“Preposterously beautiful.” That’s how novelist Jim Harrison once described Patagonia, Arizona, a town on the edge of the Sonoran Desert. Rachel’s Network members confirmed this view on a recent trip to the Sky Island region where they learned about local efforts to preserve this unique and biodiverse landscape. The trip was led by local Rachel’s Network Member Diana Hadley who supports a number of conservation programs on both sides of the US-Mexico border and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the area.
Sometimes we simply need a role model to show us that change is possible. For the women of Rachel’s Network, these “champions of change” are abundant. Their peers are leading campaigns to protect threatened wildlife and promote renewable energy, producing documentary films, filing shareholder resolutions in the name of sustainability at major companies, and helping keep the lights on with their general operating support. Read on to discover the many other ways we supported a sustainable future, women’s leadership, and philanthropy in 2014.
It’s well-documented that women and people of color are underrepresented in the leadership of large environmental groups. A number of environmental NGOs and foundations are taking steps to address the problem by pledging to submit their diversity data through Green 2.0. In light of this project, we reached out to Rachel’s Network Liaisons, women CEOs of major environmental nonprofits, to ask them about their own organizations’ diversity initiatives.
“No matter how you cut it, a rainforest left standing is worth more.” That’s the motto of the ecolodge Lapa Rios, a 1,000-acre preserve and resort that’s become a model for ecotourism in Costa Rica. Co-founder Karen Lewis shares her vision for the lodge, and her plans to keep it thriving into the future.
Marissa Brown, Executive Director for the Democracy Initiative, joined members of Rachel’s Network to talk about her work to combat money’s influence on government. We asked Marissa to elaborate on the movement’s recent victories and how the environmental community and funders can get involved.
