Women4Climate Toronto Mentorship Program Announces Winners Of Their Pitch Competition

Women make up more than half of the world population and their voices are crucial to the future of climate change.

The City of Toronto announces the winner of the City’s second Women4ClimateTO Pitch Competition, which took place following the competition of its 2022 Women4Climate Toronto Mentorship Program. Toronto is one of the three cities in Canada and 19 cities globally participating in C40 Cities Women4climate Mentorship Program, which aims to support women across the globe in accelerating their climate projects.

C40 aims to empower and inspire the next generation of climate leaders through a global mentorship program dedicated to women in C40 cities; influence the conversation through leadership events, create new momentum and interest among future leaders; and raise awareness through research on gender, cities, and climate to highlight the key role women play in championing climate action in cities. 

The Women4Climate Toronto Mentorship Program matches committed leaders from the business sector, international organizations, and community organizations with emerging women leaders. This program aims to support 12 emerging women leaders to become more expert influencers while mobilizing others in their efforts to accelerate climate action. 

Nine participants from the program pitched their climate-related initiatives to a panel of judges for a chance to win the first-place prize of $20,000 and two secondary prizes of $5,000 each for the runner-ups to help advance their projects. 

“Women4ClimateTO proves the power of women supporting women; we can make the impossible possible. As this year’s program draws to an end, I am confident that the participants are better positioned to make a meaningful contribution to efforts to address the climate emergency. I am grateful to the investment by the mentors and our supporters. Congratulations to the pitch competition winners!” Heather Taylor, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, City of Toronto. 

Women4ClimateTO pitch competition winners:

• First place: Zamani Ra – Through Circular Environmental EDucation (C.E.E.D.) Canada Workshops, Zamani develops and delivers a culturally-relevant curriculum to engage social housing residents in climate action.
• Runner-up: Carolyn Moss, Simona Sund, Adekemi Oke – Homes to Zero is an online platform to help homeowners navigate the process of making a home net-zero and facilitate the mass-scale rollout of deep energy retrofits.
• Runner-up: Deborah King – Global Measure is a program to measure and certify sustainable and ethical fashion brands.

Women make up more than half of the world’s population, which means they are critical in solving the global climate crisis. Women leaders were crucial in negotiating the Paris Agreement and continue to drive ambitious climate action in cities, businesses, and N.G.O.s worldwide.