“If you cannot change the system, change the frigging system… Women, when we have our Money, are more likely to start an impact fund business or something. So, we have really got to get out of our way and just take the risk. “
Tracy Gray at The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025
Innovative financing models are urgently needed to tackle the climate crisis, but significant gaps persist. Research shows that women and people of color deliver stronger returns yet continue to be underrepresented. Meanwhile, the insurance industry must confront the mounting risks of climate disasters.
So how can our financial systems better support women-led and minority-owned businesses, fund climate resilience and provide high return of investments?
Listen to this live recording of a riveting panel at The Earth Day Women’s Summit at Earthx2025, moderated by Kristina Wyatt, Chief Sustainability Officer & Deputy General Counsel, Persefoni.
You’ll hear from
- Enya He, consultant with Munich Re and insurance industry expert, on how the insurance sector is confronting escalating climate risks.
- Shelly Porges, Managing Partner, Beyond the Billion, who shares strategies for women to access capital and build powerful allyships.
- Tracy Gray, Founder & Managing Partner of The 22 Fund, who sheds light on the systemic barriers that women and people of color face in securing venture capital.
- Kristina Wyatt, Chief Sustainability Officer & Deputy General Counsel, Persefoni.
“One strategy that I encourage every woman to consider, is to make men your allies because they control most of the assets. Not all men will be your allies. But if you look at the men in your lives who have been supportive of you or know what you’re capable of, who have seen how hard you’ve worked, who’ve seen your successes, who have seen how much you’ve influenced other people, all of the above, then you can make men your allies.”
Shelly Porges at The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025
You’ll also like:
- Climate Is A Security Emergency – from The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025, with a top climate scientist and geopolitical expert
- Food, Fashion & Ag vs. Climate Change – from The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025, with top scientists and innovators in these fields
- What’s The Role Of Business Today In Addressing The Climate Crisis? – from The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025, with top business leaders
- Rewriting The Climate Conversation – – from The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025, with top communicators, including a Hollywood producer and conservative voice
- Shelly Porges, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Beyond the Billion Dollar Fund, on funding women entrepreneurs
- Kristina Wyatt, Chief Sustainability Officer & Deputy General Counsel, Persefoni, on climate disclosure rules.
- Joan Michelson’s Forbes article from SXSW London: Leapfrog, Transform Capitalism And Embrace Women’s Strengths For Climate-Positive Economy
Read more of Joan’s Forbes articles here.
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Joan Michelson, MBA is a highly accomplished business leader and award-winning strategic social impact and ESG – environment, social, governance – leader, who drove breakthrough results at Chrysler (in EVs), American Express and Deloitte, small businesses, and government agencies. She is an instructor on ESG issues to professionals, leaders and board members across industries. Her specialties include leveraging ESG solutions and partnerships strategically for maximum benefit, helping organizations recruit innovative, diverse women, and helping these women thrive in their careers. She is based in the Washington D.C. area.
Joan is also an accomplished journalist who has worked with top media organizations and hosts and produces the acclaimed Electric Ladies podcast (formerly known as Green Connections Radio), about innovation and leadership in energy-, climate- and sustainability-related issues across industries, featuring women experts.
She writes regularly for Forbes on these issues and has also been in the Harvard Business Review, HuffPost, TheAtlantic.com, Greenbiz, The New Economy magazine (distributed at the World Economic Forum), New Thinking magazine, regional business journals; and various other media. She coproduced segments with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” ABC News, and “The Crusaders,” and television specials on NBC.
Joan has spent her career working in energy-sustainability-climate-ESG issues and in marketing communications, including as head of communications and co-leader of the sales and marketing team of Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), driving “best year ever” growth and significantly accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles. Prior to GEM, she led marketing communications efforts to high-net-worth and high-visibility clients in management consulting-financial services companies Deloitte and American Express. She's a native of NYC and has a BA from UCLA, an MBA from Baruch College at City University of NY, and post-graduate studies at Harvard Business School, The New School and The Aspen Institute, among others. She has a Sustainability and ESG certification from Competent Boards.
