WEN’S NEW STRATEGY 2025-2029
A message from Wen’s Co-Directors, Kate Metcalf and Zarina Ahmad
At Wen, we envision a world where women* communities and the planet flourish because our society is equitable, collaborative and caring.
As Co-Directors of Wen, we have worked with the fearless organisers and activists that make up our team, as well as the women and communities we work with, to co-create our vision and our new strategy for achieving it.
It has been a truly participatory process, guided by an internal working group and involving the input of all staff members. We held workshops over the course of a year to map our strengths and opportunities and clarify our mission, purpose and values.
A powerful force for change, for intersectional gender, racial and environmental justice
Our renewed theory of change will get us closer to turning our vision into a reality. It sets out our methods for creating change which include cultivating alternatives to the current oppressive systems, growing power and collaborating for systemic change to end the exploitation of women and the natural world.
And, as a feminist organisation, we are proud to be guided by our values of equity, collaboration, care and intersectional eco-feminism.
Our six priorities, which form the basis of our strategy, are to:
- Put gender and intersectional equity at the heart of the green economy
- Inform and enable access to safe, healthy, toxic-free and sustainable ways of living
- Improve women’s lives through a deeper connection to nature and health
- Nurture new leaders and amplify women’s, racialised and marginalised voices for environmental justice
- Build movements for sustainable, women-led and community-led systems, with a focus on a just food system
- Grow a healthy, values-led, participatory organisation
A transformational period for Wen
The strategy marks the start of a transformational period for Wen. We will continue to create blueprints and alternatives through our community-based, grassroots projects, empowering and amplifying racialised and marginalised women’s voices. While simultaneously boosting our national campaigns and influence, and applying what we know works through expanded projects.
We will achieve this by diversifying our funding and continuing to invest in our internal operations and culture, to build a healthy, sustainable organisation that supports our people to grow and meet their full potential.
Our 2025-2030 strategy is already becoming a reality with an improved HR process, an expanded engagement and communications team and further recruitment underway to build expertise as well as the diversity of our team.
The last few years have been politically and economically turbulent and we are living through fast changing times. While delivering on our priorities we will remain flexible and shift our focus to the most pressing issues for women and climate justice.
Building on Wen’s radical history and responding to today’s challenges
Over the last three decades our organisation has set the agenda as the first to bring a gender-sensitive and intersectional approach to the environmental movement, recognising that women’s voices and perspectives were not being considered and were often overlooked.
Our groundbreaking campaigns have reduced the use of chlorine bleaching in nappies and period products, successfully introduced toxic shock syndrome warnings to tampon packaging and put breast cancer prevention on the map, linking it to environmental and occupational chemical exposures.
With toxic chemicals and metals in period products, baby products and household cleaning supplies and confusion around the environmental, chemical, health and safety and product legislation following Brexit, our campaigning work is needed now more than ever.
It is challenging to accept the full extent of the climate chaos that is already happening and the impact on women, in particular racialised and marginalised women, and communities.
But there are many reasons to be hopeful too, especially about the growth in activism, particularly among younger generations, and lawsuits being brought against climate criminals gathering pace.
The current threats to our world require a deeply intersectional response, with a bottom-up movement driving change. That is why Wen’s unique approach is more needed now than ever.
Read more about the strategy and theory of change explainer.
*A note about inclusive language
We have used the word ‘women’ throughout our strategy, but Wen views issues from a gender and intersectional perspective and is inclusive of gender non-binary, trans and gender non-conforming people.