Women-Led Climate Philanthropy in the Caribbean
Summary
In 2023, Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance committed to launch their “C-Beyond ” Initiative that will engage more than 2,00 global climate professionals to raise $2 million USD for women in climate initiatives by the end of 2024, and ultimately $4-8 million over 5 years. C-Beyond will leverage a network of philanthropic stakeholders and climate-focused civil society organizations to build an ecosystem of climate- and gender-responsive programs, with a focus on empowering women through the initiative’s core strategic programmatic actions – partnerships, sustainable financing, and empowerment. The initiative will create an ecosystem that mobilizes partnerships within the philanthropic sector and facilitates non-governmental organizations to exchange best practices. CariPhilAlliance will promote and support local-led initiatives through capacity building and grant distribution and will foster partner-lead conversations and events to build relationships across the Caribbean and encourage local organizations to operate as a consortium to access funding to maximize each other’s resources.
Approach
Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance (CariPhilAlliance) commits to launch their “C-Beyond ” Initiative that will engage more than 500 global climate professionals to raise $2 million USD for women in climate initiatives by the end of 2024, and ultimately $4-8 million over 5 years. which will leverage a network of philanthropic stakeholders, and climate-focused, civil society organizations to build an ecosystem of philanthropies and climate- and gender-responsive programs with a focus on empowering women through the initiative’s core strategic programmatic actions – partnerships, sustainable financing, and empowerment.
C-Beyond will mobilize philanthropy through the Partnerships & Sustainable Financing for Women in Climate (WIC) program, which seeks to elevate conversations in the region. The program will develop a funder database, hosting two virtual/in-person convenings to discuss funding opportunities in the region and how to seek greater funding intersectionality as a block guided by a funder database; host a roundtable series by conducting two virtual/in-person roundtable gathering of individuals and interdisciplinary organizations to discuss climate, the region’s response to climate, and how the global south can relay information to the global north to facilitate climate funding to the region; invest in capacity building measures for medium-sized organizations that can act as fiscal partners to grass roots organizations; and will ultimately host a Climate Conference in Barbados or Jamaica, bringing together at least 500 global climate professionals to present funder database and roundtable series findings including fundraising opportunities to raise 2 million USD for women in climate initiatives by the end of 2024, and 4-8 million over 5 years.
C-Beyond will foster women’s role in climate strategies through empowerment measures, including supplying financial resiliency training & funding simulations/modules to foster collaborations; boosting training for women working in climate across five countries for at least 450 women and young women leader’s mentorship talks/climate coaching for 100 women across five countries led by the Institute of Law & Economics & CariPhilAlliance National Coordinators; and supporting regional climate action activities, including tech/adaptation/mitigation activities & forums.
Action Plan
September to December 2023: Select Fiscal CSO Partners & Conduct Financial Resiliency/WIC Training, engaging five organizations. Host Climate Action Webinar: “Women’s Role & African Roots,” engaging 100 participants. Host Annual Climate Action Forum, “Mobilizing Philanthropy & Women in Climate,” targeting 500 participants. Convene 1st Funder Database (virtual/in-person) , engaging 450 professionals. Host creative Climate Showcase, “Climate Action: Tools for advocacy”. Convene 1st Climate Action “Women in Climate Leadership” Mentorship Talk, targeting 2,000 participants.
January 2024 to March 2024: Convene 2nd Funder Database (virtual/in-person) . Conduct Financial Resiliency/WIC Training monthly cohort. Convene 1st Roundtable Series. Convene 2nd Women Climate Leadership Talks. Convene 2nd Roundtable Series. Climate Action – Tech2Empower Launch with CSOs. Convene 2nd “Women Climate Leadership” Mentorship Talk.
April 2024 to June 2024: Host Regional Climate Action Event “Women & Earth Awards”. WIC Financial Resiliency/WIC training monthly cohort. Convene 3rd “Women Climate Leadership” Mentorship Talk. Host Climate Conference 2024.
October 2024 to December 2024: Repeat Annual Climate Action Forum. Collect feedback, complete reporting, identify next steps for program conclusion.
Background
While the Caribbean accounts for a tiny part of greenhouse gas emissions globally, it is disproportionately more vulnerable to climate risks and are often described as being on the “frontlines of climate change.” According to a recent IMF report, Caribbean small states have suffered more damage at greater frequency than other small and larger states, affecting the livelihood of the populations. Natural disasters have massive economic and human costs and building capacity and resilience for the Caribbean are considered a matter of survival.
In 2019, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recommended it must take into account gender, particularly women, to build resilience to climate change as well as support local efforts that are implementing gender responsive and women economic empowerment strategies. Also, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Report 2020– 2021, recommended enhancing the role of social development, and particularly those serving gender and vulnerable groups and promoting investment in human and institutional capacity building to achieve sustainable agenda 2030.
Non-governmental organizations that are known to perform charitable roles, advocacy, social actions, women empowerment, environmental activism, and spur philanthropic causes and actions are critical actors in building resiliency. However, the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) conducted a Caribbean NGO Trends Survey and determined a multi-dimensional crisis is occurring in the region which has disrupted the functions of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) , affecting the most vulnerable in the region. CPDC survey reinforced grave realities of NGOs loss of income, cessation of projects undertaken, the inability to provide services for beneficiaries and need for cohesion within the sector. These realities demand an ecosystem that streamlines philanthropy to create an ecosystem of funding to strengthen NGOs capacity to deliver gender responsive strategies and partnerships in the region to address the climate crisis at the frontlines.
