Since 2019, Rachel’s Network has championed women of color in the environmental movement with the Catalyst Award, which provides recipients with monetary prizes, networking opportunities, and public recognition. From its inception, the Catalyst Award has been informed by and responsive to the community we know we need to invest in—those most affected by the dual systems of environmental injustice and systemic racism.
Over that time, the program has granted over $2.1 million to 142 women environmental leaders of color and their organizations from 42 states, DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Catalyst recipients are working across the country to protect Indigenous lands and waters, establish just food systems, block fossil fuel facilities, influence government policies, and address the impact of climate change on marginalized communities.
After the first three years, we heard that one check wasn’t enough. As practitioners of trust-based philanthropy, we took that to heart and expanded the award from an annual, one-time prize to a multi-year, wrap-around program. Not only did we increase the prize money and extend it to three years for recipients and their organizations, but we also honored our past awardees by extending the multi-year award to them.
As the award has evolved, so has the application and review process. Applications undergo three levels of review. First, staff check for eligibility. Second, a pool of reviewers evaluate applications solo or with a partner. Finally, the highest scoring applications advance to the interview stage. The advancing application pool is evaluated by the selection committee to ensure a mix of issue areas, approaches, tenure, and geographical diversity.
After the first year, the selection committee has been entirely comprised of former Catalyst recipients to ensure this process remains rooted in community. We want applicants to feel safe and trust that what they’re sharing with us will be received with love by their peers and colleagues in the movement.
Even the application process itself offers an opportunity to infuse care. Accessibility and clarity are key. Applicants can submit an audio, video, or written application—whichever platform feels most comfortable to them. The applicant guide and FAQs offer a window into the evaluation process (including the rubric evaluators used) and a timeline for news.
In my tenure as Catalyst program director, I have also offered applicants who do not advance to the interview stage an opportunity for individualized feedback on their application. I want every applicant to know that we recognize the thought, effort, and heart put into the application, and want them to feel that effort returned.
Another way to respect applicants is to take feedback seriously. We have adjusted questions, application word limits, and the nomination process in response to suggestions from previous recipients and applicants. Although not every idea is tenable (we once received a suggestion for a Rachel’s Network staffer to interview every single applicant which was just not manageable with a program staff capacity of one), we do our best to seriously consider and implement where possible ideas from applicants.
If you run any sort of application program, be a grant or a fellowship, consider integrating more spaciousness and heart into the process. Offer alternate paths for submission and limit the hoops your applicants must jump through to submit. Be flexible with deadlines. Communicate timelines and offer clarity and transparency on the review process. Share the questions and the evaluation rubric in advance. And when possible, offer constructive, kind feedback to applicants so they know why they didn’t advance.
While our process isn’t perfect, we constantly strive to ensure that the Catalyst Award remains accessible, inclusive, and reflective of the values we want to see in the environmental movement.
Rachel’s Network Catalyst Program Director Shreya Durvasula fosters collective and individual impact among Catalyst awardees and members and creates grant programs grounded in justice and equity.