ABOUT US

ROOTS Fellowship Foundation is a global nonprofit pending 501(c) founded in the U.S. by a multicultural team whose mission is to preserve Indigenous spiritual lineages and sacred medicines by funding education, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and community-led healing opportunities. We ensure that ancestral wisdom remains alive, protected, and locally governed. Operating under the fiscal sponsorship of Modern Spirit, we provide a transparent bridge for donors to support the world’s vital spiritual systems of knowledge.

Our Team

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Salome Augustine Bissa Kopasz

Driven by the legacy of her grandmother, a Cameroonian medicine woman, to ensure ancestral knowledge is not lost.

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Krisztian Kopasz

A tech entrepreneur reconnecting with his Hungarian rural roots to rebuild communities grounded in reciprocity and nature.

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Marvin Vivas Rodriguez

A Colombian engineer and chakaruna living his purpose of connecting worlds and integrating his Indigenous roots with modern healing.

Interested in getting involved?

Our Story

When an elder passes away, a whole library of knowledge disappears if it is not transmitted to the next generation.

ROOTS was born from a moment of profound silence in a room full of voices.

While attending a panel on Ibogaine at a major MAPS conference, co-founder Salome Augustina Bissa Kopasz sat in the audience, waiting for the spirit of the medicine to be heard. Instead, she found herself devastated by a glaring absence: there was no Iboga Elder present to represent the culture, the lineage, or the ancestral tradition of this master plant with the respect it deserved.

In that moment, the clinical discussion faded, and Salome was struck by a deep, personal grief. She remembered her grandmother, Augustina—a revered medicine woman and village leader in Gabon—and the irreplaceable library of wisdom that had vanished when she passed. The realization was clear: while the world was consuming the medicine, the "roots" that sustained it were being left behind to face cultural extinction alone.

Driven by this concern, Salome discussed his feelings to his spiritual healer friend, Dr. Joe Tafur, and joined forces with her husband, Krisztian Kopasz and colleague Marvin Vivas to build a different kind of bridge. Together, they envisioned a mission of true reciprocity—one that wouldn't just take the medicine, but would honor the lineage holders and ensure that the wisdom of the Elders is passed safely to the next generation.

Two women, one in a colorful patterned dress and the other in a blue dress with an orange cloth, hugging outside a rustic brick house with a tin roof and various containers nearby.
A large stage with a blue screen displaying a presentation titled 'Presented by MAPS', with many people standing on stage and sitting in the audience.
Two men smiling and standing close together outdoors, one wearing glasses and a pink T-shirt, holding a drink, the other in a gray shirt, with trees and parked cars in the background.
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A group of ten people sitting on a log in a forested area, including adults and one child. They appear to be spending time together outdoors amidst greenery and trees.

ROOTS First Projects

Group of indigenous people, including children and adults, dressed in traditional clothing, gathered outdoors in a rural setting with trees and thatched structures.
Arhuaco Indigenous People
Inga Community project
Gabonese Project
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How we do it?

Through strategic partnerships with Indigenous communities, traditional leaders (wisdom keepers), and locally led organizations, we fund intergenerational knowledge transfer, educational programs, the infrastructure necessary to host community participants, and ongoing healing ceremonies. Our mission is to ensure that ancestral wisdom remains alive, protected, and locally governed.

    • Scholarships for Indigenous apprentices learning from knowledge keepers

    • Infrastructure for community-led healing and teaching spaces

    • Ethical platforms that amplify Indigenous voices without extraction

    • Continuity of spiritual lineages that would otherwise be lost within one generation

    • Strengthened local governance and knowledge sovereignty within Indigenous communities

    • Reduced cultural extraction and exploitation by creating ethical engagement frameworks

    • Number of recurrent apprentices trained and certified by their communities

    • Number of ceremonies conducted annually for local community members

If you want to get involved we would love to connect.

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Contact Us