Why Women?

In less than 2 weeks we will be convening our Africa Climate Resilience Salon in Rabat, Morocco on 23/24 October! I'm so excited!

Why are women critical for #climateimpact solutions? Because women observe things differently. It may be because they have children, or can have children, or because of the way society is organized in most cultures. It is probably both nature and nuture (I think more nature). We notice the impacts of #climatechange differently from men. So our lived experience can lead to different kinds of solutions, and perhaps solutions that will benefit more people, more quickly. Women tend to jump into to a fire or flood to help people. They tend to help people for free, volunteer more, show up on the front lines of any crisis. And because of this women understand food insecurity, gender based violence, and impacts related to environmental disaster. Even though in many countries they don't have the right to own property, they are feeding their families through fishing and farming. And the impacts of climate disasters greater for women for all kinds of reasons.

Our Africa Climate Resilience Salon is our 3rd one in less than 6 months! It has been more challenging to organize, partly maybe because it's being held in #morocco where there has been a devastating earthquake and some of the NGOs, businesses and people we want to attend have been engaged in life saving activities. It has been challenging because Africa is such a huge continent, and it is so expensive to fly from one country to another. It has been challenging to find any green or climate tech investors to attend. I guess that should be no surprise. Climate tech is sexy. Women are sexy. But women in Climate Tech are apparently not sexy from an investment standpoint – the men who are investing in #climatetech are investing in men who look like them. That can be said of almost any startup that is woman led - no one really is investing in women (no matter what we hear)!

That's why we're doing these Salons. If women can't find venture capital or any other funding, what can they do to create these amazing, scalable climate tech solutions? Women can create social capital. We need to do what men have always done - rely on our networks. But, we're not in the same clubs, right? So we just have to create our own networks of people who want to support what we're doing. Like Steve Jobs and the Home Brew Computer Club or the paypal guys... (But we won't be misogynist bullies like many of those guys in those clubs. And we won't be "misandrists," the female version, of it either!) We know that a powerful network is critical to our success.

And that is what the Salons are all about! We are building a movement, a network, an incubator, a rapid prototyping, maker's studio. And the network consists of people from the private sector, NGOs, government and from cross-cutting themes all in one room! And that is the POWER OF Climate Resilience Salons!

We are catalyzing, amplifying and supporting women with Climate Solutions. Help us support these WOMEN by re-posting!!! The Delegates from women-led companies that will be joining us include women from so many different countries:

Doreen Irungu / Kenya

Jolie Mputela / Democratic Republic of Congo

???????????? ???????????? / Spain / Democratic Republic of Congo

AKELLO IMMACULATE / Uganda

Ndeye Maria Diedhiou, of Plateforme des Femmes pour la Paix en Casamance / Senegal

Fatima Dounrar / Morocco

Olorato T Sebitla Sebitla / Botswana

Aicha Aouiyi / Morocco

Wissal Ben Moussa / Morocco

Reham Ali FreshSource Global / Egypt

Noura Amayous @Foundation Dar Si Hmad / Morocco

Eya Mnasria / Tunisia

Carolyne Mwangi / Kenya

Ghmera Krekshi / Libya

We are so lucky to have Caritas Tanger as a partner and host in Rabat! And Ana Fleck Velasco who helps plan and keep it all together on our little trellyz team. Saad Uakkas, MD, MPH and your African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) members - you've been awesome! And Sylvia Khumalo for passion about this project. And John De Baaki for great introductions. And for the insight and inspiration from all we have met from our work with migrants/displaced/refugees through our RefAid = Refuge app, and the support of trellyz who pays the bills!

#climateresilience #climateimpacts #femalefounders #climatetech #morocco #Africa