Dear Friends,

Over six weeks this summer, seven WEA programs and the communities carrying them were affected by environmental emergencies. For our team, these were more than distant headlines. They were unfolding in communities where we have built relationships for years, affecting team members, friends and colleagues whose lives are deeply connected to our own.

As we listened to what they were experiencing, one question kept surfacing: What makes a community able to respond when the systems people depend on begin to fail?

Part of the answer is visible: safe water, reliable food systems, healthy land, functioning roads, and resources that can move quickly. Another part is easier to overlook. It is the web of relationships, knowledge, and trust that allows people to recognize what is happening and act together.

Women leaders are central to that infrastructure. Because of the roles they often hold within families and communities, they are among the first to see when daily life is becoming less secure. They know when water is harder to reach, food is harder to grow, or families have fewer ways to recover from a difficult season. They are also already organizing, sharing knowledge, protecting land and water, and helping communities respond.

This kind of infrastructure takes years to build, and its value becomes clearest in moments of disruption, when trusted relationships can mean the difference between resources arriving where they are needed and communities being left to navigate a crisis alone.

This is what we are carrying with us into Climate Week NYC this month.

Climate Week creates space for bold commitments and conversations about scale. This year, we are bringing a practical question into those rooms: Are we investing in the people and relationships that make lasting environmental action possible?

The question is especially urgent now. A recent UN Women survey found that demand is rising for women-led organizations responding in crisis settings, even as many are losing the funding and staff needed to sustain their work. The people being asked to hold communities together are being asked to do more with less. That is a dangerous gap to leave open.

In two recent essays, Am I Post-Hope? and The Leadership Is Already There, Melinda reflects on two questions at the heart of this moment: What does hope ask of us amid so much uncertainty, and what becomes possible when we trust the leadership already rooted in communities? She arrives at something our alliance teaches us every day: hope lives in practice. It lives in what we choose to protect, whom we choose to trust, and what we choose to build together.

The stories in this newsletter are expressions of that practice. They show what becomes possible when women have training, resources, and relationships in place before they are urgently needed. They also remind us that a more stable future is already being built, often quietly, within communities around the world.

Our responsibility is to recognize it, resource it, and help it grow.

In partnership,

Amira, Melinda, and Kahea
Co-Executive Directors, Women’s Earth Alliance

Women’s Earth Alliance and Partners at Climate Week NYC 2026

Monday, September 21

Frontline Resource Institute Climate Justice Hub
Host: Frontline Resource Institute at Environmental Defense Fund
WEA Leader Lil Milagro Henriquez, Founder and Executive Director of Mycelium Youth Network, will join the “Storytelling for Climate Justice” panel to discuss how organizations can share their stories and protect their interests in a rapidly changing digital landscape.
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM ET
Location: Fordham University of Lincoln Center — 113 W 60th St, New York, NY
RSVP for In-Person Attendance

Tuesday, September 22

Impactful Women: Climate, Coffee and Connections\
Host: Nia Impact Capital
Gather for coffee, conversation, and connection with women committed to environmental solutions. Held at Pam Smilow’s art studio, the breakfast will help begin Climate Week in community while supporting two organizations advancing environmental action. All proceeds from the breakfast will benefit Women’s Earth Alliance, and 20% of art sales will benefit the Jane Fonda Climate PAC.
Time: 8:00–10:00 AM ET
Location: Pam Smilow Art Studio — 325 East 64th Street, New York, NY
Register for In-Person Attendance

Wednesday, September 23

The Nature Hub
Hosts: Nature4Climate Coalition and KPMG
The Nature Hub brings together leaders from business, finance, government, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and philanthropy for a full day of conversation and connection. Sessions will explore financing for nature, forests, resilient communities, ocean action, and the partnerships needed to move environmental solutions forward.
Time: Programming begins at 8:00 AM ET; reception from 6:15–8:00 PM ET
Location: KPMG Offices — Two Manhattan West, 9th Avenue and 31st Street, New York, NY
View the Agenda and Request a Seat

Women Building a Resilient World: Implementing a Just Transition and Fossil Fuel Phaseout
Host: Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, International (WECAN)
WEA Leader Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, will join women and Indigenous leaders, policymakers, and environmental justice advocates to share community-led approaches to a Just Transition, fossil fuel phaseout, ecosystem protection, and Indigenous stewardship.
Time: 5:00 – 8:00 PM ET
Location: Luma Studios, Studio 1505 — 307 West 38th Street, New York, NY
Register for In-Person Attendance

Sessions: NYC
Host: 1% for the Planet
Join WEA Co-founders for a sneak peak at Stories of Impact, an upcoming new film series by Content with Purpose celebrating 25 years of impact through 1% for the Planet. The series will feature WEA, our longtime partner Natracare, and fellow 1% for the Planet business and impact partners. There will also be a panel discussion with 1% for the Planet CEO, Kate Williams, and Film Producer, Max Smith, followed by audience Q&A.
Time: 6:00–9:00 PM ET
Location: 45 East 20th Street, Floors 12–13, New York, NY
Register for In-Person Attendance

Updates from our Work

Crisis Response Update: Urgent Needs Continue

Flash flooding during an earlier crisis in Sumatra in late 2025.

