Becky Lakin
Founder and Director
How it works
Every financial need on our platform has been vetted, approved, and posted by a member of the SHE Changes Climate team. Each woman we're seeking funding for has been granted a badge to attend COP28.
Each time a supporter purchases a financial need, the SHE Changes Climate team is alerted. Once the entire need (hotel, airfare, transportation, food, etc.) has been funded, SHE Changes Climate books the hotel, buys the plane ticket, and makes certain that particular woman has the cash on hand needed to get around, nourish their bodies, and navigate the complexities of a large event and new place.
There is a total of 5% in critical fees added to each transaction, which covers payment platform and currency fees. All other monies donated go directly to the woman being supported.
About Us
The Giving Wall and SHE Changes Climate have partnered to enable women, in all their diversity, to attend the global climate negotiations, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties -- commonly known as COP. This year COP28 will be hosted in Dubai from 30 November - 12 December. This is a critical time when implementation and policies are put in place to ensure a livable future. However, COP remains an exclusive space that lacks a diversity of decision-makers. During COP27, 37% of country delegates were women.
A significant limitation for women to attend the COP is funding. SHE Changes Climate and the Giving Wall are aiming to bridge this gap by raising funds for the voices we need at COP28 in Dubai, the UAE. We invest in women to continue to have a crucial role in the future of people and the planet.
Through The Giving Wall platform, and SHE Changes Climate's ongoing advocacy, competent women from around the world will be able to have their voices heard in conversations that matter most.
What is SHE Changes Climate?
SHE Changes Climate is a global non-profit campaign, driving awareness of the crucial role of women in all their diversity as positive assets for just and urgent climate action. We exist to increase female representation at all levels of climate decision-making and to empower women to make those critical decisions. We do this by:
- Influencing key players such as governments
- Campaigning for public support and raising awareness of inequality
- Collaborating with partners
- Amplifying the voices of those often overlooked
- Providing a platform to support young women taking up leadership positions in the climate action sphere
The decisions made at the top have a trickle-down effect. If there is inequality in leading positions, there will be inequality across communities. Increasing women's representation in national parliaments leads to the adoption of more stringent climate change policies, resulting in lower emissions. At the local level, the participation of women in natural resource management is associated with better resource governance and conservation outcomes.
The role that women play as leading decision-makers is not being reflected in climate negotiations and the ramifications are reflected in women's daily lives and the effect of the climate crisis.
What is COP?
COP is the main decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC is a global treaty between 197 countries of the United Nations. The agreement is to "stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.” COP includes representatives of all the countries that are signatories (or 'Parties') to the UNFCCC. COP assesses the effects of measures introduced by the Parties to limit climate change against the overall goal of the UNFCCC. A positive outcome from a previous COP is The Paris Agreement. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP21, a COP led by women. Its overarching goal is to pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels."
For COP28 to be a success and align with the Paris Agreement, more women leaders must attend.
What is The Giving Wall?
The Giving Wall began in Richmond, Virginia, as a small website with a big dream: Power collective progress and community thriving through a platform where urgent financial needs of neighbors are posted and purchased. A website where right-now needs meet right-now support and right-now compassion through the true stories of lives lived in financial crises.
For five years that vision has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in 1:1 donations from members of the community directed to people and families in financial need. Now that vision is growing to include organizations that rightly and boldly work at the intersection of human and environmental justice - that holistically think about collective progress and community thriving.
We invite these organization to use our platform to fundraise through a caring community committed to the vision and mission they live and lead. SHE Changes Climate is the first of these partnerships.
If you're interested in exploring partnership with The Giving Wall, reach out to becky@thegivingwall.org.
Our Team
We’re a mix of volunteers, funders, artists, nonprofit veterans, advisors, lawyers, designers, activists, advocates, allies, supporters, and neighbors in need. Some of us are white, some are black, some are brown. Some of us grew up in poverty (although your bias would tell you otherwise if you met them), others of us grew up in the security of suburbia (and your bias would assume it rightly). Some of us are young, some of us are at a more mature stage in life, some of us are women, others men, and some feel their gender doesn't need to be defined. We’re our own diverse and compassionate community, and we’re here to help.
The Giving Wall Leadership Team
Reggie Gordon
Board Member + Founding Partner
Jason Ashlock
Story + Learning Strategy
Kim MacLeod
Board Member
The Giving Wall's Technology Partner
Simple Thread
Digital Product Design & Development
Support SHE Changes Climate and the women around the world accelerating climate action.
The Giving Wall is a licensable platform where urgent financial needs held by individuals are posted and purchased. A website where right-now needs meet right-now support and right-now compassion. The Giving Wall began in Richmond, Virginia where it powers 1:1 donations from members of the community directed to people and families in financial crisis. The platform is now being used by organisations working at the intersection of human and environmental justice that are seeking to fundraise in a similar capacity, one financial need at a time.
If you're interested in partnering with The Giving Wall, reach out to becky@thegivingwall.org .