Power To
Stand up for
The Environment

West Virginia Rivers Coalition, a Tides Foundation WE LEAD grantee partner
Protesters with GASP hold bold signs and banners linking climate, racial, and reproductive justice, amplifying calls for systemic change through grassroots organizing in the South.
GASP / Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution, a Tides Foundation Frontline Justice grantee partner
$4M+
granted to community groups standing up to big polluters through the Frontline Justice Fund
$3M+
granted to women-led, environmental justice-serving Black and Indigenous communities through the Women’s Environmental Leadership (WE LEAD) Fund
$650,000+
to support Hurricane Helene relief through the Tides Foundation

Communities historically denied power face immediate environmental and climate threats that put their lives and livelihoods at risk. In 2024, Tides supported the work of communities impacted by environmental hazards and natural disasters to stand up to big polluters and for the health of those they serve.

Thumbnail of Jacqui Patterson, founder and executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, seated and speaking into a microphone about intersectional climate justice.
Three older Black women wearing Inclusive Louisiana shirts, representing grassroots leadership and community advocacy for environmental justice.
Inclusive Louisisana, a Tides Foundation WE LEAD grantee partner
Hear the Voices Calling for Climate Justice

Investing in Women and Nonbinary Leaders Tackling Environmental Justice

Imagine looking for housing and the only place you can afford to live is downwind of a coal plant, in the direct path of a pipeline, or in an area prone to hurricanes and floods. This is the harsh reality of those who are most vulnerable and a reality we’re committed to changing. In 2024, we granted $4 million through the Frontline Justice Fund to grassroots leaders, taking on big polluters in the courtroom and beyond. Through the WE LEAD Fund, we also granted $3 million to women and non-binary-led initiatives with local, community-based solutions to environmental hazards.

Tides and WE LEAD Fund hosted six environmental justice leaders at Climate Week NYC 2024 to discuss their work and what’s at stake.
Thumbnail image from a Climate Week NYC 2024 panel hosted by Tides and WE LEAD, featuring six environmental justice leaders discussing their frontline work and the urgency of climate action.
Thumbnail image from a Climate Week NYC 2024 panel hosted by Tides and WE LEAD, featuring six environmental justice leaders discussing their frontline work and the urgency of climate action.
Portrait of Valencia Gunder, Co-Founder of The Smile Trust, grantee partner with Tides Foundation’s We LEAD Fund
“If you look at the history of them telling us we couldn't go onto the beach, we had to stay this specific neighborhood, these are the same exact neighborhoods that they forced us to live in that now they want because they are going underwater.”
Valencia Gunder
Co-Founder, The Smile Trust, grantee partner with Tides Foundation’s WE LEAD Fund

Rapidly Responding to Disasters

As natural disasters become more frequent and catastrophic, Tides is engaging our donors to respond with urgency and intentionality to support the communities that are most under-resourced. Tides donors granted more than $650,000 to organizations responding to Hurricane Helene, which devastated states along the Gulf and East Coasts. This includes more than $100,000 in rapid response grants through our Crisis Response Fund.

Explore Heroism After Hurricane Helene
Two BeLoved Asheville volunteers walk near a home assessing storm damage after Hurricane Helene, supporting community-led disaster relief efforts.
Beloved Ashville, a Tides Foundation Crisis Response Fund grantee partner
“They are reaching people that firefighters, emergency services haven’t been able to reach, finding ways to areas that haven’t been reached by officials, literally mapping out the county and establishing supply distribution lines that no one has been to yet.”
An organizer at a post-Hurricane Helene get-out-the-vote event speaking about Down Home NC, a grantee partner with Tides Foundation’s Healthy Democracy Fund
Three smiling community organizers wearing “Elect Working People for Everything” shirts, standing together outdoors in support of civic engagement and social change.
Equity
Reproductive
Justice