A Climate Week of Action
Empower Co. was honored to host and attend several meaningful events during Climate Week NYC. This year, the theme of Climate Week was It's Time, highlighting the urgent need for progress on, among other goals, accelerating scalable innovation in climate finance. Empower Co.’s mission to use voluntary markets to catalyze private sector investment in women-led climate solutions is the kind of innovative solution needed now — in the words of our founder Rachel Vestergaard — “to not just mitigate or adapt to the climate crisis, but end it.”
Rachel spoke at Time for Better Hope House alongside Bill Nye and Saad Amer about the enormous climate implications of the upcoming election, and the critical importance of voting. Throughout the week, Empower Co. fostered new connections, facilitated remarkable conversations, and were proud to showcase the work of our partner, Ecosystem Regeneration Associates Brazil, which centers women at the heart of critical climate solutions, investing in them as key caretakers of communities and ecosystems.
Project Dandelion x Empower Co. attendees | Ph: David M. Gallo Photography
Project Dandelion – Brazil in Focus: Strategic Dialogue
Empower Co. and Project Dandelion cohosted an extraordinary gathering of government officials, climate leaders, advocates, and philanthropic partners to align global goals and chart a course for collective climate action in preparation for COP30 in Brazil.
Among the powerful voices convened were former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley, Minister Sonia Guajajara, Minister Ana Toni, Minister Anielle Franco, Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá, Secretary Puyr Tembé, with esteemed attendees Hindou Omarou Ibrahim, Hafsat Abiola, and Osprey Orielle Lake, representatives from philanthropic foundations, and influential voices from civil society.
These diverse perspectives emphasized that solving the climate crisis will require unity, the empowerment of women, youth, and Indigenous leadership.
Hannah Simmons, Founder and CEO of ERA Brazil presented her organization’s innovative model providing trainings for the next generation of small-holder farmers in regenerative agriculture and bringing entire agroforestry systems to transform families denuded ranchland into biodiverse food forests. The measurable impacts in women’s lives from this work include leadership, food security and income generation. She demonstrated how this model could be rapidly replicated with the goal of scaling from the current 2 agriculture hubs to 25 hubs and 10,000 hectares. Learn more and support ERA’s incredible work.
All images by David M. Gallo Photography
Eunoia Group, Glenmede – Unlocking Climate Finance for Social Impact
Empower Co. and Eunoia Group cohosted this inspiring event with the support of Glenmede. This dynamic conversation highlighted women at the cutting edge of the climate crisis who are engaged in multidisciplinary solutions that address both social and climate impact, including Vibrant Data Labs, One Earth, ERA Brazil, Resilient Earth Capital, SXD, and Trellis Climate.
The total amount of investment needed to support and scale the women-led climate solutions at the event is USD $17.5 Million. Given the exponential growth of global climate finance, an investment of this size for these critical solutions is both essential and entirely achievable—we hope you will join us in advocating for their work within your own networks.
Climate Voters Coalition
In August, Rachel launched Climate Voters: a coalition she founded with Ela Jetter to elect leaders up and down the ballot who will prioritize climate solutions. This coalition will support campaign offices across the country to better communicate their climate positions in terms voters care about. In addition, the coalition will work to hold the next administration accountable for acting on climate change.
Climate Voters at Time for Better Hope House
