Accountability Principles
Working to unpack, dismantle, and transform oppressive systems.
We are a global alliance of leaders who are committed to working at the intersection of gender, racial and environmental justice, because we know one can’t happen without the other. As we pursue the transformation and amplification of women’s leadership, solutions, and alliances, we know that many environmental movements have perpetuated the marginalization of the global majority — including people of color, native peoples, people from working class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQ people. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. We ground our curriculum and activities in our Accountability Principles, working to unpack, dismantle and transform oppressive systems.
In all of our programs, our Design and Advisory Teams build light-framed, non-extractive and flexible curriculum, drawing upon their lived experiences, and their deep commitment to creating models that expose systemic inequities and offer pathways toward collective liberation.
WE STRIVE...
...to build respectful relationships as the foundation of our work. Relationships are where we enact all our commitments to equity, justice and accountability, in a dynamic and evolving process. We strive to be consistent and transparent in our actions and processes, listening deeply and speaking truthfully, continually engaging feedback from our partners, and acknowledging our common humanity.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE...
...that legacies of power structures such as race, caste and class privilege are deeply embedded in all of our lives, and we strive to identify and uproot historic patterns of oppression where they show up in our thinking, planning and actions. With compassion, we hold ourselves and each other accountable to addressing the impacts of our intersecting privileges as they play out.
WE RECOGNIZE...
...that communities and peoples impacted by the intersecting legacies of colonialism and an unfair capitalist growth paradigm possess experience-based, collectively-held knowledge around resisting injustice, promoting resilience, and sparking transformation. We prioritize community-based and women’s knowledge as a key source of healing and solutions for our global society. We strive to learn from this knowledge, invest in its application, and contribute to building a platform for it to be widely shared.
WE COMMIT...
...to observing proper, region-specific protocol when we engage with women leaders and groups in the course of our work. Through consultation, humility and continual learning and self-reflection, we strive to build our competency to effectively and respectfully engage in cross-cultural collaboration.
...to authentically supporting women’s leadership, especially Indigenous women, women of color, young women, elders, low-income women, and women who represent front-line and impacted communities. To do this, we strive to support women leaders to have access to resources, information, decision-making opportunities, and communication platforms that can empower their leadership and work.
...to implementing anti-oppression principles in our work. We commit to recognizing and uplifting our partners’ leadership, expertise and contributions.
...to building transparency within our systems and processes. As we design and implement projects, build relationships, manage information, and engage support for our work, we integrate feedback and oversight from colleagues representing the communities and peoples we aim to support.
..to engaging in global social and environmental justice work with deep respect for the wisdom and ongoing movement building efforts of grassroots changemakers. We recognize how vital it is to also be open to receiving from our partners—in terms of their guidance, know-how, and direction. We recognize this requires deep listening, as well as openness and flexibility. Finally, we acknowledge the long-term nature of struggles for justice and gender equality. Our role as reliable allies is to help create the conditions through which those who are acutely affected by injustices can assert and grow their own power.