We're Live: Introducing Persimmon Co‑Lab
By Bemmy Granados and Seth Shames, Co-Principals, Persimmon Co-Lab
We're excited to share that Persimmon Co‑Lab is beginning to ripen.
At a time when the world feels overwhelmed by converging crises from climate change and biodiversity loss to food insecurity and conflict, we see signs of hope and renewal taking root in place-based partnerships worldwide. People are coming together to reclaim agency over their landscapes, regenerate ecosystems and local economies, and rekindle relationships between nature and community.
We are creating Persimmon Co‑Lab to support that transformation. We're a lean, practitioner-rooted center of excellence focused on helping people and partnerships build the systems that make real change possible. We do this through stronger collaboration, better governance, and better-aligned finance.
While we're already up and running with active projects, partnerships, and involvement in global initiatives, we're still very much in a phase of intentional design and growth. We're testing ideas, deepening relationships, and learning alongside the communities and coalitions we work with. Instead of waiting until everything is fully formed, we're choosing to grow in the open. That means inviting collaborators into the process from the start. This moment isn't just an announcement that we're open for business. It's an invitation.
As founders, we feel deeply that this is the right time for Persimmon Co‑Lab to take root. Given our decades of experience across the landscape, community engagement, and sustainable finance fields, and our active roles in initiatives like 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People, Regen10, and others, we know the system. We know where high-leverage opportunities for change exist. We are well-positioned to contribute meaningfully to help the broader field thrive.
We're reaching out now to introduce ourselves and to start a conversation. Whether you're bringing community voices into long-term planning or helping reshape the systems that guide finance, policy, and knowledge, we're excited to connect. Let's talk.
Co-founders Seth Shames and Bemmy Granados
Why We're Starting Persimmon Co-Lab
Despite decades of well-intentioned work, too many responses to today's overlapping crises—climate change, inequality, ecological degradation, and more—remain fragmented. They're scattered across short-term projects, siloed funding streams, and top-down strategies that don't match the complexity of real-world challenges. Solutions continue to be pursued in pieces when what's needed is an approach that sees the big picture.
What's taking shape instead are place-based engines of transformation: long-standing, deep-rooted efforts by territorial coalitions, bioregional networks, and multi-stakeholder partnerships that work across sectors and scales. These are groups grounded in the places they serve, whether watersheds, rural-urban corridors, food-producing landscapes, or Indigenous territories. And they're asking different questions: How do we care for the land and the people together? How do we shape long-term futures that are both equitable and regenerative?
These efforts are not just important. They're essential. They are where the seeds of a better world are being sown.
The Role We See for Persimmon Co‑Lab
Persimmon Co‑Lab exists to support these movements as a collaborative partner for field builders, system shapers, and local champions driving real change.
We're part of a dynamic and growing ecosystem. Local partnerships and coalitions are leading from the ground up. NGOs, researchers, and advocacy groups provide critical support through training and facilitation. Governments are crafting new policy frameworks and mobilizing public finance. Investors and businesses seek alignment with sustainability, justice, and resilience. Global alliances we work within are helping build the shared infrastructure that ties it all together.
Our role is to be a collaborative partner aligned with the landscape and bioregional transformation movement. Our work is grounded in service to place-based coalitions and others across the field. We help local and regional actors craft finance strategies that unlock meaningful investment. We support communities in building governance systems that are inclusive, resilient, and grounded in local priorities. And we contribute to global tools and methods that help ideas and innovation spread across geographies.
We don't measure success by visibility or size. Instead, we ask: Are the coalitions we support growing stronger? Are resources flowing toward community priorities and ecological improvement? Are our collaborators better positioned to catalyze transformation? Ultimately, are the landscapes themselves becoming more vibrant, resilient, and capable of supporting the people who depend on them?
Why We're Best Positioned for This Work
We bring a unique blend of field-based experience, systems fluency, and collaborative leadership.
We've worked directly with community organizations and facilitated complex bioregional partnerships from East Africa to Latin America. We co-developed tools like the Landscape Finance Accelerator, the Landscape Investment and Finance Tool (LIFT), and the Landscape Assessment of Financial Flows (LAFF), which have helped coalitions design investable portfolios aligned with regenerative goals. We've also played central roles in global initiatives, co-developing learning modules and strategies on governance and finance.
We helped lead the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative, which brought integrated landscape and territorial approaches to global attention, and we've long worked at the intersection of grassroots organizing and policy innovation. We've recently contributed to Regen10 and other efforts to scale regenerative agriculture across farms and landscapes.
In short, we've spent years learning what works and what doesn't. We know where the sticking points are. We've seen the kinds of support landscape partnerships truly need. And we understand how to support systems that are flexible enough to adapt but structured enough to hold complexity.
What We're Focused On
Our work centers on three catalytic areas.
First, we focus on landscape and bioregional finance, helping coalitions identify investment portfolios and strategies that align with their vision. This work includes identifying viable pipelines, designing fit-for-purpose mechanisms, and building bridges between communities and funders ready to invest in regenerative development.
Second, we strengthen inclusive governance. We support participatory planning, co-governance structures, and the capacity of coalitions–whether community-led or backed by public or private institutions–to guide long-term transformation.
Third, we advance the broader field of integrated landscape approaches. We co-develop tools and methods that work across contexts, nurture communities of practice, and help successful pilots grow into models that drive more profound and wider change.
Our Values
Values that shape what we do and how we do it guide us.
We believe in keeping our boundaries open, working with humility, and co-creating with others. We focus on where innovation matters most and look for leverage points where change can take root and spread.
Our work is grounded in place. Trust, long-standing relationships, and local knowledge are essential. We approach everything with a systems view, paying attention to the structures and patterns that influence decision making, how resources move, and how lasting change happens.
At the heart of it all, a spirit of service is our north star.
The people we've worked alongside and learned from have contributed to shaping these principles. One of those people was our late colleague and friend, Tom Miewald. Tom embodied these values through every part of his work. He brought clarity, compassion, and deep integrity to every collaboration. His spirit continues to guide us, reminding us to lead with humility, care, and belief in the power of collective action.
An Invitation to Co‑Laborators
We're incredibly excited to connect with new collaborators, and there are many ways to get involved.
Whether you're part of a landscape or bioregional coalition seeking long-term investment, rethinking your governance model, or building the capacity to drive transformation—we're here to support you. We'd love to talk if you're a funder or investor looking for leverage points, a policymaker shaping more inclusive systems, or a researcher looking to contribute to grounded, practical field-building.
At Persimmon Co‑Lab, we offer direct support through long-term partnerships and short-term engagements. You can work with us as a co-designer of new methods, a research team member, a technical collaborator on implementation projects, or even an advisor helping us stay focused on what matters most. We tailor each collaboration to meet the needs of the moment and the mission.
Get in touch if you see yourself in this work. Let's explore what we can help you build and what we can build together.