Rachel’s Network
Rachel's Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2000 that convenes women environmental funders and advocates, delivering the Catalyst Award and related grantmaking and leadership programs to women of color environmental leaders across the United States.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Rachel’s Network does
Rachel's Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2000 and headquartered in Washington, DC. It operates as a community of women at the intersection of environmental advocacy, philanthropy, and leadership, providing collective learning, funding, and advocacy services to women environmental funders and advocates. The organization runs a portfolio of programs anchored by the Catalyst Award — a multi-year grant and leadership development program launched in 2019 that supports women environmental leaders of color — and the newly launched 2025 Legacy Award for veteran movement leaders. Since 2019, the organization has granted over $2.1 million to 142 women leaders from 42 states, DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
The business model is donation-driven, with revenue generated through individual donations, corporate giving programs, direct appeals, and fiscal sponsorship fees. The Fiscal Sponsorship Fund allows members to launch projects under Rachel's Network's existing 501(c)(3) structure without forming separate legal entities. Additional programmatic revenue flows through the Community Resilience Fund (launched 2020) and the Flow Fund Circle (starting 2026), which shifts grant decision-making to Catalyst Award alumni. The organization celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025 with a record $1M+ raised for the Catalyst Award program.
Rachel's Network is governed by a board of directors (which in 2025 added its first members representing the grantee community) and is led by President Fern Shepard and Catalyst Program Director Shreya Durvasula. The organization operates with 1-10 employees and distributes its programs through direct membership engagement, regional events, and the annual Catalyst Award cycle. It maintains a multi-channel presence including a website, email newsletter, social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook), and earned media in outlets such as Sierra Club, Forbes, and Inside Philanthropy. The organization is not a technology company and has no AI/ML capabilities, software product, or proprietary platform.
Rachel’s Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rachel’s Network
- Legal name
- Rachel's Network
- Website
- https://rachelsnetwork.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Rachel's Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2000 that convenes women environmental funders and advocates, delivering the Catalyst Award and related grantmaking and leadership programs to women of color environmental leaders across the United States.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rachel’s Network industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Environmental Nonprofit Advocacy and Philanthropy
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)
Keywords
Where Rachel’s Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Rachel’s Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Charitable Contributions: Rachel's Network raises funds through individual donations, corporate giving programs, and direct appeals. The organization received a major gift to establish a flow fund circle starting in 2026.
- Catalyst Award Program Donations: The organization raised over $1 million for the Catalyst Award program in 2025, their best year yet, supporting women environmental leaders of color.
- Fiscal Sponsorship: Rachel's Network provides fiscal sponsorship services through their Fiscal Sponsorship Fund, allowing members to develop entrepreneurial programs under their 501(c)(3) nonprofit structure without establishing separate legal entities.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Rachel’s Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rachel's Network is a nonprofit membership community that supports women environmental leaders — particularly women of color — through multi-year grant programs (Catalyst Award, Legacy Award), peer-learning events and retreats, fiscal sponsorship services, and trust-based philanthropy initiatives. It does not sell a product or technology; members and grantees receive financial grants, leadership development, networking, and recognition in service of the organization's environmental stewardship mission.
Product overview
Rachel's Network is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of programs and services focused on elevating women as leaders in environmental advocacy and philanthropy. The core offerings include the Catalyst Award (a multi-year grant and leadership program for women environmental leaders of color), the Legacy Award (honoring longtime movement leaders with restorative retreats), the Fiscal Sponsorship Fund (enabling entrepreneurial programs through their nonprofit structure), and the Flow Fund Circle (enabling Catalyst alumni to make grant decisions). These programs are complemented by community-building events, educational retreats, and the Community Resilience Fund for emergency support. The organization does not offer a software product or technology platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Catalyst Award: A program providing financial and leadership support to women environmental leaders of color with awards, wraparound services, and public recognition.
- Legacy Award
Products and services
- Catalyst Award A multi-year award program providing financial grants ($10,000+), wraparound leadership services, networking, and public recognition to women environmental leaders of color committed to a healthy planet. Designed for mid-career and senior women of color in environmental protection, climate justice, and stewardship.
- Legacy Award An award program honoring women leaders of color with more than 25 years of environmental movement experience, sponsoring participation in restorative retreats (such as the Teranga Experience in Senegal) and community building opportunities.
- Fiscal Sponsorship Fund An initiative empowering Rachel's Network members to develop entrepreneurial programs into independent nonprofits using the organization's established 501(c)(3) structure, without the administrative burden of forming a new legal entity.
- Flow Fund Circle A philanthropic initiative in which a group of ten flow funders (Catalyst Award alumni) distribute $10,000 grants annually to organizations of their choosing, shifting philanthropic decision-making from those with wealth to those with lived experience. The flow fund begins distribution starting in 2026.
- Community Resilience Fund A fund launched in April 2020 that provides small, unrestricted gifts directly to nonprofits and women environmental leaders in Rachel's Network's extended community in response to crises such as COVID-19.
- Rachel's Network Community (Membership) The core membership community of women environmental funders and advocates engaging in collective learning, funding, and advocacy through community-building and educational events, annual meetings, fall funders retreats, and regional gatherings.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over $2.1 million granted to 142 women environmental leaders of color since 2019
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Rachel’s Network
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Rachel’s Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Rachel’s Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- ProInspirecorePartnership with ProInspire and The Chisholm Legacy Project to launch the Fellowship for Liberated Futures, an 18-month fellowship providing rest, respite, and wellbeing for Black women working at the intersection of climate change and racial justice.
