WILD ELEMENTS
For Immediate Release: April 27, 2021
WILD ELEMENTS Foundation Launches With Unprecedented Approach to Investing in Women Conservation Leaders
New Community-Focused Funding Model Disrupts Male-Dominated Philanthropy Dollars.
LOS ANGELES, CA (April 27, 2021) – Today, WILD ELEMENTS is launching its mission in action, the WILD ELEMENTS Foundation. The brainchild of social entrepreneur Nikki Eslami, WILD ELEMENTS consists of three unique organizations accelerating conservation efforts and scaling global environmental change by protecting humankind, animalkind, and plantkind. WILD ELEMENTS Foundation, a purpose driven non-profit, is investing in global conservation efforts through advocacy, philanthropy, and charitable activities—but in a wild, new funding model infusing resources into planet saving efforts led by women, indigenous individuals, and people of colour.
Far too often marginalized in the environmental space, women-led efforts only receive .02 percent of total global foundation funding[1]. To change that trajectory, WILD ELEMENTS Foundation is launching with an initial investment of $3 million in sustainability and conservation organizations, which are predominantly female-led. Heeding the United Nations urgent call to action on fully implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), WILD ELEMENTS Foundation will invest at least $10 million by the 2030 SDGs deadline and prioritize funding for women-led and community-focused work that has the most impact. WILD ELEMENTS Foundation is flipping traditional philanthropy on its head and disrupting giving models in an effort to decolonize it. With more women in decision-making roles, we can more quickly shift power and resources to scale change.
“We are wildly different by design,” said WILD ELEMENTS Foundation Board Member and CEO of WILD ELEMENTS Nikki Eslami. “Women are on the front lines in the fight to save our planet. We can and must disrupt the status quo by finding ways to feed into their work which is directly impacting local communities for the better. Plus, by partnering women innovators with women advocates, we can elevate solutions through education, inspiration, and activation.”
WILD ELEMENTS Foundation will use the power of storytelling to raise the voices of women pioneers paving their own sustainable path forward, changing the world one brilliant program at a time. Deemed WILD Innovators by the Foundation, ten women-led projects from across the globe will be partnered with WILD Advocates (artists and influencers) who will utilize their digital platforms to bring much-needed awareness to new audiences. Together, they will accelerate change by sparking conversations, forming the foundation of a conscious community, and building a movement. Each WILD Innovator is receiving a two-year, $100,000 grant for her work. Each WILD Advocate is donating her time and voice to raise awareness. (See below for the inaugural list of WILD Innovators and WILD Advocates.).
Beyond these initial investments, WILD ELEMENTS Foundation is also making grants to six conservation programs at world-renowned organizations pursuing narrative, cultural, and policy change. Initial partners include MIT Solve (2021 Resilient Ecosystems Global Challenge), National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)’s Rewrite the Future Program, One Earth’s Project Marketplace, The Recycling Partnership, the Rodale Institute, and Wildlife Conservation Network.
The WILD ELEMENTS Foundation is led by President and Board Member, Heidi Nel, alongside its Board of Directors which includes WILD ELEMENTS Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Nikki Eslami, WILD ELEMENTS Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder, Rob Sebastian, National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) President and CEO, Nick Tedesco, and WestRock Company Chief Sustainability Officer, Brandi Colander.
For more information on the WILD ELEMENTS Foundation, including planned charitable activities, visit foundation.wildelements.com, and visit WILD ELEMENTS on social media @wildelements.
WILD Innovators and WILD Advocates:
- Innovator: Richelle Thomas, United States (Protect Medicinal Plants at the University of Arizona)
Advocates: Nathalie Kelley and Blu Hunt
- Innovators: Abigail Williams and Jayne Goss, United Kingdom (Farm Urban)
Advocate: Radhi Devlukia Shetty
- Innovators: Erika Allen and Laurell Sims, United States (Urban Growers Collective)
Advocate: AnnaSophia Robb
- Innovator: Krithi Karanth, India (Centre for Wildlife Studies)
Advocate: Stefanie Giesinger
- Innovator: Genesis Butler, United States (Youth Climate Save)
Advocate: Leona Lewis
- Innovator: Sheila Funnell, Kenya (Grevy’s Zebra Trust)
Advocate: Marisol Nichols
- Innovator: Rosamira Guillen, Colombia (Proyecto Titi)
Advocate: Isabella Gomez
- Innovator: Resson Kantai Duff, Kenya (Ewaso Lions)
Advocate: Elizabeth Gillies
- Innovator: Adriana Verges, Australia (Operation Posidonia at UNSW Sydney)
Advocate: Jamie Chung
- Innovator: Dominique Goncalves, Mozambique (Gorongosa National Park Elephant Ecology Program)
Advocate: Ashley Park
About WILD ELEMENTS FOUNDATION:
The WILD ELEMENTS Foundation, a conscious catalyst for change, accelerates efforts to restore our global ecosystem. The Foundation is fueled by the Power of Three—a symbiotic union between Animalkind, Humankind, and Plantkind, because one can’t thrive without the other.
Intentionally designed to disrupt philanthropy, the Foundation aims to shift power and vital resources to women, indigenous communities, and people of colour on the frontlines of conservation. By diversifying funding and leveraging creative storytelling, the Foundation makes every grant exponentially more impactful–advancing and scaling environmental change.
