Ten years ago, WELA began with four women: Margaret Blakers, Judy Lambert, Karen Alexander, and Dr. Sue Lewis. Each shared a deep concern for the future and a simple question: what would happen if women across the climate and environment movement were supported to lead together?
There was no grand machinery behind those early conversations. There were cuppas and cake, big questions, hope and conviction that the challenges of climate change and biodiversity could not be won without women’s environmental leadership.
From those first conversations came the seed of an idea grounded in connection and collective strength. A seed that would one day grow into WELA.
This year, at WELA’s 10-year anniversary celebration, we brought our founders back into the lounge room and told the story of those beginnings. Drawing on excerpts from their recorded life histories, now held in the National Library of Australia, we wove their memories together into a heartfelt and inspiring story of the critical moments, events and influences that brought them together, and of the early supporters, funders, volunteers and champions who backed them, opened doors and helped bring WELA to life.
Ropafadzo Moyo, WELA alumni and environmental scientist, also brought us a powerful story of how her childhood love of nature grew into a lifelong call to protect it. She reminded us that stepping forward bravely does not require certainty, only a willingness to show up as we are and make space for others to do the same. Her story grounded the night in lived experience and invited us to consider how we each create the conditions for ourselves, and others, to lead.
Around 150 community members joined us to mark this moment, including many of the people who have been integral to growing WELA over the past decade. Together, we celebrated what this community has made possible and looked toward the decade ahead.
Our founders’ story is a reminder that WELA was built through collective, collaborative leadership and the steady work of backing one another. Gathering alongside this passionate community a decade in the making made one thing unmistakably clear: this is the movement, right here, and we are all part of it.
