The Women’s Environmental Leadership Fund

Donor Name: Tides Foundation

State: Selected States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 09/29/2022

Grant Size: $25k- $100k

Grant Duration: 2 years

Details:

WE LEAD is a Tides Foundation pooled grantmaking initiative that launched in 2020 with an explicit focus on addressing historic inequities by directing resources to Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC)-led climate justice organizations.

WE LEAD recognizes the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low-income communities and communities of color, the people and places least responsible for the climate crisis.

Funding Priorities

What they are looking for:

• Organizations led by 51% or more Black, Indigenous, women of color. Leadership is defined as staff and board that are responsible for decisions on resources, policies, or the core strategies of the organization or program seeking funding. Women include cis-gender women, transgender women, two-spirit, gender non-binary, and gender non-conforming.
• Organizations whose mission or values are grounded in environmental justice principles.
  • Organizational leadership is based in the community and the community has been defined with some geographic or identity-based definitions.
  • These organizations represent communities that are historically and systematically overburdened by pollution and climate change.
  • These organizations are rooted in, accountable to, and representative of communities of color, low-income communities, and tribal and Indigenous groups who are most directly impacted by the issues being addressed.
  • They are committed to building local power and leadership to influence the decisions that affect their communities.
• Organizations or programs that center their strategy on addressing the root causes and impacts of climate change and solutions-based approaches to systemic change, including but not limited to:
  • Shaping and influencing climate and environmental policy decisions at the local, state, and/or regional level
  • Equitable access to community-based clean, renewable energy solutions
  • Climate mitigation and adaptation efforts
  • Direct action, community engagement, civic participation, and movement building
  • The abatement of pollution and toxic emissions from the fossil fuel industry to improve the health and well-being of fenceline communities
  • Equitable access to clean air, water, and land for community-based climate solutions

Priority consideration will be given to:

• BIWOC-led organizations [if organizations/programs are fiscally sponsored they are only interested in the leadership demographics of the organization/program seeking support, not the fiscal agency]
• Grassroots and frontline organizations with climate/environmental program budgets under or close to $1 million
• Organizations with a demonstrated commitment to building local power and leadership to influence the decisions that affect the impact of climate change on their communities
• Organizations working in the following regions: Appalachia, Gulf South, Midwest, Southeast, and Southwest
• Organizations who do not currently have an open grant with WE LEAD

Funding Information

WE LEAD will grant a total of $2 million. They anticipate grants will fall in the range of $25k- $100k. Up to 30% of grants will be two-year commitments paid in one installment or an annual installment.

What WE LEAD does not fund:

• Work or organizations outside of the United States
• Projects inconsistent with a legitimate charitable purpose and applicable law, including any political campaign intervention or impermissible private benefit
• Projects inconsistent with Tides vision, mission, and approach, our organizational values, and WE LEAD’s funding priorities

For more information, visit Tides Foundation.