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Our Response to COVID-19

From Californian and Australian bushfires to the coronavirus pandemic, our world struggles with the public health and economic fallout of our declining natural environment. These turbulent times demand that we all band together to help already vulnerable communities threatened by COVID-19 and its spread.

Given this, The Women Invested to Save Earth (WISE) Fund is proud to take the Council on Foundations’ Philanthropic COVID-19 Pledge.

With a focus on low-income, environmentally distressed communities in Africa, Australia, Brazil, India and the USA, we dedicated our inaugural funding round to emergency and recovery grants for Afro-descendant, Indigenous, women of color and allied climate impact technologists, whose novel contributions are threatened by COVID-19.  Seven start-up organizations received at least $20,000 each.

These women are canaries in the mines of our global environmental crisis. They also are our greatest hope.

We stand in solidarity with the world’s women climate impact innovators. Their cutting edge work must continue so that we heal humanity and the planet we share.

Announcements for the 2022 cohort will be forthcoming. Learn more about the current WISE Leaders here and review eligibility criteria below. When you are ready, apply for pre-qualification here.

Eligible applicants must meet the following criteria:

• • 1. Must be a social benefit organization, recognized, licensed and in good standing per the governing regulations of the particular target country where the organization is based
    2. Must be headquartered in the five WISE Fund continent or country targets of Africa, Australia, Brazil, Caribbean, India and United States
    3. Have created a climate change technology designed to address the specific challenges faced by low-income, Afro-descendant, Indigenous, people of color
    4. Be led by, benefitting and inclusive of Afro-descendant, Indigenous, women of color of the target country, continent or community, including those most underrepresented
    5. Demonstrate promise of impact on the causes or the health consequences of rapid global warming, including but not limited to renewable energy
    6. Must be accessible and sustainable for the lowest income members of the target countries and continents
    7. Advance the human rights, economic opportunity and health of women
    8. The organization supported and its production processes cannot cause negative environmental, health, economic, social or other impacts
    9. Must be potentially replicable and scalable to low-income communities in other parts of the world
    10. Leadership must be willing to provide progress reports and have coaching sessions with WISE Fund leaders, including facilitating at least one site visit per year