Progress Update
The Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance (CPA) has made significant progress on its initial project plan. Here’s a breakdown of key achievements: Philanthropy in Action Week: Initial Funder Convenings Held an initial funder convening focusing on “Look and Feel” of Philanthropy during Philanthropy in Action Week (September 2024 and others scheduled for 2024) .
Panelists discussed strategies for accessing funding for gender equity and climate action initiatives, the role of CariPhilAlliance in the region and the importance of creating a multiplier effect with current funding through collaboration. .
Funder Database Platform (FDP) : Launched an funder database platform for funders, populated with data from a donated database (1,888 funders representing 26 countries) .
Aims to understand funding trends and gaps, particularly for women in climate action.
Initial insights show funding disparity disproportionately allocated to larger islands such as Puerto Rico.
The current platform will be used to gather feedback from funders, assess funding gaps, mobilize funding for women empowerment and climate related activities, and as a tool for capacity building with NGOs.
Capacity Building: Partnered with WAKE International to launch “Tech2Empower Caribbean” program (March 2024) .
Trained 6 women-led environmental justice organizations across the Caribbean.
Partnered with NIHERST to connect girls with tech advisors for mentorship.
Launched a regional “Women Leaders in Climate” capacity building program (91 women and 2 men registered) and offers two tracks: BeYOUnd Entrepreneurship and WoMIND Climate Leadership focusing on social entrepreneurship, leadership development, and environmental justice.
Philanthropy in Action: Women Impact Award (launching June 2024) : Aims to recognize women’s contributions to climate and environmental justice philanthropy with 7 award categories & is a fundraising strategy.
Commitment Shift: Initial target fundraising target has been re-evaluated and focus shifted to include resources as part of the financial equation and expanding the FDP first, followed by active fundraising in 2025 to meet the goal.
The leveraging of capacity building technology resources was seeded in early 2023 with a partnership with WAKE International. WAKE officially launched “Tech2Empower Caribbean: Environmental Justice” in September 2024, with CariPhilAlliance as the regional partner. The initiative, hosted in Trinidad and Tobago from March 2-8, 2024, engaged tech industry advisors to amplify the work of environmental justice organizations through collaboration, volunteerism, and technology. CariPhilAlliance recruited and shared the first cohort of 40+ Women Led organizations working across the region for selection and hosted a orientation with WAKE. Through a selection process, WAKE identified six womenled organizations from Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Barbados, and St. Kitts for full participation. The program offered training, coaching, and services tailored for these women-led NGOs and social enterprises. With tech advisor support, NGOs upgraded websites, developed monitoring and evaluation systems, and created streamlined communication systems. CariPhilAlliance, through the Bridge Foundation in Trinidad and Tobago, partnered with NIHERST (The National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology) to organize a “Day of Girls.” This event provided an opportunity for girls to meet technology advisors who mentored them on how to access the tech industry and utilize technology to achieve sustainability. (See link for program highlights and downloadable report.) Completing this first commitment of leveraging technology resources, and building on this success, CariPhilAlliance has recently launched a regional “Capacity Building Programme for Women Leaders in Climate ” beginning in May 2024. With 91 women and 2 men registered, the program offers concurrent cohorts: BeYOUnd Entrepreneurship and WoMIND Climate Leadership. BeYOUnd focuses on social ventures, while WoMIND addresses leadership, resource management, and climate justice. This replicable program empowers women leaders with the skills and knowledge to navigate the climate challenges facing the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance (CPA) remains firmly committed to supporting women-led climate action organizations in the Caribbean.
CPA’s initial goal was to leverage $2-5 million, and while this ambition hasn’t changed, they’ve strategically shifted language to up to $2 million and changed the technical definition to include resources and dollars for the goal to be achievable including shifting priorities to maximize the initiative’s impact.
Recognizing the need for a strong foundation for successful fundraising, CPAnhas prioritized expanding and refining the Funder Database Platform (FDP) . This platform is the key to connecting these organizations with potential funders. By investing in the FDP’s functionalities and data in 2024, the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance can significantly improve the success rate of future fundraising efforts.
Sustainability is paramount. A robust platform alone won’t guarantee success. CPA believes in a phased approach. While they continue to convene funders and galvanize support, focusing on FDP development first allows them to use 2024 to equip these organizations with the skills and knowledge they need to effectively utilize the platform and present themselves competitively. Training programs and resources will be central to this capacity building.
With a well-developed FDP and empowered organizations, 2025 will be the optimal time to launch a targeted fundraising campaign. The FDP data will allow CPA to tailor outreach efforts to specific funders aligned with climate action and women-led initiatives in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance commitment to empowering these organizations remains steadfast. They will achieve this through: Capacity Building: Training programs and resources will equip them to effectively utilize the FDP and manage grant proposals.
Data-Driven Approach: The FDP will provide valuable insights into funding trends and philanthropic interests, connecting organizations with the most relevant funders.
Recognition Programs: CPA will continue to celebrate the achievements of these organizations, raising their profile and attracting further support.
Partnership Opportunities
Financial resources to close fundraising gaps for grants that will provide support to scale and achieve financial targets., Implementing Partnership and best practices information to scale regional CSOs gender-responsive climate action activities.