When disaster strikes, women leaders rooted in their communities are critical to an effective response. They know which families have been cut off, which systems have failed, and where support is needed first. That is why WEA moves flexible resources to WEA Leaders and local partners who are already responding.

In Assam, India, WEA Program Lead Bondita Acharya traveled through 12 flood-affected villages to assess the needs of approximately 1,200 families and plan the delivery of food, safe water, hygiene supplies, and cattle feed. In Flores, Indonesia, WEA Leader Mama Iis and her team are distributing food, medicine, and infant supplies while coordinating healthcare for families displaced by earthquakes. Across Kalimantan, WEA Leaders are equipping local firefighting teams with masks, oxygen, pumps, hoses, and fuel. In Hawaiʻi, women-led partner Vibrant Hawaiʻi is coordinating supplies, community navigators, and resource hubs following Hurricane Lala. In Alaska, Native Village of Dot Lake leaders are providing water tanks, chainsaws, and food-pantry support after the Mukluk Fire.

Many of you responded generously to our August emergency appeal. Thank you. There is still time to help move flexible funding to local leaders as needs evolve and the work of building long-term resilience continues.

SUPPORT WEA'S CRISIS RESPONSE

WEA’s Mexico Grassroots Accelerator Launches!

Across Mexico, women are regenerating soil, protecting water, conserving seeds, strengthening food systems, and building local economies rooted in the land. This August, Women’s Earth Alliance and Las Cañadas launched the Mexico Grassroots Accelerator: Women and Land, a two-year program that will find, train, fund, and connect teams of two to three Mexico-based women leading collective land projects.

The Accelerator combines WEA’s experience supporting women’s environmental leadership with Las Cañadas’ expertise in regenerative agriculture and ecological education. Participants will receive specialized training, mentorship, peer exchange, and seed funding. Each team will design and implement a project in its territory, then share new skills throughout its collective so the learning continues to spread.

Applications and nominations are open through October 5, 2026. The program begins November 5, 2026.

LEARN MORE, APPLY, OR SUBMIT A NOMINATION

Young Leaders Turn Local Knowledge Into Environmental Solutions in Central Java

Partcipants of the EcoPeace Sisters Climate Field School.

This summer in Central Java, Indonesia, WEA Leader Amelia Nugrahaningrum launched the EcoPeace Sisters Climate Field School, where girls and young women are building skills in environmental adaptation and sustainable livelihoods. Eighty-five participants joined the introductory sessions, and 25 were selected to continue into advanced training and hands-on workshops.

Using local knowledge and resources, participants developed products made from palm sap, taro, and Litsea cubeba, a locally growing aromatic plant used to produce essential oils. They presented their ideas as community-based adaptation solutions that can generate income while protecting local ecosystems.

SEE THIS WORK IN ACTION

PBET Receives 2026 Indigenous Women’s Leadership Award

Bulbuli Gorh accepts the FIMI 2026 Indigenous Women's Leadership Award on behalf of Purva Bharati Educational Trust.

This September, Bulbuli Gorh traveled from Assam, India, to Cambodia to represent longtime WEA Program Lead Purva Bharati Educational Trust (PBET) as the organization received FIMI’s 2026 Indigenous Women’s Leadership Award. The award recognizes Indigenous women-led organizations using sport to advance well-being, leadership, and community transformation.

Through Girls for Goals, PBET connects football with education and leadership for Adivasi girls and girls from tea garden worker communities. The initiative has reached 100 girls, engaged 200 parents in challenging gender norms around girls’ participation in sport, and grown into a state-level tournament involving 58 teams in 2025–2026. Participants also receive training in advocacy, public speaking, and governance.

The award will help PBET develop Girls for Goals into a permanent program connecting sport, education, health, leadership, and community participation.

LEARN MORE

CHT Brings Rwanda Women Leaders Together During Kwita Izina

Women leaders from WEA’s Rwanda Women Climate Resilient Accelerator.

