Explainer: How Does Wild Elements Make an Impact?

By Wild Elements, Fact checked by Jessica Ochoa

6 min read

Transparency: Great in diamonds, even better when it comes to organizations. So if you’re reading our content and wondering, “What is Wild Elements Impact and what do they actually do?” congrats. This is your post.

WHAT IS WILD ELEMENTS IMPACT?

Wild Elements Impact exists to help restore the balance between people, plants, animals, and the whole of the natural world. Because all ecosystems are connected—and because science has proven that when people connect with nature, they’re healthier and happier—Wild Elements Impact works to build a future where we all thrive.

Wild Elements Impact

2021 Impact Statistics

HOW DOES WILD ELEMENTS IMPACT WORK?

Wild Elements Impact is devoted to shifting power and resources back to the women and communities who are directly affected by the imbalance between humanity and nature, and who are most often doing the lion’s share of work. Even so, women, local residents, and indigenous communities are often overlooked by conservation funding, despite having the greatest stake in the work at hand. Basically, Wild Elements Impact exists to shift power and resources to the people leading the work.

WAIT, REWIND. YOU MEAN WOMEN DON’T GET THE SAME AMOUNT OF ENVIRONMENTAL NON-PROFIT FUNDING AS MEN?

Lollllllllll yeah not even close. Only .2% of philanthropic dollars go to women-led environmental action.1 That means for every $10,000 of global grantmaking, just $2 is given to female environmental and conservation leaders.

HOW MUCH MONEY DOES WILD ELEMENTS IMPACT FUND GIVE TO WOMEN LEADERS?

In 2021, the Wild Elements Impact Fund donated and directed $1.5 million to the frontlines of conservation and sustainability through 26 organizations and 18 female leaders. The Wild Elements Impact Fund is a sponsored program of the Social Impact Fund.

HOW DOES SUPPORTING WOMEN HELP PROTECT ANIMALS?

Our animal work is focused on ensuring that animals and humans live in harmony with nature. It’s about educating people to love and respect the biodiversity around them, because humans can’t thrive without it! 
• In Mozambique, we’re helping to build a new generation of women conservationists by supporting Wild Innovator Dominique Gonçalves’ work building the Gorongosa National Park’s Girls Clubs. 
• In Colombia, Wild Innovator Rosamira Guillen and her organization Proyecto Titi connected with over 1,500 students to teach them about cotton- top tamarins, and why they should be in the wild, instead of kept as pets.

• Across the world—and through our incredible partners and grantees—we have helped protect 92 fragile animal species, including elephants, lions, and Grevy’s zebras. (These little guys.)

HOW DOES WILD ELEMENTS IMPACT HELP PLANTS?

Wild Elements Impact supports and promotes sustainable cultivation, which protects and renews natural resources. Our work includes investing in regenerative agriculture to help increase healthy soil, protecting natural plants and fungi, innovating ways we use and restore water supply, and sharing the benefits of regenerative agriculture with the world.

So far, in collaboration with our partners at the Rodale Institute, Women’s Earth Alliance, Proyecto Titi, and Grevy’s Zebra Trust, and through the Wild Elements Impact Fund, we have helped to restore 8,464 acres of farmland, 685 acres of forest, and 1,482 acres of rangelands. A total of 10,631 acres of total natural land. (That’s 16 square miles, or 8,000 football fields. Really.)

HOW DOES WILD ELEMENTS IMPACT HELP FEED PEOPLE?

According to the USDA, over 13.5 million Americans can’t access fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.2 Through some incredible partnerships, Wild Elements Impact is expanding free and low-cost access to healthy and nutritious food. Here’s how:
• In 2021, Urban Growers Collective distributed 5711 fresh produce boxes in 2021 and served 36,000 people via mobile farmers markets, produce boxes, and food bank meals.
• In 2021, Farm Urban provided 16,200 people with fresh living greens through their hydroponic farming program.
• Farm Urban also yields 7,500 pounds of fresh, organic produce per year which is distributed for free to local community members and food banks.

WE Impact Map

Countries Impacted in 2021

HOW DOES WILD ELEMENTS IMPACT HELP PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE WITH NATURE AND LEARN MORE ABOUT IT?

Partly through the Wild Elements website, IG, TikTok, and newsletter… which you’re already following, right? ;) 

Wild Elements Impact also works with Wild Advocates, a group of familiar faces who take their online followings and use them to amplify conservation efforts and opportunities for individual activism. They include Jamie Chung, AnnaSophia Robb, Candice Patton, Elizabeth Gillies, and more. 

HOW CAN I HELP WILD ELEMENTS IMPACT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Thanks for asking! Just by being interested in the natural world, you’re taking the first steps toward protecting it. Here are some other ways you can get involved:

VOTING

National, regional, and local elections have a huge impact on the planet. Whether it’s through Congressional legislation about carbon emissions or your local school board’s willingness to embrace vegetarian cafeteria lunches, the decisions made by lawmakers today will impact our entire planet tomorrow. Get informed, and vote for the people who share your environmental values. 

CHOOSING

From the food you buy at supermarkets to the clothes you shop online, you can support ethical and regenerative companies and creators at every level of your life. It’s cool to be curious, so don’t be afraid to ask questions at farmer’s markets, boutiques, restaurants, and on social media about how your favorite things get made, and how you’re meant to take care of them so they last! (Except ice cream, which should be gobbled immediately.)

GIVING

Do you know if everyone in America gave $1 to their favorite charity, over $329 million would end up donated? That’s why when it comes to supporting causes you care about, no amount is too small to start doing good. It also doesn’t have to be complicated—a little bit of Google searching, and you can find local, national, and global foundations working to better the planet and all of its life. Here are some of our favorite organizations that we support to get you started on your own giving journey: Daughters for Earth, Fungi Foundation, Rodale Institute, and Urban Growers Collective.

SHARING

Do you love Ewaso Lions (and lions in general)? Are you in awe of the Urban Growers Collective? Interested in learning more about Rodale Institute’s mission to make our soil healthier? Tell your friends about your favorite organizations the same way you’d tell them about your favorite binge-watch shows. Show your support on social media. Get a tattoo with their logo. (No, okay, don’t do that. A laptop sticker could be cool though.)

LEARNING

Taking small steps can make a big difference for personal and planetary wellness. We’re making it easy with a newsletter that breaks down ways to save energy, explore nature, treat your body better, and take advantage of the many ways to plug back into nature. Sign up here. 

1NCRP

2USDA