Bringing vastly different cultures and experiences to the fore, this exchange will explore the central role women play in protecting nature’s biological diversity, combatting climate change, and spearheading a growing global environmental movement.

Touching on the strength of vulnerability, the power of community support, and their own individual experiences and challenges as women and mothers, Alison, Nemonte and Silvana will connect to share a vision for the future.

This event is in partnership with Synchronicity Earth, Amazon Frontlines, Flourishing Diversity and She Changes Climate.

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Speakers:

Nemonte Nenquimo is an Indigenous Waorani leader committed to defending her ancestral territory and her people’s survival 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 2014 to protect Indigenous lands and livelihoods from resource extraction alongside its sister organization, Amazon Frontlines. In 2018, she was elected the first female president of OWAP, the Waorani organization of Pastaza province. Nemonte led her people to a historic legal victory against the Ecuadorian government, which protected half-a-million acres of primary rainforest in the Amazon from oil drilling and set a precedent for Indigenous rights across the region. Nemonte is winner of the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize for Central and South America and the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth Award. She was also named to the BBC’s 100 Women of 2020 and TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

Silvana Nihua is a Waorani leader from the community of Kiwaro, deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon. She is a mother and the current president of the Waorani Organization of Pastaza. Since childhood, Silvana has been an activist, advocating for the protection of the Waorani people’s territory and way of life. As the head of an organization representing dozens of Waorani communities, Silvana is working closely with Nemonte to spearhead novel initiatives to protect the Waorani’s rainforest territory, uplift women’s leadership across the region and to create a new model for intercultural education for Indigenous youth– the future caretakers of the forest.

Alison Sudol is an artist who leans into vulnerability, weaving her love of nature into sensitive works of love, loss, trauma and joy. She has built an impressive career in music, film and television, releasing seven albums/EPs, appearing in the groundbreaking series Transparent, and starring in all three instalments of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World prequel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  From her early days under the moniker A Fine Frenzy, to the release of her fourth full length album in the fall of 2022, Still Come the Night, under her own name, she has always sought to create an intimate and nurturing space for her listeners. Deeply devoted to protecting our planet, Sudol has spent over a decade focusing on conservation work and helping to amplify the work of organizations big and small fighting the degradation of the natural world. Since becoming a mother, her relationship towards these causes has become more urgent than ever.  Sudol serves as Ambassador for the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN) and Synchronicity Earth. She has spoken out publicly about her struggles with mental health, sexual abuse and miscarriage, and is dedicated to holding safe space for women and girls to navigate their own complex journeys.

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Life Stories: Nemonte & Silvana Nihua in conversation with Alison Sudol