Climate Justice Resilience Fund Puts Power into the Hands of Practitioners
New Governing Board Announced at COP27
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 16 November 2022
Contact:
In Sharm El Sheikh: Heather McGray WhatsApp +1-202-669-9287
In Washington DC: Hilary Heath | hilary.heath@cjrfund.org | WhatsApp +1 704-207-5169
SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT — In a shakeup of traditional philanthropic power structures, Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF) announces its new governing board. This practitioner-led board is replacing CJRF’s current, funder-led board. The new board will guide CJRF in its grantmaking decisions around important topics such as climate justice, loss and damage and climate resilience. The board will also set the strategy and priorities for the fund moving forward.
Representing a wide swath of geographies and backgrounds, the new nine-person board includes youth, women, and Indigenous activists, an expert advocate on the UN Green Climate Fund, and a long-time Congolese activist whose work inspired the film Mabele Na Biso.
“Our new governing board consists of people with intimate knowledge of the realities that people face across the globe due to the climate crisis,” said CJRF Director Heather McGray. “Their insights will help us create real impact for communities who experience the most devastating effects of a changing climate.”
This new governing board represents a shift from traditional philanthropy, where foundation staff and wealthy individuals make grantmaking decisions. In another departure from philanthropic norms, the new board was recruited through an open call for applications that explicitly sought candidates with experience as activists and practitioners. Applications were reviewed by a selection committee comprised of CJRF funding partners, grantee partners, and external advisors.
“We were intentional about creating a governing board that could build upon the work that CJRF has already done,” said the Kendeda Fund Climate Advisor Diane Ives, who served on the selection committee. “We’re confident that we have the right folks in place to drive transformational change from the grassroots to the global level.”
The new governing Board will make its first grants in early 2023.
The new CJRF Board members are:
Alicia Wallace, a queer Black feminist and LGBT movement leader in the Bahamas, who pivoted to center climate justice in the wake of Hurricane Dorian
Angela Sanau, a gender activist based in Kenya and the senior programmes officer - gender and youth at the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association (MMWCA)
Diana Samarasan, an experienced cross-movement builder who founded the Disability Rights Fund
Helen Biangalen-Magata, an expert advocate on the UN Green Climate Fund and communications officer of the Filipino Indigenous advocacy organization Tebtebba
Maria Alejandra Escalante, a queer, feminist researcher from Colombia and the climate and environmental justice advocacy officer for FRIDA|The Young Feminist Fund
Nilesh Prakash, a former member of the UN Adaptation Fund Board, who has advised several Pacific civil society networks and now works for the V20 coalition of climate-vulnerable governments
Panganga Pungowiyi, currently Climate Geoengineering Organizer at Indigenous Environmental Network, who has served her community through past work with several well-established Alaska Native organizations
Samuel Yagase, a long-time Congolese activist and co-founder of Group of Village Organizations for Autonomous Development (GOVA), which focuses on building sustainable and resilient communities in the rainforest as documented in the film Mabele Na Biso
Zahid Shashoto, a grassroots youth activist and programme development officer for the Bangladeshi organization Uttaran
ABOUT CJRF:
CJRF is a grantmaking initiative that supports women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples to create and share their own solutions for climate resilience. CJRF puts people, their rights and their lived experience directly at the center of climate action.
CJRF works by pooling funds from private foundations. Since its launch in 2016, CJRF has deployed over US$20 million through 43 major grant partnerships around the world. CJRF also has hosted several initiatives to promote funder learning and collaboration on climate justice and launched a unique re-granting partnership on climate-induced loss and damage in 2021.
Learn more about our work at www.cjrfund.org.