2024 Annual Report
A Message from Our CEO
If there’s one thing I believe in, it’s this: listen to what is needed and then take the next step, however small. At Planet Women, we envision a world where the vibrant diversity of Earth’s people collaborates on equal footing to care for the planet. Our path to get there is by listening to women, then investing in small initiatives that work.
Women in the environmental movement tell me they need two things:
Places to connect with other women who are struggling with similar issues and challenges, and
Funding to do their work.
Their words led to this year’s theme: Gather and Grow.
Planet Women’s gatherings build relationships and powerful networks of women leaders who are working for healthy forests, rivers, and communities. We host virtual and in-person convenings that are diverse, inclusive, multi-generational and co-created by people typically left out of environmental decision-making. We provide accessible funding to women leaders and women-led groups, so they can grow solutions to the environmental crisis. These actions are crucial for enduring and effective outcomes.
Here are a few ways Gather and Grow is coming to life:
We launched the Center for Gender, Equity & the Environment (CGEE) in Africa in 2022 to support women doing forest and landscape restoration. This work includes training people of all genders in how to embed gender equity into conservation projects and organizations. In FY24, 78 women and men participated in a CGEE program—a 47% increase from last year.
We launched the 100 Women Pathway in 2022 to increase the number of diverse women leaders at the helm of the environmental movement. This fall, we kicked off our fourth cohort with 18 leaders from across the Southeastern U.S. Sixty-four women have now joined the Pathway and 11 of those leaders have already advanced to more senior roles.
Women leaders in the water sector in the Colorado River Basin said they had no spaces dedicated to networking with other Indigenous women and allies, so in 2023 we co-created one. This November, we co-hosted the second annual Women and Water Convening at the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona with Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network, Sonoran Institute, The Chapter House and The Nature Conservancy. Fifty-six Indigenous women and allies, representing 10 Tribes, spent two days building connections, exchanging knowledge, and charting a path forward to steward and heal the Colorado River for generations to come.
Small steps add up to a big impact. Thanks to you, in just four and a half years, Planet Women has invested more than $4.5 million to protect nature, support communities, and transform the culture of conservation. With your partnership, we are ensuring that all women—no matter who they are or where they live—have the resources, skills, and support to shape solutions for a healthy planet.
Thank you for gathering with and growing alongside us this year at Planet Women.
Kristine Zeigler
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Planet Women
Explore the Annual Report Video Library
This year, we’re doing something different – bringing you the Annual Report through the lens of a camera!
Hear directly from grant partners, program participants and staff, as they share the impact of Planet Women’s community.
Planet Women is an environmental nonprofit that partners with women to create a healthy planet for the benefit of all life. Our work is guided by two strategies:
Transform the Culture of Conservation
Protect Nature and Support Communities
Put another way, we support women to GATHER and GROW.
GATHER
Planet Women brings together women working in the environmental field to learn from each other, deepen skills and knowledge, and build a global community. So often when we speak to women leaders—no matter where they live, no matter how old or experienced they are—they reflect that they feel “alone” in their work. Fighting for a healthy planet is complicated, exhausting, and for too many people, dangerous or even life-threatening.
Data shows that women’s leadership is essential to better outcomes for nature and communities. It’s vital that we strengthen support for women who are protecting and restoring irreplaceable forests, waterways, and biodiversity.
Between July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024, Planet Women brought together more than 170 women and male allies to support, learn from and inspire each other—from Indigenous leaders working on water issues in the Colorado River Basin, to 100 Women Pathway leaders rising to the highest levels of the environmental sector.
Watch the stories in our video library to learn more!
GROW
Planet Women offers low-barrier, unrestricted grants to grassroots groups that are led by women, Indigenous and youth leaders. This funding enables them to grow their unique solutions to the environmental crisis. We don’t require lengthy grant applications or a formal proposal and we have a flexible reporting process. This enables our partners to put their energy into achieving outcomes that matter to their community.
We focus our funding on the Amazon, Colorado and Congo River Basins—three areas that are critical for global biodiversity and climate resilience. Between July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024, Planet Women offered $188,000 in grant funding to 13 women-led nonprofits and nine individual women leaders.
Watch the stories in our video library to learn more!
Listen and Learn
Planet Women’s work was featured twice on the Environmental Voices Rising: Women on the Mic podcast this year. Listen to find out about two of our programs, the 100 Women Pathway and Gender Mainstreaming.
The 100 Women Pathway is “making waves by transforming the way we think about environmental leadership. In this enlightening conversation, we discuss why women’s leadership is absolutely crucial to solving the climate crisis and upleveling the bottom line.” LISTEN HERE.
Gender Mainstreaming in climate action is “changing the game by ensuring both men’s and women’s voices are equally represented, heard and considered in shaping the policies that will address our most pressing environmental challenges.” LISTEN HERE.
“Planet Women has a holistic approach to all of our needs as women leaders. We are experiencing something that’s both emotional and intellectual and really building our capacity for leadership.”
-Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis, VP of People, Justice, and Cultural Affairs at American Rivers. 100 Women Pathway Participant.
Financials
Fiscal Year 2024 (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024)
This was a difficult year for Planet Women. We faced some unexpected and expected hurdles, such as the U.S. election absorbing a large share of philanthropy. Fortunately, we have cash reserves that we were able to draw on to support our programs. Going into FY25, we have implemented cost-saving measures and streamlined our programming to position the organization for a healthy fiscal future. At the same time, we’ve continued expanding our ecosystem of funders to support Planet Women’s continued work and growth.
