Women's Environmental Leadership Australia - WELA

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Women's Environmental Leadership Australia - WELA

Together, we’re creating a ripple effect of diverse, empowered, and connected voices driving meaningful systemic change.

WELA is a community connecting, influencing, funding, and building the capacity of women and gender-diverse changemakers so that together we transform Australia’s response to our environmental and climate crises. Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) is a community connecting, influencing, funding, and building the capacity of women and gender-diverse changemakers so that together we t

ransform Australia’s response to our environmental and climate crises. We deliver transformative leadership programs, foster strong networks, fund women and gender-diverse-led climate and nature projects through our Giving Circle, and advocate for gender-aware solutions in policy, investment and action. Our vision is a future where diverse leadership drives bold, inclusive and effective climate and environmental solutions—centred on care, collaboration and community.

27/08/2026

What if power was held by the communities working to protect our home?⁠
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The WELA Giving Circle is looking to back the leaders who are building a thriving future from the ground up.⁠
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Our next grant round is officially opening on 4 September 2026. We are awarding four grants of $5,000 to women and gender-diverse-led climate and environmental organisations ready to shake up the status quo.⁠
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Are you leading the charge, or do you know an organisation that is? ⁠
Mark September 4th in your calendar, spread the word, and head to the link below to learn more.

https://givingcircle.wela.org.au/apply

26/08/2026

We were thrilled to support this initiative by Kimberley Land Council.

25/08/2026

You’ve heard their stories on There Will Be Dancing. Now, join the conversation.⁠
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We’re bringing podcast guests Dr. Yolanda Waters and Kelly O’Shanassy to facilitate our Tools for Changemakers workshops and help you navigate the complexities of environmental work. ⁠
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You will learn to:⁠
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🌿 Communicate hard truths (15 Sept)⁠
🤝 Build bridges with unlikely allies (29 Oct)⁠
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Meet our guests, ask questions, and gain practical strategies for your own work.⁠
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🗓 15 Sept & 29 Oct⁠
🕚 12:00–1:30pm AEST⁠
📍 Online via Zoom⁠
🎟 Register via link: https://events.humanitix.com/tools-for-changemakers-communicating-hard-truths

22/08/2026

What is nature to you?

For many neurodivergent people, it's where curiosity is welcomed, senses find their rhythm, and belonging feels less complicated.

Recommended by WELA's Program Coordinator Kasey Harris, 'Neurodivergent, by Nature' by Joe Harkness explores the bond between neurodivergence and the natural world, drawing on his own experience with ADHD and conversations with neurodivergent people across conservation and ecology.

Named a BBC Wildlife Best Book of 2025, it's a must read for anyone interested in inclusion in the environmental space.

Have you read it? Tell us in the comments, or share a book that's shaped how you think about nature and neurodiversity

15/08/2026

What does a season of conversations about leadership, climate and change leave you with?

For us, it’s these five lessons about choosing joy, letting go of perfection, sharing power, changing the stories we tell, and remembering that none of us does this work alone.

These are some of the ideas from Season 1 that we’ll be carrying forward.
What stayed with you? Share with us in the comments.

Listen to all 12 episodes of There Will Be Dancing via the link below.
https://wela.org.au/podcast/

10/08/2026

From witnessing how ego-free leadership and collaborative teamwork can create something truly extraordinary, to the importance of repairing in relationships, swipe through to see what Liz is reading, watching, listening to and doing. Join Liz tomorrow for our free online JEDI Learning Circle as she explores how q***r ways of knowing, relating and imagining can help build more nourishing environmental movements. Register your attendance at the link below!

https://events.humanitix.com/jedi-learning-circle-q***rness-ecology-and-belonging-eubsdvf9

07/08/2026

That's a wrap on Season 1 of There Will Be Dancing.

Across 12 episodes, we explored what leadership looks like when it is shaped by women and gender-diverse changemakers. We shared stories of courage, care, creativity and collective action from leaders across generations, communities and movements.

To our hosts Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, Odette Barry and Sanaya Khisty, our incredible guests, and every person who has listened, shared and danced along with us, thank you.

We’re so grateful to the thousands of people around the world who have tuned in and helped bring this podcast to life.

All episodes are still available wherever you get your podcasts.

Have you had a listen yet? Which conversation stayed with you?

06/08/2026

One of the most meaningful parts of a WELA program isn't just the experience itself, but the community that continues long after it ends.

Last month, alumni from our 2025 South East Queensland Intensive gathered together in Byron Bay for a day of snorkelling, cups of coffee and tea, and whale watching until the sun went down.

The outing was organised by Olivia Katz, intensive participant and photographer. She shared with us that "Cultivating and deepening in a collaborative community is high on my list of priorities right now."

Moments like these are what make the WELA community so special - people who continue to show up for one another, share experiences and create space to reconnect.

Is there someone in the WELA community you'd like to reconnect with? Tag them below.

31/07/2026

Looking for inspiration to sustain you in your work?

As we settle into our 'wintering' period, we've been reflecting on the practices, people and perspectives that help us sustain change for the long haul.

From the first season of our podcast, There Will Be Dancing: Kelly O'Shanassy on the power of joy in activism. Kathryn Nelson on moving from burnout to grounded change. Sarah Eccles on finding strength through Country. If you're looking for something to nourish you, these episodes are a good place to start.

Connection is also a source of sustenance, for people and movements. Join our next JEDI Learning Circle with Liz Duck-Chong and WELA's Kara Virik, exploring what q***rness, ecology and belonging can teach us about caring for one another.

We've also been sitting with Dr Renée Lertzman's substack article, 'Creating the Conditions for Facing Hard Stuff', on staying open, grounded and connected when things feel hard.

What's keeping you going right now? A podcast, an article, an event, a song, anything. Tell us in the comments!

29/07/2026

"Grief doesn’t fit into forms. Healing isn’t linear."⁠
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Following the devastating Northern Rivers floods in 2022, Dr. Carlie Atkinson, a Bundjalung and Yiman woman and culturally informed healing expert, realised true recovery comes from remembering, not clinical protocols. Her work establishing the Northern Rivers Community Healing Hub demonstrates that relational care moves beyond transactional support to rebuild the fabric of community.⁠
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Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts or at the link below.⁠
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When you need to reconnect with your community after a difficult time, what is one practice that helps you feel grounded again?

https://wela.org.au/podcast/

Address

210 Lonsdale Street

3000

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	12:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Website

http://www.wela.org.au/

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