Spring Update: Grants Spotlight
Planet Women’s mission is to partner with women to create a healthy planet for the benefit of all life. Our path to get there is by delivering leadership programs at no cost to participants and providing low-barrier grant funding to grassroots organizations across the globe. As part of our 2025 Spring Impact Report, we want to share about two women-led organizations that recently received grant funding from Planet Women. A huge thank you to our donors and Ripple Members who make these grants possible!
Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network
An group of CRWUA scholarship recipients and IWLN leaders. From Left to Right. Gwendena Lee-Gatewood (IWLN Co-Chair), Sanjiv Thompson, Summer Powell, Keiona Taylor, Shannon Taylor, Darnella Melancon (IWLN Co-Chair), Bidtah Becker (IWLN Co-Chair), Tahlia Bear. ©️ Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network.
In 2021, a multi-generational team of Indigenous women in the Colorado River Basin worked with the Water & Tribes Initiative to establish the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network (IWLN). Planet Women had the privilege of seed funding the IWLN in 2021 and we are very proud to continue to fund the organization today. Most recently, Planet Women offered IWLN a $45K grant in September 2024 to further their mission.
IWLN is creating a platform for Native women working on water and natural resource issues to mentor and inspire each other, exchange information, build leadership skills, and facilitate a succession of Native women in positions of leadership in their community.
This year, IWLN has hosted educational webinars and fostered knowledge-sharing between intergenerational Indigenous women at gatherings, conferences and a rafting trip—including hosting a speaker session on “Dealing with Burnout: Awareness, Tools, and Inspiration for the Road Ahead,” at Planet Women’s 2024 Women and Water Convening. In December, five travel scholarships were awarded to young professionals from four different Basin Tribes to attend the 2024 Colorado River Water Users Association conference, an important annual conference of water policymakers, providers, users and conservationists in the Basin.
Don’t miss IWLN’s global panel, “Revitalizing Indigenous Matriarch Roles in Water Leadership,” at World Water Week in Stockholm in 2024—moderated by Planet Women’s CEO Emma Robbins. Watch it here.
Red de Mujeres en Conservación de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (MeC LAC Network)
Red de Mujeres en Conservación de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (aka MeC LAC Network, or the Network of Women in Conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean) is comprised of Latin American leaders, advocates, students, professionals, scientists, and academics who are protecting biodiversity at local, regional, and global levels. The MeC LAC Network brings together women and male allies in a collaborative space to strategize how to elevate women’s leadership in this field—and to achieve conservation goals in a more equitable, inclusive, and human-centered way.
Thanks to your support, Planet Women granted $15K to the Network in fall 2024 enabling them to participate in the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Colombia. Their delegation of 10 women implemented the MeC LAC COP16 Network Agenda, which comprised 20 events and positioned the Network as a relevant player in the global gender and biodiversity agenda.
"Second International Meeting of Women in Conservation" at COP16 in Cali, Colombia. The presentation of the National Confederation of Indigenous Women of Bolivia, represented by eight Indigenous women, is shown. ©️ Melina Velasco, MeC LAC Network/Legado.
Planet Women’s board chair, Paulina Arroyo, has a special connection to the Network, since she participated in its earliest days:
"Years ago, I was invited to speak at an event about my personal experience as a Latina woman working in conservation—the challenges I faced and the opportunities I encountered,” Paulina said. “That event sparked a powerful movement: women coming together to inspire, support, and learn from one another—harnessing our collective strength to claim our space in the conservation world. Our shared motivation was clear: to protect Mother Nature, La Pachamama, for our children, our families, and all life on Earth. I am proud that the network has not only persevered but evolved; most recently by elevating the role of women during the U.N. Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia. I am confident that these messages and actions will continue to echo across borders for years to come."
Berta Medrano of the MeC LAC Network delivers the "International Declaration of Women in Conservation" to the COP16 Presidency and high-ranking Colombian authorities, including the Vice President and Minister of Equality and Women, Francia Márquez, COP16, Cali, Colombia. ©️ Melina Velasco, MeC LAC Network/Legado.
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