Strong conservation work grows through relationships among local leaders, community organizations, and the people caring for the ecosystems around them. This month in Musanze District, Rwanda, WEA Program Lead Conservation Heritage–Turambe (CHT) hosted a three-day tennis tournament celebrating Kwita Izina, an annual ceremony honoring the communities and conservationists protecting mountain gorillas and their habitat. This year, 22 baby mountain gorillas were named as part of the ceremony, bringing the total number of mountain gorillas named since Kwita Izina’s founding in 2005 to 460.

The tournament created an opportunity for women leaders from WEA’s Rwanda Women Climate Resilient Accelerator to build relationships with local leaders and CHT partners. These connections can open new pathways for collaboration, increase the visibility of women’s environmental leadership, and strengthen locally led conservation in the communities surrounding Volcanoes National Park.

SEE PHOTOS

Purpose-driven Partnerships

Five Years of Measurable Impact with Mijenta

This Hispanic Heritage Month, WEA celebrates five years of partnership with Mijenta Tequila. Since 2022, Mijenta has supported WEA’s Women’s Sustainability & Health programs in Mexico, where six women-led groups are advancing food sovereignty, strengthening water resilience, restoring ecosystems, and building sustainable livelihoods.

Together, these programs have trained nearly 2,800 women and girls in sustainable practices, leadership, and ecological stewardship and reached more than 835,000 people through environmental initiatives and community education.

From September 15 through November 2, Mijenta will donate $1 from every bottle sold to continue supporting this locally led work.

Learn more in this Forbes feature.

Natracare Brings WEA’s Story to Climate Week

For more than three decades, Natracare has connected women’s health with environmental health through more sustainable period care. Its partnership with WEA extends that commitment by supporting women leaders who are protecting ecosystems, strengthening community health, and building resilient local economies.

This year, Natracare was selected to participate in Stories of Impact, a new film series from 1% for the Planet and Content With Purpose, and nominated WEA to be featured as its Impact Partner. Next week at Sessions: NYC, part of Climate Week NYC, guests will get the first look at WEA’s story, followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A.

RSVP here to join us for the pre-launch screening during Climate Week NYC.

Veronica Beard Gives Back Continues This Fall

Following a three-month Gives Back campaign that raised $352,380 for WEA’s work, Veronica Beard and WEA are continuing our partnership with community shopping events in Washington, D.C., on September 28 and Denver on October 28. Hosted by local WEA supporters alongside Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors Amira Diamond and Melinda Kramer, the gatherings will introduce more people to women leaders strengthening their communities and protecting the environment.

Veronica Beard will donate 10% of event proceeds to WEA. See the event details and RSVP for Washington, D.C. or Denver.

Our Global Alliance in Action

Earlier this month, WEA Co-Executive Director Amira Diamond and Corporate Partnerships Lead Jen Palmer joined OSC2’s RippleFest, connecting with business leaders committed to using their influence and resources for meaningful environmental action.
In two recent Medium essays, WEA Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Melinda Kramer reflects on what hope asks of us in an uncertain world and why the leadership communities need is already here—and deserves the trust and resources to grow.
WEA Co-Executive Director Amira Diamond joined Humentum’s Impact & Value When Nothing’s Certain webinar, which drew 850 participants, to share how organizations can measure and communicate value when change is complex and locally led work is essential.
Congratulations to WEA Leader Lia Putrinda in Indonesia, who advanced from 50 candidates to the national top five of the 2026 Wonderful Indonesia Awards. Her leadership at CMC Tiga Warna has helped transform a degraded coastal area into a community-led conservation and ecotourism destination.
WEA Leader Morning Star Gali, a member of the Pit River Tribe and founder of Indigenous Justice, was featured in coverage of the California Indian Freedom Act. Sponsored by Indigenous Justice, the legislation would strengthen Tribal access to sacred sites and protect religious, ceremonial, and cultural practices on California state lands.
In Nigeria, WEA Project Lead and WISE Founder Olanike Olugboji-Daramola hosted a two-day International Youth Day convening exploring how mentorship can move knowledge between generations and prepare young people to lead.
WEA Leader Jessica Thrasher, Senior Program Manager at the Colorado Water Center, was featured by Rocky Mountain PBS for helping Denver residents use rainwater harvesting to conserve water and sustain gardens and trees during severe drought.
WEA Leader Amyrose Foll, Executive Director of Virginia Free Farm, partnered with the Louisa County Library and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange to create a new seed library in Virginia. Covered by 29News, the project offers thousands of free seed packets and encourages residents to grow food, save seeds, and share their knowledge with others.