Programs and Events

Thursday, February 19, 2026; 2-3:15 pm ET
Zoom

Laredo, Texas, a city of 300,000 people, faces many unique environmental challenges: it’s the largest inland port along the US/Mexico border with nearly 20,000 polluting diesel trucks crossing the border daily. It’s situated on one of the most endangered rivers in the world, the Rio Grande—known as the Rio Bravo in Mexico. And it’s in the crosshairs of oil & gas development, climate change, and the border wall.

For 16 years, Catalyst Recipient Tricia Cortez has led the Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC), the only environmental organization in Laredo. Under her visionary leadership, RGISC has grown into a powerful voice for the Rio Grande and borderland communities facing environmental injustice. Join Rachel’s Network to hear from Tricia about her community and leading an impactful organization with grace and grit. Moderated by Counterstream Media Co-Founder and President Shilpi Chhotry.

This program is open to the public. REGISTER HERE. 

Breaking Free: The Next Generation of Political Leaders

This program is sponsored by Rachel’s Action Network

REGISTER HERE

Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 2-3pm ET/11am-12pm PT
Zoom

Registered for or thinking of registering for the Rachel’s Network 2026 Spring Meeting in Detroit (below)? Join this webinar to start your learning journey about environmental issues facing “The Motor City.”

No matter where we go for our annual gatherings, we always find women working diligently to make communities and the environment better. This is especially true in Detroit. During this virtual program, contextualize what you think you know about Detroit with what is actually happening, and get an exclusive preview of our in-person event in May.

This event is open to all Rachel’s Network Funder members, regardless of their intention to attend the spring meeting.

Rachel’s Network Catalyzing Conversation: Black Maternal and Environmental Health with LaTricea Adams
Wednesday, April 1, 2-3:15 pm ET
Black women are three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women, and their infants are over twice as likely to die within the first year of life. Environmental injustice along with racial discrimination in healthcare, housing, and the economy are major drivers of this crisis.

For Catalyst Award Recipient LaTricea Adams, the Flint water crisis brought these grim statistics to life. After learning about the harms of lead poisoning and volunteering to bring clean water to Flint in 2015, she founded what would later become Young, Gifted, and Green (YGG). Now a national organization, YGG advocates for clean air and water, healthy housing, safe consumer products, and other factors related to Black maternal and children’s health. Join this conversation moderated by Children’s Environmental Health Network Executive Director and Catalyst Recipient Nsedu Witherspoon to hear LaTricea reflect on over a decade of activism ahead of Black Maternal and Environmental Health Day (April 2).

This event is open to the public. REGISTER HERE.

Webinar: Women Leaders Fighting the High Cost of Climate Change
Tuesday, April 28, 1-2:15 pm ET

With surging energy, healthcare, and insurance prices across the country, Americans are feeling climate impacts in their pocketbooks as well as in their communities. Despite aggressive rollbacks on environmental policy at the federal level, state and local governments are taking the lead by expanding affordable clean energy and transit, holding greedy polluters accountable, and addressing the high cost of living. Women are at the forefront of these efforts.

Join Rachel’s Network for a virtual conversation with three leaders who are advancing climate policies for people and the environment. Hear from Sierra Club Executive Director and Rachel’s Network Member Loren Blackford, Evergreen Action Executive Director Lena Moffitt, and Earthjustice Senior Attorney, Youth on Root Founder, and 2025 Catalyst Award Recipient Candice Youngblood. Moderated by Rachel’s Network President Fern Shepard.

This program is co-sponsored by Rachel’s Action Network.

This program is for Rachel’s Network funder and catalyst members. 

“The Motor City” played a key role in the industrialization of America throughout the 20th century. While the auto industry is often credited with expanding the middle class, it also brought economic and environmental devastation in its wake. That damage fell primarily on Detroit’s majority-Black population who also faced rampant housing and job discrimination and deteriorating public services as white residents left for the suburbs.    

The scars of segregation and industrialization remain palpable in Detroit, but the city has also been rapidly changing into something new. Its residents, rooted in a deep love for their city, are coaxing a better future into existence. Join Rachel’s Network in May to learn from local women environmental leaders and see Detroit’s just green transformation firsthand. The meeting will also include ample opportunities for community-building with fellow funders and advocates. 

This program is for Rachel’s Network Members and Invited Guests. 

A musical event one hundred years in the making, Suffs brings to life a complicated chapter in the ongoing battle for the right to vote: the American women’s suffrage movement. Written by one of the most exciting voices in theater, Shaina Taub, the musical takes an unflinching look at the unsung trailblazers whose activism led to the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. A thrilling story of brilliant, flawed women working against and across generational, racial, and class divides, Suffs explores the victories and failures of a fight for equality that is still far from over.

Join Rachel’s Network for a touring performance of Suffs, and a pre-show dinner at a walkable restaurant from the theatre.

This program is for Rachel’s Network Members and Invited Guests.