Announcing WEA’s 2023 U.S. Regenerative Agriculture & Health Accelerator Cohort
BERKELEY, CA — Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA), a global organization dedicated to empowering women’s leadership to safeguard the environment and their communities, is thrilled to announce the 2023 Cohort of the annual U.S. Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders.
Every year, through a blended learning curriculum of virtual and in-person programming, WEA’s U.S. Grassroots Accelerator supports a diverse cohort of women leaders from across the country to deepen their strategies for change; build powerful alliances within and across movements; and scale their solutions for environmental protection, health, and justice.
The focus of the 2023 U.S. Grassroots Accelerator is Regenerative Agriculture & Health, in alignment with WEA’s longtime programmatic focus of supporting grassroots women and the key role they play in global food and agriculture systems. This year’s program is designed to support women leaders throughout North America who are stepping up to meet the challenges their communities face, and who are providing essential food and health services during times of crisis.
“Our promise to the women leaders who [participate in the program] is that, by the end of their time in the Accelerator, they will have gained the skills, the tools, and the allies they need to deepen the impact of their work, grow the scale of their work, and build more alliances,” said Kahea Pacheco, WEA Co-Director.
By equipping women leaders with training, resources, and seed funding, and by connecting them to a global network of allies and supporters, WEA’s Accelerators catalyze women-led grassroots initiatives — which often start out as small seeds in local communities — and help them grow into widespread movements that create change on regional, national, and global scales.
“Resiliency, in intersectional climate work, is about stamina: how to take action, while facing compounding threats and barriers? How to make a difference when, too often, grassroots leaders are forced to work in isolation and with limited access to resources and funding? These are the questions that the leaders in our 2023 Regenerative Agriculture & Health Accelerator face. Yet at the heart of their eco-enterprises, there is so much hope. Through their work, these leaders are creating tangible and intractable change, regenerating soil, protecting traditional food sovereignty practices, ensuring health access, and transforming regional economies. I couldn’t be more honored to welcome these leaders to our alliance,” said Daniela Perez, WEA’s North America Program Director.
Members of the 2023 Regenerative Agriculture & Health Accelerator Include:
- Abigail Cmiel, Co-Founder & Co-Director, Integra Collective
- Adrian Lipscombe, Founder, 40 Acres & A Mule Project
- Ana Elisa Pérez Quintero, Co-Founder, La Colmena Cimarrona
- Beatriz Alvarez Ferreyra, Climate Resilience Specialist, Foodshed Small Farm Coop
- Brianna Garcia, Environmental Justice Communications Specialist, Little Manila Rising
- Brooke Marie Bridges, Founder, Brooke's Botanicals
- Ebonie Randle, Founding Farmer, Shalom & Tranquility Community Garden
- Elena Polanco, Program Coordinator, Alliance of Native Seedkeepers
- Emily Emmons, Co-Founder, Executive Director, Ho`ōla Veteran Services
- Jamie Fanous, Policy Director, Community Alliance with Family Farmers
- Kessi Watters Kimball, Cofounder and Director of Food Sovereignty, Mawiomi Garden Project
- LaTasha Sherri Timberlake, Founder/Executive Director, Lillian Timber Farms
- Michelle Crisostomo, President and Co-Founder, Guåhan Sustainable Culture
- Myriesha Barber, Founder/Wellness Practitioner, Black Mother Earth Permaculture Sanctuary
- Phoebe Gooding, Farmer/Owner, Hawk's Nest Healing Gardens
- Ria Taylor, Founder, Rumah Kitchen
- Sabrina Chapa, Co-Founder/Director, Ties to La Tierra
- Sandra Lovely, Founder & CEO, Greater Neighborhood Alliance of New Jersey
- Sarah Ecolano, Fisher(wo)man & Founder, Copper River Fish Market
- Sasha Shankar, Co-Farm Director, Dig Deep Farms
- Stacey Sarina Liddell Pernell Fluker, Co-Founder, Raising Our Roots Homestead
- Tashanda Giles-Jones, Environmental Program Lead, Environmental Charter Schools
- Tiara Burtin, CEO/Founder, Fertile Land Garden
- Tracy Charles-Smith, President, Village of Dot Lake
- U’ilani Yet-Kyau Moore-Wesley, Executive Director, Xa Kako Dile
- Vel Scott, Founder, Vel's Purple Oasis
- Zahra Kassam, Chief Steward, The Mushroom Farm
Stay tuned for more information about each of these visionary leaders in the coming weeks and months! Learn more about WEA’s annual Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders here.
Contact: Fiona McLeod, WEA Communications and Development Manager, fiona@womensearthalliance.org