- The Chisholm Legacy ProjectcoreCo-developed the Fellowship for Liberated Futures, providing wellness support for Black women climate leaders.
- Kresge FoundationminorRachel's Network collaborates with Kresge Foundation on environmental funding initiatives and shared learning about place-based climate work.
- Dr. P. Qasimah BostonminorFounder of the Teranga Experience, a restorative journey in Senegal designed to give movement leaders time and space to rest, reflect, and reconnect. Dr. Boston is a Catalyst Award recipient.
- League to Save Lake TahoeminorRachel's Network members have collaborated with the League on citizen science programs and conservation efforts at Lake Tahoe.
- American RiversminorRachel's Network has facilitated board placements for members (including Abigail Rome and Kim Milligan) on American Rivers' board. Collaborated on river restoration projects.
- Community ConchminorFiscal sponsorship relationship with Community Conch, a nonprofit working to preserve queen conch populations in the Bahamas through conservation efforts and advocacy.
- Urban Growers CollectiveminorRachel's Network visited Urban Growers Collective in Chicago to learn about non-extractive urban agriculture projects and the Green Era Campus.
- Tompkins ConservationminorRachel's Network provided a grant to support Tompkins Conservation's continued conservation work, including the establishment of national parks in Chile.
- South Florida National Parks TrustminorGrant recipient supporting environmental education programs in South Florida's national parks.
- Catalyst MiamiminorGrant recipient working to build climate resilience in Miami-Dade County's low-income communities.
- Student PIRGsminorGrant recipient enabling Student PIRGs' New Voters Project to reach potential voters digitally during the 2020 election.
- Climate CriticalminorFounded by Catalyst Award Finalist Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, Climate Critical published a report on climate burnout in the environmental sector.
- Equation CampaignminorRachel's Network provided a grant through the Equation Campaign to support frontline communities fighting the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Rachel’s Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- WE ACT for Environmental Justice: A Northern Manhattan-based environmental justice organization focused on health, climate, and community organizing. Comparable as an emerging women/POC-led environmental justice nonprofit intersecting Rachel's Network's Catalyst Award demographic.
Direct peers
- Ms. Foundation for Women: A national women's foundation funding grassroots gender justice organizations, including women of color-led groups. Highly comparable mission alignment on centering women of color in movement-building philanthropy.
- Green 2.0: A nonprofit working to increase racial diversity in environmental leadership. Directly comparable in targeting the leadership pipeline of environmental leaders of color, though advocacy-led rather than grantmaking-led.
- Women's Funding Network: A network of women's foundations and gender justice funders. Most directly comparable as a peer network serving women-focused grantmakers, sharing membership-led advocacy and philanthropic convening models.
- New Venture Fund: A 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor and incubator for mission-aligned projects, comparable in providing fiscal sponsorship services to environmental and justice movements — directly competing with Rachel's Network's Fiscal Sponsorship Fund.
- Indigenous Environmental Network: A Native-led environmental nonprofit supporting indigenous-led climate justice organizing. Highly comparable as an environmental justice advocacy organization whose leaders have been funded by Rachel's Network grants.
Broad incumbents
- Kresge Foundation: A major national philanthropy with a substantial Environment Program funding place-based climate work. A listed partner and a comparable institutional funder in the environmental justice space, though vastly larger and broader.
- Sierra Club Foundation: The 501(c)(3) arm of the Sierra Club, supporting environmental programs including diversity initiatives. Comparable as a large environmental grantmaking nonprofit with overlapping audience on environmental leadership.
- National Wildlife Federation: One of the largest U.S. environmental nonprofits with conservation and advocacy programs. A broad incumbent for the same donor and policy ecosystem, though less focused on women-of-color leadership.
- Earthjustice: A leading public interest environmental law organization. Adjacent incumbent in environmental advocacy that engages many of the same movement leaders and funders Rachel's Network serves.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Rachel’s Network social profiles
Digital presenceRachel’s Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rachel’s Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Rachel’s Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rachel’s Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rachel’s Network
What does Rachel’s Network do?
Rachel's Network is a nonprofit membership community that supports women environmental leaders — particularly women of color — through multi-year grant programs (Catalyst Award, Legacy Award), peer-learning events and retreats, fiscal sponsorship services, and trust-based philanthropy initiatives. It does not sell a product or technology; members and grantees receive financial grants, leadership development, networking, and recognition in service of the organization's environmental stewardship mission.
Is Rachel’s Network a public or private company?
Rachel’s Network is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Rachel’s Network founded?
Rachel’s Network was founded in 2000. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Rachel’s Network based?
Rachel’s Network is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Rachel’s Network make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Donations and Charitable Contributions are the primary driver. The others are catalyst Award Program Donations and fiscal Sponsorship.
Who are Rachel’s Network's main competitors?
WE ACT for Environmental Justice is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Ms. Foundation for Women, Green 2.0, Women's Funding Network, New Venture Fund and Indigenous Environmental Network. Broad incumbents are Kresge Foundation, Sierra Club Foundation, National Wildlife Federation and Earthjustice.
Does Rachel’s Network have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rachel’s Network.
What industry is Rachel’s Network in?
Rachel’s Network's product category is Environmental Nonprofit Advocacy and Philanthropy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAM, Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations. Its NAICS code is 81321 and its SIC code is 8600.