In pursuing transformation of women’s leadership, solutions, and alliances, we work at the intersection of gender, indigenous, racial, economic, social, and environmental justice.
We know that many environmental movements have perpetuated the marginalization of the global majority — including people of color, native peoples, people from working class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQ people. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. We ground our curriculum and activities in our Accountability Principles, working to unpack, dismantle and transform oppressive systems.
In all of our programs, our Design and Advisory Teams build light-framed, non-extractive and flexible curriculum, drawing upon their lived experiences, and their deep commitment to creating models that expose systemic inequities and offer pathways toward collective liberation.
Problem
Women are disproportionately impacted by climate disasters, and yet their leadership has never been more pivotal to reversing global warming. Women make up 80% of the world’s climate refugees and are 14 times more likely to die in a climate-related disaster than men. In the wake of climate crises, women experience greater health, economic, and social consequences, like the toxic burden of smoke from fires that can be passed on to children in the womb, sexual violence and trafficking during climate-induced displacement, and loss of livelihoods. Indigenous women and women of color face the most severe consequences and are central to the transformation of the climate crisis. Increasing evidence points to the fact that women’s empowerment, education, and leadership could translate into 85 gigatons of atmospheric CO2 reduction, making this a key solution to reversing global warming.*
Solution
Since its inception, WEA’s model has centered women’s knowledge, leadership, and alliances in transforming the climate crisis and climate injustice. All climate solutions employ an intersectional lens and generate myriad environmental, social, and economic benefits. A WEA collaborative project advancing tree-planting for climate mitigation in Kenya, for example, is sequestering an average of 19 million pounds of carbon each year while also advancing food-security, erosion control, and women’s income through tree nursery micro-enterprises. In the U.S., a WEA Alliance Leader is training and catalyzing 70 Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) activists to take on leadership positions in the national climate movement, ensuring that individuals who are closest to the climate crisis are leading climate solutions and have sustainable livelihoods within the movement.
If you have not watched this video yet please do… especially the last few minutes.
empowerment & inner transformation... 
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