ABOUT
Around the world, when local communities stand up to defend their rights to clean air, water, forests, and soil, violence and repression often follow. In fact, environmental defenders face the highest risk level of all human rights activists.
In 2021 and 2022 alone, 377 land and environmental defenders were killed, according to Global Witness. That’s an average of one person every other day. A disproportionate number of those targeted are Indigenous.
It’s no coincidence that this lethal violence takes place in countries where systemic repression of basic political rights—such as assembly, free speech, and access to information—is increasingly common. Often the most prominent threat to democratic participation relates to industrial development projects. The struggle for democracy is inseparable from urgent movements for climate justice.
The Environmental Defenders Collaborative (EDC) supports local communities and their allies in the face of rising intimidation, criminalization, and attack. We pool philanthropic funds to provide grants to activists, groups, and networks across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
What makes EDC different from traditional funders is the level of flexibility in how and to whom we make grants. When meaningful support to environmental defenders is especially complex or constrained—such as in countries where outside funding is restricted—EDC’s agility is critical.
Since launching in 2017, EDC has approved close to $6 million in funding to international, regional, and community-level organizations around the world. In 2023, we made 156 grants in more than 30 countries, including our first grants in Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, and Togo.
OUR MISSION
EDC was created in the wake of the 2016 murder of Berta Cáceres, as the funding community recognized the urgent need not only to support activists’ work, but their safety as well. We pool donor funds to make grants that range from quick intervention in emergency situations to long-term systemic change that makes it harder and more expensive to criminalize, threaten, and abuse defenders.
We support strategic interventions at the community, regional, and international levels that safeguard the lives, rights, and work of environmental defenders. For a growing number of foundations, we provide an efficient means of sharing knowledge, expertise, and funding to environmental, land, and Indigenous defenders. The more we can combine and expedite resources, the greater the impact.
WHO ARE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS?
Environmental defenders are not a homogenous group. At EDC, we aim to apply the broadest possible definition, particularly including people who may never use that label to describe themselves. For us, climate defenders include lawyers, scientists, professional organizers, or NGO leaders. But most of our support centers communities defending their lands, their children’s health, their culture, and way of life from projects that directly threaten them.
OUR STAFF
Alison Wright
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
With nearly two decades of experience in grassroots human rights philanthropy, Alison Wright is Executive Director of the Environmental Defenders Collaborative. She has been in this role since the Collaborative was formed in 2017. Alison previously consulted with the Mexico Conservation Funders Group of Biodiversity Funders Group, Tamalpais Trust, and Fondo Acción Solidaria (Mexico). She also worked as a consulting lawyer with Environmental Defender Law Center. Alison began her career as a programs/grants administration team member at Global Greegrants Funds. She serves on the Board of Directors of Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide and the Steering Committee of ALLIED. Alison holds a JD from Seattle University School of Law and a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Samantha Radley
PROGRAM MANAGER
Samantha Radley is the Program Manager for the Environmental Defenders Collaborative, where she facilitates grant processing, coordinates the Action Partnership program, and supports development of EDC’s grantmaking strategy. Prior to EDC, Samantha worked with an organization focused on poverty alleviation in rural India and as a consultant for the International Land Coalition, supporting people-centred land governance. Samantha holds a MA in International Development through Sheffield University and a BA in Social Justice & Geography from Western University.
Stephanie Gommert
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
MANAGER
Stephanie Gommert is the Finance and Operations Manager for the Environmental Defenders Collaborative, where she facilitates implementation of EDC's operational and financial management systems and provides administrative support to the EDC team, funders, and partners. Stephanie has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cambodia, worked with an organization focused on connecting nonprofits in rural communities with philanthropic resources and most recently coordinated the donor-advised and pooled fund programs at Global Greengrants Fund. Stephanie holds an MA in Development Practice from Regis University and a BS in Biology from Texas A&M University.
Sofía Elías
GRANTS ASSISTANT
LATIN AMERICA
Sofía Elías works as a consultant leading EDC’s participation in the Protegiendo Personas, Protegiendo a la Naturaleza (P3N) initiative, where she monitors rapid response requests, conducts evaluation processes with grant recipients, and participates in local outreach efforts. She has worked in research consultancies on the economic and social conditions of peasants in Mexico and Guatemala with ICCA Consortium, and supported administrative processes of rural women's associations in Guatemala. Sofía holds a B.A in Social Anthropology from the University of Côte-d’Azur and an M.A. in Sociology of Environmental Politics and Social Practices from the University of Toulouse.
The Environmental Defenders Collaborative is fiscally sponsored by Global Greengrants Fund, a non-profit, 501c(3) organization. Tax ID number: 841612422.
