Blue Avocado

JONAH of the Chippewa Valley is the Best Theme winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Since 2007, JONAH has been working with people, agencies and organizations to help make communities healthier, safer, and better places for everyone to live and work.  An intentionally non-partisan interfaith organization, JONAH’s mission work includes organizing public conversations about things that matter to people that are both civic and civil. They have scored successes or sought significant changes to the criminal justice system, recycling practices, predatory payday lending, and many aspects of faithful economics.  They seek continually to forge new and strengthen relationships with existing public structures like schools, government, public health, and labor, welcoming all people to come to justice work. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

South Bay Parkland Conservancy is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Their mission is to inspire and empower communities to protect, tend, and nurture land, water, and life through advocacy, education, and hands-on stewardship. They envision a biodiverse and thriving planet, connecting communities with nature and each other for the well-being of all life, now and for generations to come. Through various projects and initiatives, they work to rewild lands in the South Bay and beyond, support native wildlife and pollinators, create opportunities for education and community engagement, and advocate for gardens, parkland, open space, and native habitats. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

Peace River Quilters' Guild (https://bit.ly/4q2of0j) is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! This nonprofit has a mission to promote the art and education of quilting through classes, retreats, workshops, and lectures. Their programs are designed to enhance skills in quilting; encourage and inspire others by sharing of ideas, expertise, and fellowship among their members; to further the craft of quilting by presenting related programs and events; and to perpetuate the art of quilting. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

The Sidewalk Project (https://bit.ly/3MJuMOS) is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! They are an arts and peer-empowerment program that exists to create wellness for those that live outdoors. Through various mediums, including the arts, research, and public health, the group aims to be socially active and to empower houseless communities around the world. A women and peer-led organization, their mission provides residents of Los Angeles with direct services, including crisis response, system advocacy, wound care, job placement, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and creative community resources for mental health. They also provide case-management services, including medical care and housing linkages, as well as system navigation services. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

The Dancing Cat is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Their mission is to find homes for at-risk adult cats from the San José Animal Care Center by giving those animals an open, cage-free environment in which they can mingle with people and other felines. For a small admission fee, guests are able to spend an hour with adoptable cats in a relaxing, living room-like space. All admission fees go toward the continued care and feeding of the adoptable cats. The organization, run almost entirely by volunteers, also hosts events such as Purr Yoga, craft workshops, and music nights. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

Cocker Spaniel Adoption Center (https://bit.ly/45dm55y) is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Their mission is to rescue cocker spaniels and other small-breed dogs, provide them with the medical, emotional, and behavioral care they need to become great pets, and find them safe, loving, forever homes. Operating with the belief that all dogs have love to give someone, they accept all cocker spaniels into the rescue — regardless of age or medical condition — not just the young and healthy animals that are easily adoptable and inexpensive to rescue. This all-volunteer team rescues dogs from local shelters, accepts dogs from owners who need to surrender their pets, and works with organizations that rescue dogs from puppy mills in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

Dreamhaven Ranch (https://bit.ly/4pf9DcT) is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Their mission is to create a peaceful, rural refuge where children and families, regardless of their circumstances, can find hope, faith, healing, and trust through the transformative connection with a horse. They offer faith-focused equine programming that includes summer camps for younger children and Hope Trail Retreats for older youth who wish to explore their faith. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

Salmon Valley Stewardship (https://bit.ly/48TxzxA) is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Their mission is to promote a sustainable economy and productive working landscapes in the Salmon River region of Central Idaho. Through collaboration with landowners, tribes, universities, and families, this nonprofit works to build relationships between people, restore the land and water, increase living-wage jobs, and foster awareness of rural issues. By innovating in business, natural resource management, education, and combining local knowledge with local resources, they envision a community where stewardship of the natural resources is at the core of the social, economic and ecological vitality of the region. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

Running for a Better Oakland is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Running for a Better Oakland (RBO) empowers Oakland youth of all ages and abilities to discover the joy of movement, build healthy habits, and go the extra mile. By offering accessible training, encouragement, and a supportive community, RBO helps students grow confidence, set meaningful goals, and develop skills they can carry into every part of their lives. Through consistent mentorship, positive relationships, and the shared experience of working toward a finish line together, RBO aims to strengthen connections, build self-esteem, and uplift students and families across Oakland. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO

Sones de Mexico Ensemble is a Spotlight winner in the 2025 NIA Photo Contest! Their mission is to promote greater appreciation of Mexican folk and traditional music and culture through innovative performance, education, and dissemination. Sones de México Ensemble educates, researches, preserves, arranges, presents, performs, and disseminates Mexican folk and traditional music and dance to children and adults of all nationalities, physical abilities, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The ensemble has developed and popularized many original arrangements of Mexican traditional tunes through touring, both within the United States and internationally. With Mexican culture and heritage interwoven into every performance and program, the organization offers a number of educational and outreach programs, including music lessons, elementary and college residencies, children’s programs, workshops, lectures and songwriting classes. Check out all of this year's winners: https://bit.ly/4srk4wO