This year’s Catalyst Award interviews made it clear that the devastating federal funding cuts are putting significant strain on the women in our community. While women of color leaders and their organizations are consistently underfunded even in “normal” times, our applicants are facing even greater stress this year, with bigger funding gaps, and more burnout. Catalyst Program Director Shreya Durvasula offers ways for funders to step up.
Rachel’s Network hosted its first in-person event exclusively for Catalyst awardees and finalists at the Kripalu Center For Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in November for a gathering focused on care and restoration for women environmental leaders of color.
Working in the environmental movement isn’t easy—the stakes are high, the challenges vast, and the wins often few and far between. But for Black women in particular, the task is even greater. Rachel’s Network recently provided grants to four burgeoning organizations led by and for Black women in the environmental movement to support advocates’ wellbeing.
What can we do to support the leaders of the environmental movement who are so vital to its success? That’s a question posed in a new report on climate burnout from Climate Critical, founded by Rachel’s Network Catalyst Award Finalist Tamara Toles O’Laughlin. In the report, Tamara brought together diverse staff from 108 environmental organizations to share their experiences and recommendations.
