The Climate Crisis won’t wait. Neither will they.

Three Colombian organizations are racing the climate clock — with a little help from technology.

In 2024, 56 climate disasters struck Latin America, affecting more than 6 million people (ECLAC). Droughts. Floods. Record heat. The crisis is already here — and it strikes hardest where people can least afford it.

In Colombia, three organizations are on the front lines. None of them set out to build technology. They set out to solve a problem — and technology came later, as a tool to respond faster, decide better, and reach further.

The problems looked like this: How do you warn a community before the flood hits? How do you protect food security for Indigenous communities without asking them to give up their land? How do you track what's happening across some of the most complex ecosystems on Earth?

With Twilio.org's support, ClimaLab, Fundación Pervivir, and WWF Colombia joined the Propel Fellowship to put technology to work on the ground. Together, they've already reached more than 50,000 people in Colombia — enough to fill a stadium.

"We used to think technology wasn't for organizations like ours — working in the field. The Propel Fellowship changed that. Today, we use it to organize information, measure impact, and make better decisions."  — Carlos Acuña, Fundación Pervivir.

Three organizations, three ways of outrunning the climate crisis

ClimaLab — Early warnings: Rural communities feel droughts and floods first — but rarely see them coming. ClimaLab installs climate monitoring stations on the ground to gather real-time data and sound the alarm early. With that information, communities take the lead: they design their own adaptation plans and bring them to local governments. Now the warning arrives before the disaster.

They've reached more than 30,000 people across 19 of Colombia's 32 departments — well over half.

Fundación Pervivir — Data for better decision-making: In Colombia's Altillanura, rural and Indigenous communities are fighting for food security, income, and control over their land. Fundación Pervivir pairs sustainable farming with ancestral knowledge — and now, with AI, it's turning scattered impact data into decisions it can act on. Today, they measure what they used to only feel.

They've reached more than 12,000 people and generated over COP $22.53 billion in direct economic benefits — nearly USD $7.4 million.

WWF Colombia — Environmental monitoring: In the Amazon-Pacific biocultural corridor, stopping deforestation means knowing what's happening across a territory too vast to watch alone. WWF Colombia uses monitoring technology to spot environmental change and decide where to act — combining data with local knowledge for faster, evidence-based decisions. Now they watch the forest change in real time.

They've reached more than 9,100 people across 215 communities and 71 Indigenous reserves in one of the most biodiverse corridors on the planet.

Communities already knew what to do. Now they can do it faster.

These organizations prove technology alone doesn't create change. Change happens when it's paired with the knowledge, experience, and leadership of the people who know the land.

With better data and new tools, communities can anticipate risks, respond faster, and build solutions tailored to their reality.

These three are part of something bigger: Propel has already worked with more than 700 nonprofits in 27 countries, unlocking over USD $10 million to fuel their work.

Twilio.org made it possible for ClimaLab, Fundación Pervivir, and WWF Colombia to join the Propel Fellowship and put AI to work. No organization solves a challenge this size alone — it takes strong organizations and partners willing to back them.

The land won't wait. Neither will they.

‍

If you are part of an organization tackling climate change, apply to the Propel Fellowship here.