Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA) is a left-of-center environmentalist organization that trains and places women in leadership roles within environmental advocacy and activism groups around the world, and then helps fund and promote the work done by those organizations. ^{1  2} In the United States, its flagship training program is the U.S. Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders. ³

Background

Women’s Earth Alliance was co-founded in 2006 by left-of-center environmental and public policy advocates Amira Diamond and Melinda Kramer. ² Its founding purpose was to mobilize and train women to promote left-of-center environmental policies and projects around the world. ²

It is best known in the United States for operating the U.S. Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders, which is a high-profile year-long training program for women positioned to take leadership roles in environmental organizations.  ^{3  4}

A 2024 list of WEA’s “movement partners and affiliations” included the World Economic Forum’s Trillion Tree Campaign, Asia Foundation, Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Bioneers, Daughters for Earth, Feminist Green New Deal, International Rivers, and Project Dandelion. ⁵

People

Amira Diamond and Melinda Kramer are the co-founders of Women’s Earth Alliance.  ⁶ As of 2025, they were co-executive directors of the organization, along with Kahea Pacheco. ⁷

Diamond is a former staffer for the U.S. Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, and worked with left-leaning groups including Democracy Matters before co-founding WEA.  ⁶

Kramer worked with global humanitarian organization CARE International and left-of-center environmental group Pacific Environment and Resources Center (PERC).  ⁶

Environmental Activism Leadership Training Program

In 2019, the Women’s Earth Alliance partnered with the Sierra Club to launch the U.S. Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders, a year-long program to train women for leadership roles in environmental organizations. ^{8  4} It reported training 88 women between 2019 and 2025. ³

Globally, WEA claimed to have trained a total of more than 52,000 women in 31 countries for environmental leadership roles between 2006 and 2024.  ⁶

2024 Heinz Award

Women’s Earth Alliance co-founders and co-executive directors Amira Diamond and Melinda Kramer received the 2024 Heinz Award for the Environment, which is awarded by the Heinz Family Foundation founded by the late U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (R-PA) and his then-wife Teresa Heinz.  ⁶ Teresa Heinz would inherit an estimated $550 million dollars of her husband’s family fortune, and later become Teresa Heinz-Kerry after her marriage to former U.S. Senator, Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Secretary of State John Kerry (D-MA). ⁹

The Heinz Award comes with a $250,000 unrestricted cash prize.

Financials

Women’s Earth Alliance is fiscally sponsored by the Earth Island Institute, a left-of-center environmental organization that serves as a fiscal sponsor for left-of-center environmentalist groups that do not have their own 501(c)(3) charitable tax status. ^{10  11}

As such, it is not required to publish an independent annual tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its funders do not need to publicly disclose that their donations to its fiscal sponsor are intended to support WEA. WEA has published lists of supporters, including 1% for the Planet, 11^th Hour Project, African Women’s Development Fund, Apple, Avaaz Foundation, Conservation International, Environmental Defense Fund, Equation Campaign, New Priorities Foundation, International Rivers, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation, Kalliopeia Foundation, Marin Community Foundation, Panta Rhea Foundation, Ray C. Anderson Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, San Francisco Foundation, Sierra Club Foundation, Sills Family Foundation, Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation, and Wallace Global Fund. ^{12  13}

1. “Women’s Earth Alliance – Home.” Womens Earth Alliance. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://womensearthalliance.org/.
2. “What We Do.” Womens Earth Alliance. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://womensearthalliance.org/what-we-do/.
3. “Accelerating Women’s Climate Solutions in the U.S.” Womens Earth Alliance. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://womensearthalliance.org/programs/u-s-grassroots-accelerator-for-women-environmental-leaders/.
4. Moyer, Heather. “On World Water Day, Meet the Sierra Club’s New Clean Water Director.” Sierra Club, March 22, 2022. https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2022/03/world-water-day-meet-sierra-clubs-new-clean-water-director.
5. “IMPACT REPORT2024.” Women’s Earth Alliance, 2024. https://womensearthalliance.flowpaper.com/ImpactReport2024/#page=16.
6. “Heinz Award Nomination.” Womens Earth Alliance. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://womensearthalliance.org/heinzaward/.
7. “Kahea Pacheco.” Womens Earth Alliance. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://womensearthalliance.org/about-us/team/kahea-pacheco/.
8. Brune, Michael. “Wonder Women.” Sierra Club, March 28, 2019. https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2019/03/womens-history-month-castillo.
9. “Teresa Heinz.” Forbes, 2002. https://www.forbes.com/richlist2002/LIRUZ1H.html?passListId=54&passYear=2002&passListType=Person&uniqueId=UZ1H&datatype=Person.
10. “Donate: Empower Women’s Climate Leadership.” Womens Earth Alliance. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://womensearthalliance.org/donate/.
11. “Earth Island Projects.” Projects :: Earth Island Institute. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://earthisland.org/index.php/project.
12. “Funding Partners.” Womens Earth Alliance. Accessed November 20, 2025. https://womensearthalliance.org/about-us/funding-partners/.
13. “IMPACT REPORT2024.” Women’s Earth Alliance, 2024. https://womensearthalliance.flowpaper.com/ImpactReport2024/.