In 2024, Trees, Water, and People (TWP) provided scholarships to four CSU students, all Indigenous women, working towards careers in natural sciences and conservation. Scholarships sustained three students’ work with the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, and supported one, Lizzy Osterhoudt, in leading research that honors her experience as a Pueblo woman.

Gender equity has been at the center of TWP’s work since the early days of our clean cookstoves program, more than 27 years ago. At that time, we followed the guidance of local women to design the Justa stove – named after Doña Justa Nuñez, who led the process in Honduras – and develop a stove program that prioritized women’s health, protected forests, and created local economic opportunity.

La Colectiva is a feminist consultancy formed by four Indigenous women, born from challenges they faced within other organizations. As many women within community organizations still encounter an ingrained machismo culture and majority male leadership, La Colectiva seeks to re-empower at the personal and grassroots level.

As diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts are increasingly targeted at the federal level, TWP’s Indigenous Lands Outreach Coordinator, Phillip Chavez, shares his perspectives on the broader context of DEI efforts.

From June 17-20, we had the privilege of hosting a week-long knowledge exchange in Guatemala City, marking the conclusion of phase 1 of our pilot project in collaboration with the Coordinadora de Mujeres Líderes Territoriales de Mesoamérica (CMLT).

This year, I’ve had the privilege of traveling to Mexico twice. The first visit was a two-week-trip to three different Departments in Mexico (Puebla, Veracruz, and Oaxaca) to get to know our new potential partner Red Mocaf, visit their communities, meet their community leaders, and get to know the realities of each region.

TWP had the privilege to host 13 of our partners and community leaders from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador at the first Mesoamerican Indigenous People and Local Communities Climate Week.

International Women’s Day gave us the opportunity to recognize and admire all the incredible women that have been part of our TWP family, and the new women leaders that have emerged through our work on the ground in Central America. This past February, our TWP team had the privilege to travel to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, where we were inspired by courageous women who continue to advocate, organize, and fight for more inclusive and equitable opportunities for their communities and future generations.

Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk is a rockstar for Indigenous sovereignty, environmental justice, and gender equity and inclusion. She has been at the forefront of these initiatives in the southwest and has represented her Tribe as an everyday leader and previous member of the Tribal Council. A member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Regina grew up in southwest Colorado.

Conventional conservation often portrays stewards and land managers working together to conserve, protect and/or restore critical landscapes for the survival of our planet. But underneath the macroscopic lens of conservation, women, more specifically Native American women, are rarely recognized for their achievements and dedication in the world of conservation.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the inequalities and vulnerabilities experienced by indigenous, rural and “campesino” communities. Girls and women are the populations that have faced most of the challenges. The confinement and the economic crisis impacted the worsening violence, greater care work responsibilities and a decrease in women's income, which was already precarious and unequal before the pandemic.