Our work

Ten programme areas, four strategic goals

USAW's founding focus on environmental education has been deliberately expanded into a ten-pillar portfolio, positioning USAW as an internationally competitive sustainability actor rather than a single-issue awareness campaign.

Strategic goal 1

Increase Sustainability Education

  • Environmental Justice & Youth Engagement

    Bringing young people, and the communities carrying the heaviest environmental burden, into sustainability leadership from age 15 upward.

    In design

  • Research, Policy & Advocacy

    Independent research that generates the evidence base for USAW's own programming and for the policy positions it advances.

    In design

Strategic goal 2

Empower Women Economically

  • Circular Economy

    Turning waste streams into women-owned enterprises - recycling, green manufacturing and waste-to-value businesses.

    In design

  • Green Enterprise & Green Jobs

    Growing women-led green businesses through skills training, access to finance, entrepreneurship incubation and routes into cross-border trade.

    In design

  • Sustainable Agriculture & Food Security

    Climate-smart agriculture, seed banking, urban gardening and nature-based solutions that hold food systems together as the climate shifts.

    In design

  • Renewable Energy & Energy Access

    Solar entrepreneurship, clean cooking and energy access - treating the last mile of the energy transition as a business women own rather than a service they receive.

    In design

Strategic goal 3

Promote Community Engagement

  • Climate Action & Resilience

    Community-level climate adaptation, resilience planning and access to climate finance, designed and led by the women who carry the burden of climate shocks.

    In design

  • Water & Ocean Stewardship

    Water security, reclamation and stormwater capture on land; marine conservation, ocean plastics and coastal livelihoods at the shoreline.

    In design

Strategic goal 4

Strengthen Advocacy and Leadership

  • Women's Leadership & Governance

    A Leadership Academy, mentorship and advocacy training that put women into the environmental policy and governance forums where decisions are actually made.

    In design