Participant Viver ComUnidade 2017)

Terra Luminous is my place of peace, where I connect with my essence, where I find parts of me that sometimes go hidden. It is in the silence of nature that I listen to myself, in the absence of technology that refines my interaction with the other, in the purity of the water from the source that my body feels to vitalize, in the gastronomic marvels served in the Grão that I feel detoxified and healthy. Luminous is a space that has a lot of love, I have seen it grow, I admire its guardians, I appreciate the care of every detail of this place: from the comfort of the room to the decoration of the Grão, from the soft lights of the deck to the space of coexistence and music In front of the fireplace, from the Mandala room with its incredible view to the Tipi with its sacred fire. Protected by the Atlantic Forest, with the purest air I’ve breathed, the deepest silence I felt and full of life! Luminous is this for me: a present for my body, for my soul. And as a lover of human development and a researcher of the expansion of consciousness, it is my favorite place to develop this work. An incredible space, taken care of by affectionate, wise, friendly, respectful and entertaining hosts.

Malu Nickel, participant LAB * NVC, Luminous Coaching, Tantra and many others 

A piece of paradise. Terra Luminous is a space for the evolution of consciousness fully integrated with sustainable nature. Heaven on earth!

 

Paolla Garcia (Tantra Retreat)

Terra Luminous provides an intense and comfortable contact with nature. Above all, to stay there is an opportunity to reconnect with all sides of our essence. Much love for this place and all the beings that inhabit it.

 

Andrea Rozenberg (participant Viver ComUnidade 2017)

Magical space. Exuberant nature. Respect and integration with the ecosystem, seeking the minimum environmental impact. Food is the high point in the Grão space. Perfect place for your journey of Light.

Rycardo Moreno

It is manifestation of love in all its forms.

Thank you forever for introducing me to you Luminous Land.

Fabiani Zouki, participant Viver ComUnidade 2017

“How much I miss these human beings, who welcome us with affection, teach us to share the responsibility for the generous nature that surrounds us, nourish us with dedication … connected with the purpose of whoever arrives, Terra Luminous is the microcosm of Sustainable reality, collaborative and loving relationship that we all desire and deserve. With joy and awareness, I want to do many events in this place that was created for us to meet again, to recognize ourselves and to be happy! “

Darlene Rabello Coelho (Hostess: Art of Hosting)

Everything at Terra Luminous is very special! The warm and dedicated people, delicious food, the land, the surroundings. And the loving, careful, sincere, open, diverse, rich, creative group of people…

Licia Beccari (participant in the course The Secret of Trust / jan / 2017)

I would like to thank, with all my heart, for all the moments, for the dedication, for the affection, for the respect that we all have obtained from you.

It was all so wonderful that I only have praise of Terra Luminous

G. Zanini, participant in the shamanic retreat, 2016

“Earth Luminous is a gift of healing and careful connection by the guardians of love. I am eternally grateful for this space of light and transformation.Thank you family.”

Henry Goldsmid – retreat participant The Master Within / Light of the Forest

“At this moment, after an immersion guided by dear Danielle Wang sensibly, lovingly there at Terra Luminous, incredible space, on a rainy day, completely welcoming, beautiful, enlightened, surrounded by wonderful people, in a powerful exchange of energy, I feel every day stronger, more focused, lighter, walking towards the path that I chose to follow. “

Merikol Duarte, participant of the Mindfulness retreat Eu S.O.U the Flow of Life

O post Visitor Testimonials apareceu primeiro em Terra Luminous.

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Luminous Salad Dressing

• 500 ml of extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste (preferably the pink salt)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons mustard (yellow or black)
• 1 tablespoon capers
• Pinches of cayenne or cayenne
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
• Juice of 3 lemons (can be juice of 1 or 2 oranges too)
• 1 cup of mineral water

Ingredients for variations:

• honey
• passion fruit juice
• Olives
• White wine or sake

Put all the ingredients in the blender and beat well. Keep testing the consistency and salt and dose to your preference. If it is very thick, add a little more water and lemon juice.

This dressing can be kept in a tightly closed glass bottle for up to 1 month.
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Also in February, but in the year 2015, Terra Luminous had the honor of hosting the workshop for the preparation of performance artists for the exhibition that took place for more than 1 month at SESC Pompéia in São Paulo, led by the consecrated Marina Abramovic.

It was 7 intense days with 18 artists and the mastery of Marina and Lindsey, her assistant in conducting the experiences. Fabi Maia offered a herapeutic Sweat Lodge (inspired by Temazcal) to the whole group as one of the deep connection experiences that were part of the workshop. In front of the fire in the final night of celebration Marina confessed “Terra Luminous is the most perfect place I know in Latin America to hold my workshops!”

And as we learned alot from this 70-year-old diva! She swam (naked) every day in the lake at dawn, fasted along with the other performers and participated in several of the intense activities leading the path of vitality through example.

O post Marina Abramovic, too? Yes she was at Luminous! apareceu primeiro em Terra Luminous.

Tito La Rosa, the Andean master of healing through sound

In February 2016 we received in the Luminous Terra the Andean master Tito La Rosa and his son, Gabriel Omar La Rosa, for the Workshop of construction of flutes and healing through sound.

Tito La Rosa is a descendant of Quechua Indians from the Peruvian Andes. For more than 20 years he has preserved, studied and disseminated ancestral music, being considered one of the great “Curanderos del Sonido”, a healer of sound, who enters into amplified states of consciousness to produce specific sounds, allowing healing and balance for the people.

Tito has already recorded with Mary Youngblood on Silver Wave. His 2002 CD, The Eagle Prophecy and the Condor; Was nominated for the Native American Music Award for Best Grammy World Music Recording.

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