Rise to Thrive

What Rise to Thrive does

Rise to Thrive is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization founded in 2018 that serves as a movement-building hub for Women and Non-binary Femmes of Color within the U.S. climate and environmental justice movement. The organization operates through a portfolio of interconnected programs: the Femmes Against Fossil Fuels Campaign, state-based clean energy advocacy tables, federal climate agenda advocacy (including calls for a federal climate emergency declaration and a crude oil export ban), convenings and retreats, a Mutual Aid Fund, a Professional Development Fund, and the annual Resilience in Climate Equity (RICE) Award recognizing women of color climate leaders. It was founded by women of color who had experienced a 12% pay disparity at a conservation employer, and its theory of change centers on redistributing political, social, and tangible capital to a constituency that receives less than 3% of philanthropy and has historically been excluded from mainstream environmental leadership.

Beyond its community and advocacy work, Rise to Thrive runs a fee-for-service consulting practice staffed by Executive Director Jameka Hodnett and Vice President of Government Affairs Natalie Mebane. Consulting engagements span strategic planning (including the ABCD process), grant writing and grassroots fundraising, lobbying and advocacy, environmental campaign development, Inflation Reduction Act and Justice40 advisory support, facilitation, and program evaluation. Revenue is generated through individual donations and foundation grants to sustain the community and advocacy programs, supplemented by consulting fees; specific pricing and client composition are not publicly disclosed.

The organization operates with a small staff of approximately five employees and is led by a leadership team with deep prior experience at major climate and civic institutions including Sierra Club, 350.org, ACLU, Greenpeace USA, the League of Conservation Voters, and DC Solar United Neighborhoods. Geographic reach is national, with active organizing footprints referenced across the Southeast, West Coast, and Midwest U.S. regions, and the organization is governed by a board that includes co-founders Chris Novaton, Ashley Robinson, and Neha Mathew-Shah, plus Treasurer Tené Lewis and member Leah Clyburn. Rise to Thrive has no proprietary technology platform and delivers its work through community organizing, digital communications (website, Twitter/X, Instagram, email newsletter), coalition building, and consulting engagements.

Name

Rise to Thrive

Legal name

Rise to Thrive

Website

https://risingtothrive.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rise to Thrive is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit founded in 2018 that empowers Women and Non-binary Femmes of Color in the U.S. climate movement through movement building, advocacy campaigns, mutual aid, and fee-for-service consulting for nonprofits and companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Justice Advocacy and Movement Building

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (81331), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB), Environmental Education & Outreach (BPAGAGAH)

Keywords

• Climate justice advocacy
• Community movement building
• Environmental equity consulting
• Nonprofit coalition organizing
• Civic engagement campaigns

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Rise to Thrive offers fee-for-service consulting through its staff experts (Natalie Mebane and Jameka Hodnett), providing strategic planning, fundraising, lobbying and advocacy, campaign development, Inflation Reduction Act support, and program evaluation services to nonprofits, organizations, and companies. Natalie Mebane has helped raise over $1 million for organizations from foundations and grassroots fundraising, indicating a track record of development activity.
2. Individual Donations and Grants: As a nonprofit organization, Rise to Thrive raises funds through individual donations and grant funding from foundations aligned with climate justice and racial equity. The organization's founding story references disparities in how the work of women of color is funded across philanthropy (less than 3%), suggesting the organization actively seeks grant funding to sustain operations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rise to Thrive is a nonprofit movement-building organization that empowers Women and Non-binary Femmes of Color within the U.S. climate and environmental justice movement through community programming, national/state/local campaigns, direct financial support, and fee-for-service consulting. Its portfolio includes the Femmes Against Fossil Fuels Campaign, State-Based Clean Energy Tables, the Mutual Aid Fund, the Professional Development Fund, the RICE Award, and consulting engagements spanning strategic planning, fundraising, lobbying, campaign development, IRA/Justice40 support, facilitation, and program evaluation.

Product overview

Rise to Thrive is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs, consulting services, campaigns, and awards focused on empowering women and femmes of color in the climate justice movement. Its core offerings include: the Femmes Against Fossil Fuels Campaign and State-Based Clean Energy Tables for advocacy; consulting services spanning strategic planning, fundraising, lobbying, and campaign development; programs including Movement Building, Mutual Aid Fund, Professional Development Fund, and Leadership Award; and the RICE Award (Resilience in Climate Equity Award) recognizing women of color leaders. The organization operates at national, state, and local levels through convenings, retreats, and coalition building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Planning Consulting

Quantifiable outcome

• 181 million tons of CO2 equivalent savings annually through crude oil export ban advocacy
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Center for Popular Democracy: CPD supports state and local affiliate networks advancing racial, economic, and climate justice. Comparable as a multi-issue movement-building intermediary, though with broader issue scope than Rise to Thrive's climate/women-of-color focus.
• Climate Hawks Vote: Climate Hawks Vote mobilizes voters and progressive constituencies around climate action. Overlaps with Rise to Thrive in climate advocacy and constituency mobilization, though focused on electoral rather than movement-building outcomes.

Direct peers

• Groundswell Fund: Groundswell Fund resourced and accelerates the leadership of women of color, Indigenous, and low-income communities in movement-building, including climate justice. Directly comparable grantmaker/funder-aligned intermediary serving overlapping constituencies.
• Indigenous Environmental Network: IEN is a national network of Indigenous peoples advocating for environmental justice and against fossil fuel infrastructure. Comparable as a movement-building, constituency-led climate advocacy organization, though focused on Indigenous rather than women/femmes of color leadership.
• WE ACT for Environmental Justice: WE ACT for Environmental Justice organizes communities of color in northern Manhattan around environmental and climate justice, with policy advocacy and member leadership pipelines. Highly comparable as a women/POC-led EJ advocacy nonprofit with a community-building model paralleling Rise to Thrive.
• Movement Generation: Movement Generation organizes for ecological justice through base-building, strategy, and training led by people of color. Comparable in movement-building, climate justice framing, and constituency focus on historically excluded communities.

Broad incumbents

• Sierra Club: Sierra Club is a long-established national environmental organization that runs climate, conservation, and fossil-fuel phase-out campaigns. Several Rise to Thrive founders and board members previously worked at Sierra Club, indicating direct overlap in mission and constituency.
• 350.org: 350.org mobilizes grassroots action against fossil fuels and for climate solutions globally; Rise to Thrive's Executive Director previously led organizing there. Comparable in movement-building and fossil-fuel opposition, but with global vs. US/national women-of-color focus.
• League of Conservation Voters: LCV runs electoral, lobbying, and policy advocacy for climate and conservation; Rise to Thrive's Executive Director previously held a Deputy Director role there. Comparable policy/lobbying function though LCV is far larger and not constituency-specific.
• NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program: NAACP operates an Environmental and Climate Justice Program that pursues racial-equity-centered climate advocacy and policy reform at national scale. It is a broader incumbent serving overlapping constituencies and policy goals as Rise to Thrive, but at far greater scale and with a wider portfolio.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rise-to-thrive

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rise to Thrive