By Rainforest Action Network’s annual supporter and fundraising party Revel has had to adapt with the rest of the world to the circumstances of the Covid era and will be an entirely virtual event this year. And while of course we would all like to see each other’s faces and share campaign stories, music and cocktails in person, the online format allows for some excellent new opportunities we are excited to take advantage of. The biggest change is that this will be the first ever truly Revel Around the World, which both allows RAN supporters from anywhere in the world to attend, and also makes it possible for us to bring you the voices of our international network like never before.
We are honored and delighted this year that our new Executive Director Ginger Cassady will be joined by three other inspiring women speakers who have been leading crucial efforts to protect critical landscapes and threatened communities. Though they are from distant corners of the globe from each other, the stories of these young women leaders share some striking similarities. Each of them are deeply rooted in place, in community, in the natural world and in the fight for justice and human rights.
Each of these strong voices have a movement at their back, but also each as an individual has used her courage and conviction to lift their community up and catalyze real action. Through their tireless efforts, each have become passionate international emissaries bringing the story of their special piece of the planet to the world stage. Each of them have translated their compelling personal history into strategic, hard hitting campaigns utilizing legal action, grassroots organizing and corporate campaign pressure to challenge the enormous threats facing their homelands.
RAN is proud to work with each of these inspirational changemakers and also to support each of their organizations through our Community Action Grants program.
Please join us September 17th to hear from:
Nemonte Nenquimo
Nemonte Nenquimo is an Indigenous Waorani woman committed to defending her ancestral territory, culture, and way of life in the Amazon rainforest. Raised in the traditional community of Nemonpare in the Pastaza region of the Ecuadorian Amazon, Nenquimo co-founded the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization Ceibo Alliance in 2015 to protect Indigenous lands and livelihoods from resource extraction within their territories. In 2018, she was elected the first female president of CONCONAWEP, the Waorani organization of Pastaza province.
Nemonte has traveled from her village to bring her community’s story to influential audiences around the world and has helped garner high profile attention on the threats facing her region of the Amazon. Nemonte led her people in an historic legal victory against the Ecuadorian government, which protected half-a-million acres of primary rainforest in the Amazon and set a precedent for Indigenous rights across the region. Today, Nemonte is fighting for the survival of her people amid the dual threats of COVID-19 and the ongoing ecological crisis in the Amazon.
Farwiza Farhan
Farwiza is the chairperson of Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh Foundation (Yayasan HAkA), a grassroots organisation based in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia that focuses on the conservation, protection and restoration of the Leuser Ecosystem. She mainly works on the policy and advocacy aspects, seeking to increase meaningful access and involvement of local communities in the development of policy pertaining to their environment and livelihood.
Wiza won a 2016 Whitley Award for her work conserving great apes and has helped bring international attention to the importance of the Leuser Ecosystem, including being featured in Leonardo DiCaprio’s viral climate crisis documentary Before the Flood. Farwiza is also mad enough to enroll in a PhD program in the Faculty of Anthropology and Development studies in Radboud University Nijmegen. Her research seeks to shed light on the political economy of natural resource management in Aceh, Indonesia, with particular spotlight on the Leuser Ecosystem, a place very close to her heart.
Tara Houska
Tara is Couchiching First Nation, born and raised in International Falls, Minnesota. She is an attorney, the founder of the Giniw Collective and the former campaign director of Honor the Earth as well as co-founder of Not Your Mascots, a non-profit that educates the public about the harms of stereotyping and promotes positive representation of Native Americans.
Outside Magazine says “Tara Houska has been involved in a dizzying number of efforts.” She is the former adviser on Native American Affairs to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. She was on the frontlines of the Dakota Access Pipeline protest in North Dakota, is on the frontlines in Minnesota against Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline and has played a lead role in convincing major banks to divest from pipeline ventures.
And of course we will be treated to the uplifting music of both Rupa Marya AND Michael Franti! So don’t miss out on this year’s Virtual Revel Around the World: A Global Look at the Connections Between Forests and Climate, September 17th at 5pm PST!
