The Jimmy Nelson Foundation's mission is an extension of the work of renowned photographer Jimmy Nelson. While Jimmy's work highlights indigenous cultures, the foundation strives to show the bigger picture. Many cultures and communities are under pressure due to factors such as climate change, land reform, and mining. The foundation strives to generate global attention for the issues facing indigenous peoples and to (re)invigorate self-esteem within local communities. Through research, education, and collaborative projects, they aim to increase resilience against the encroaching dominant culture and commercialism, and this should ultimately lead to, among other things, an extensive online library of cultural pride..

Several times a year, a small group of volunteers travels to all corners of the world to document festivals, gatherings, unique professions, and customs that may soon be extinct. They also collaborate with local people to find the best way to support them in cultural preservation. One of these projects in 2019 was with the Quechua people in Peru during the Inti Raymi festival there; a project to which the Avila Foundation was able to make a wonderful contribution.