Women’s Environmental Leadership Fund

The Women’s Environmental Leadership Fund (WE LEAD) is a Tides Foundation environmental grantmaking initiative that elevates and invests in women and nonbinary leaders who are addressing the root causes of the climate crisis in communities of color, which are disproportionately impacted.

Power a Healthier Environment and Future

Living in a healthy community, safe from the harms of the climate crisis, is a basic human right. But unjust systems disproportionately place communities of color and other impacted communities in the path of environmental hazards, putting their safety and their families at risk.

Fight for Climate Justice

Tides’ WE LEAD amplifies the impact of women environmental leaders committed to serving Black and Indigenous communities as they take on big polluters through local, community-based solutions.

Our Impact

We’re advancing climate justice through innovative environmental grantmaking to on-the-ground leaders.  

68 grantee organizations
22 states represented by grantees
$5M awarded to organizations across the US and in Puerto Rico
Read our Annual Report Read our Landscape Analysis

Funding Priorities

Tides’ WE LEAD promotes a shift in power and resources to those making a tangible impact on the ground: Women and other underrepresented genders taking on big polluters through local, community-based action.

  • Leadership

    WE LEAD elevates environmental leadership by those who are familiar with the communities most impacted — including Black women, Indigenous women, and other women of color — and directs funding to organizations that intentionally sustain, grow, and heal women’s leadership.

  • Environmental Justice

    Tides is intentional about building a broader and more inclusive movement, prioritizing funding for organizations leading work at the intersection of racial, gender, and environmental justice.

  • Community

    Our environmental grantmaking amplifies organizations that center the voices of community members historically and systematically burdened by climate change, where the organization is building community power and advancing advocacy efforts for long-term impact.

Grantee Stories

Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS) uses citizen science and community-university partnerships to combat environmental hazards in Houston’s Pleasantville neighborhood, where manufacturing plants, freight trains, and other big polluters have compromised residents’ health. Founded by retired nurse and community activist Bridgette Murray, the nonprofit focuses on community-led air monitoring, food insecurity, and emergency response during storms or other urgent crises. 

Learn more about ACTS

Help Tides Achieve Environmental Justice

For Funders

To support and learn more about the Tides Foundation’s WE LEAD environmental grantmaking initiative, email [email protected].

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For Grant Seekers

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