A group of women stand in front of the Glacier National Park entrance sign.
“If we’re not on the land, who is?”
– Termaine Edmo, Blackfeet Nation Climate Change Coordinator
“Lose loudly. Fight hard. Push Back. Build Alliances.”
– Anne Hedges, Montana Environmental Information Center
When women gather relationships are strengthened, joy is shared, and collective vision is renewed.
Such is the nature of a Rachel’s Network in-person gathering—where women environmental funders and leaders come together in community to learn, cultivate relationships, and reaffirm their commitment to move resources to women on the environmental front lines who are historically underfunded but who have the deepest impact on conservation and environmental justice.
This September, the Rachel’s Network 2025 Fall Funders Retreat gathered 20 women together to build community in beautiful Northwest Montana.
The program began with a Grounding in Place session where three dynamic Indigenous women leaders, Christen Falcon, Termaine Edmo, and ShiNaasha Pete, briefed the group on the true history of the land, the Indigenizing of western science to address climate change, and the importance of bringing back and conserving the Whitebark Pine. The thread of Indigenous women’s leadership in the West was carried throughout the week: during a screening of Bring Them Home, the story of the return of the Innii (Buffalo) to the Blackfeet Reservation, and through the remarks of Glacier Park Conservancy Board Member Cheryle Cobell Zwang. Zwang shared the incredible story of her ancestor and Blackfeet warrior Elouise Cobell, who filed the largest class action lawsuit against the Federal Government (and won!).
With the crown of the continent as backdrop, truly inspirational women speakers shared their wisdom, reality checks, and optimism with participants. In a session sponsored by Rachel’s Action Network, Anne Hedges at Montana Environmental Information Center reviewed major environmental advocacy challenges in Montana and how her organization is facing them head-on with grit and joy. Keynote speaker Betsy Gaines Quammen outlined western ideology, what she calls a “museum of western myths,” and the importance of bridge-building on common ground for climate action—a hypothesis she details in her latest book, True West. The program also included Montana superstars from Earthjustice (Dotty Ballantyne, Jenny Harbine), Heart of the Rockies Initiative (Kara Maplethorpe), High Stakes Foundation (Mary Stranahan), National Parks Conservation Association (Sarah Lundstrum), Outdoor Community Partners (Diane Conradi), and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Jodi Hilty). Much of the discussion among speakers addressed the rescission of the Roadless Rule, encouraging registrants to submit their public comment, and the retreat ended with a heartbreaking and stirring presentation by Montana State Representative Becky Edwards, also the Executive Director of Mountain Mamas.
Led by dynamic young women leaders from the Glacier Institute, attendees visited Glacier National Park. Jaws were dropped, pictures were taken, and the immersion in untouched mountain landscapes shaped by glaciers thousands of years ago, plus that steep drive up Going-to-the-Sun Road in the fog will never be forgotten.
More information about Rachel’s Network programs, designed for our growing network of women environmental funders and leaders, can be found at https://rachelsnetwork.org/calendar/.