Our Story · Our Purpose · Our People
Who We Are & Why We Exist
We are a global NGO driven by the belief that climate justice and gender equality are inseparable. Learn about the people, principles, and passion that fuel everything we do.
“We began with 12 volunteers, three villages, and an unshakeable belief that communities hold the answers to their own futures.”
— Dr. Amara Osei, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Our Origin Story
A Movement Born from Crisis and Conviction
In 2015, following a devastating drought that displaced over 40,000 people across three communities in Northern Ghana, a group of scientists, women’s rights advocates, and grassroots organizers came together with a radical idea: climate solutions only work when women lead them.
What started as a single reforestation pilot involving 12 women farmers rapidly grew into a transnational movement. Today, EarthForward Initiative operates across 14 countries, partnering with over 340 communities, 60 universities, and 15 governments to advance climate resilience and gender justice simultaneously.
Our work is guided by the understanding that no lasting environmental solution is possible without dismantling the structural inequalities that determine who suffers most from ecological breakdown — and who is given the power to fix it.
🌍 14 Countries
♀ 87,000+ Women
🌱 2.4M Trees
🏆 Since 2015
What Drives Us
Our Mission & Vision
🎯
Our Mission
To Build a Just, Green World — Led by the People Who Need It Most
We mobilize communities — especially women and marginalized groups — to design and lead climate-resilient, equitable development solutions that are locally owned, scientifically grounded, and globally connected. We do not deliver aid; we build capacity, amplify voices, and remove barriers so communities can lead their own transformation.
🌅
Our Vision
A Planet Where Ecological Health and Human Dignity Are Inseparable
We envision a world by 2050 where every community — regardless of geography, gender, or economic status — has the agency, resources, and governance structures to live sustainably. A world where forests are flourishing, women lead at every level, and climate adaptation is not a crisis response but a way of life embedded in culture and policy.
Our Core Values
⚖️
Justice First
Every decision centers those most impacted by climate change and systemic inequality.
🤝
Community Ownership
Solutions are co-designed with communities, never imposed upon them.
🔬
Evidence-Based
We combine local knowledge with rigorous science to design interventions that work.
🔍
Radical Transparency
Our finances, decisions, and outcomes are fully open and publicly accountable.
See Our Work in Action
Watch Our Story
From the forests of West Africa to the mountains of Nepal — see how communities are leading the change the world needs.
🎬 Featured Documentary
📺 More Videos
Our Approach
What We Do Differently
The development sector is full of good intentions. We are different because of what we refuse to do — and what we insist on instead.
🚫➡️✅
We Don’t Deliver Aid — We Build Power
Rather than distributing resources from the outside in, we invest in local leadership, institutions, and governance structures. Communities don’t just receive support — they own, manage, and sustain every program.
♀️🌍
Gender & Climate Are Always Linked
We refuse to treat environmental work and gender equity as separate tracks. Every reforestation project is also a women’s livelihood program. Every climate policy advocacy campaign also advances equal representation. Always. No exceptions.
📊🔓
100% Open Impact Reporting
Every dollar, every outcome, every failure is documented and publicly available. We publish quarterly impact reports, unfiltered community feedback, and independent third-party audits — because accountability is not optional.
🔬🌱
Indigenous Knowledge Meets Modern Science
Our programs integrate traditional ecological knowledge passed down through generations with cutting-edge climate science and agronomy. This synthesis produces solutions that are culturally rooted and scientifically validated.
🌐🤲
Long-Term Presence, Not Project Cycles
We do not parachute in for two-year projects and then leave. We make decade-long commitments to our partner communities, building the kind of trust and continuity that actually produces lasting systemic change.
❤️🔥🏛️
Advocacy That Matches Our Field Work
Every program we run feeds into our policy agenda. Field evidence informs our lobbying at the UN, AU, and national parliaments. We connect the grassroots to the global — because real change requires both.
Voices from the Field
Stories of Change
Behind every statistic is a human being whose life has changed. Here are just three of the thousands of stories that drive us forward every day.
· Gender & Climate
“We need to begin to conceive visions of value addition that will benefit Africa. “
I had a great time late last month speaking at the AfCFTA Stakeholders roundtable in Ilorin Kwara State. Big thank you to Joshua Ojo of AfriEcoBizHub.
One of the very important things I brought to the fore is the fact that everything life transforming happens at least twice.
In the famous quote from The Lion King “look beyond what you see.”
I look forward to contributing my own quota in setting the AfCFTA really take off.
To your continued development,
Chima Ernest Okoli
— Fatima Damba, 38, Tamale, Northern Ghana
nigeria · Bidgit
“I must confess that I’ve met great people”
I got into BudgIT Nigeria‘s Budgit Climate Fellowship and we had our onboarding today.
I must confess that I’ve met great people in here already and I’m actively looking forward to fruitful collaboration both here in Nigeria and in Ghana.
It was also great to meet folks from Civic Hive and the Civic Hive Climate Fellowship.
There is a very personal story in here and that I will love to tell at the end of the fellowship ie in 4-5 months time… I can’t tell it now because it is still in the writing.
This is another lap with a definite beginning in my climate renaissance journey.
Big thanks to Resource Justice Network for supporting the great work being done in the Budgit climate fellowship.
I look forward to the coming days… fingers crossed.
To Your Continued Development,
Chima Ernest Okoli
— Ravi Thapa, 44, Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal
🇨🇴 Colombia · Clean Energy
“I Went from No Electricity to Running a Solar Business”
María Lucía Castillo grew up in a rural community without reliable electricity. After completing our Solar Entrepreneurship Program, she installed solar panels for her home, trained as a certified technician, and now runs a micro-enterprise that has electrified 28 homes in her village — all powered by the sun, all owned by women.
— María Lucía Castillo, 31, Córdoba, Colombia
From the Field
Photos & Videos Gallery
A glimpse into the communities, forests, and people that make this work possible.
📺 Short Field Reports
The People Behind the Work
Our Leadership Team
Scientists, advocates, farmers, lawyers, and storytellers — united by a shared commitment to a just and sustainable world.
Dr. Amara Osei
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Climate scientist and community organizer with 20 years of field experience across West Africa. PhD in Environmental Science, Oxford University.
Priya Menon
Director of Gender Justice Programs
Feminist economist and former UN Women advisor. Has designed women’s empowerment programs in 22 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Carlos Vega
Head of Policy & Global Advocacy
Environmental lawyer and UNFCCC negotiator who has led landmark climate litigation in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. LLM from Yale Law School.
Yuki Tanaka
Director of Innovation & Technology
Agrotech engineer specializing in climate-smart agriculture and remote sensing. Previously led R&D for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change.
Our Network
Partners & Accreditations
🇺🇳 United Nations
ECOSOC
🌍 African Union
Commission
♀ UN Women
Partner
🌱 CGIAR Research
Network
🎓 60+ University
Partners
Ready to Be Part of This Story?
Whether you volunteer, donate, partner with us, or simply share our work — you are already part of the movement. Join thousands of changemakers building the future the planet needs.