“As a former staff member and long-time supporter, I look back at EarthRights’ work in 2023 with the excitement of an activist hungry for bold action and long-lasting change, and the pride of a new Executive Director who has had the great privilege of leading this organization since March 2024.
This report provides a snapshot of what we have achieved alongside our partners and clients in a year of significant leadership transition. In 2023, our co-founder and first Executive Director, Ka Hsaw Wa, stepped down after 28 years of dedicated leadership.
Through storytelling about our 2023 progress, we also hope to convey that as an organization, EarthRights is deeply committed to upholding the voices of human rights and environmental defenders, intent on challenging powerful institutions and corporations that violate these fundamental rights, honored to train so many in the next generation of activists, educators, and litigators, and proud to work alongside frontline and Indigenous communities as they confront these challenges head-on with our full EarthRights support and solidarity.”
We have advanced our efforts alongside frontline community leaders and Indigenous groups to defend against corporate suppression attempts and the criminalization of lawful protest actions to protect rights and the environment.
We have navigated complex and often repressive political environments to continue to hold space needed to build and sustain people’s power, bring people together in shared learning and collaboration through our school and training programs, and make progress in demanding change in companies and institutions.
We have also expanded our range of strategies and tools to advance climate justice and community resilience, especially among our partner communities in the U.S., and our interventions are bearing fruit.
“Thank you for joining us on this journey, and we hope you are motivated and moved by the storytelling moments from the past year we have chosen to highlight in this report.”
Please download or view the full Annual Report pdf here, or browse through the headings below. Thank you!
We are a team of community leaders, campaigners, educators, and legal strategists who challenge powerful corporations, governments, and financial institutions that violate peoples’ rights and destroy our planet for profit.
We rise in defense of communities and the planet, using the power of law and the power of people in pursuit of justice.
Aaron Eske (Co-Chair)
Fernanda Hopenhaym (Treasurer)
Laura Levine
Sarah Jaffe
Neil Popović
Graciela M. Mercedes (Meche)
Lu Amol Mehra
Dan Gerard
Solinn Lim
Rachel Gore-Freed (joined in 2024)
Our Impact
EARTHRIGHTS SUPPORTED 83 FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES IN 2023
31 Mekong, 26 Amazon, 9 United States, 17 Democratic Republic of the Congo
Campaigns: Preventing and exposing human rights abuses connected to the exploitation of our natural resources.
Nearly all of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation’s ancestral land on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Isle de Jean Charles, is under water. The effects of climate change and the oil and gas industry have made survival on Isle de Jean Charles more difficult, forcing the Tribe to make the difficult decision to relocate. A poorly managed resettlement plan by the Louisiana government has disenfranchised Tribal members and undermined community-led reunification and relocation efforts.
EarthRights joins the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation in urging the U.S. government to investigate the State of Louisiana’s management of the resettlement program. We are advocating for a remedy that both protects Indigenous land and rights from the effects of climate change and extractive industries, and ensures full community consultation and consent.
“Forty-eight million dollars, 512 acres, and they built 32 homes with mediocre construction? This has been a failure. We put our hopes in the resettlement as a way to reunify our Tribe in a safe new home where we can pass on our culture. Instead, they disrespected us, violated our sovereign rights, and made it harder to steward our ancestral lands. The Louisiana Office of Community Development and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have to make it right for our Tribal community to be whole, as originally planned.”
– Démé (Jr.) Naquin, Chief of Jean Charles Choctaw Nation.
EARTHRIGHTS ADVANCED 35 LEGAL CASES IN 2023
2 Mekong, 14 Amazon, 19 United States
Litigation and Legal Advocacy: Seeking justice for frontline communities in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the United States to ensure their voices are heard and their rights are respected.
EarthRights supports the U’wa Nation Indigenous People in Colombia in their quest for justice and reparations after decades of territorial dispossession and violence. Over the past three decades, the Colombian State has promoted and allowed gas, oil, mining, infrastructure, and tourism activities in their territory without their consent, violating their territorial and cultural rights.
The imposition of these extractive projects and the militarization of the territory have increased their vulnerability and put them at risk of physical and cultural extinction.
In a historic 2023 hearing, the U’wa Nation had the opportunity to present its arguments and requests to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). This marks the first time the IACtHR agreed to hear a case that involves the rights and self-determination of Indigenous peoples in Colombia.
“The threat we currently face for our rivers and waters is the contamination from the crude oil spill. We are protecting life, taking care, maintaining, and extending human life. So that white men can understand that we can choose another way of life, seeking means that don’t harm nature or Mother Earth.”
– Daris Maria Cristancho, U’wa Nation Indigenous leader.
@earthrightsintl Para nosotros el territorio y los recursos naturales son sagrados y debemos protegerlos. Únete a los U'wa por la defensa del medio ambiente, la vida y la Madre Tierra. #DefiendeALaNacionUwa
♬ original sound – EarthRights International
@earthrightsintl Defend the U'wa Nation! #Colombia #Indígenas #comunidadesindígenas #medioambiente #recursosnaturales #cultura #ancestral #lenguasindígenas #lenguas nativas
♬ original sound – EarthRights International
@earthrightsintl ¡Se acabó la espera ! Tras 25 años de lucha continua los U'wa serán escuchados este 25 y 26 de abril ante la Corte IDH #DefiendeALaNacionUwa #SierraNevada #Colombia #Indígenas #medioambiente #Naturaleza ♬ original sound – EarthRights International
EARTHRIGHTS TRAINED 389 INDIVIDUALS IN 2023
343 Mekong School, 22 Seminario in the Amazon, 24 Congo River School
Global Education: Training and convening frontline activists, lawyers, campaigners, and civil society leaders to defend human rights and the environment.
We partnered with African Resources Watch (AfreWatch) to establish the Congo River School, where we provide skills and knowledge-building opportunities for the next generation of environmental defenders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In 2023, we began the three-part training program with our first cohort composed of 24 Congolese leaders and activists, focusing on documentation of environmental abuses, and developing advocacy action plans.
“With our action plan and the support we will receive from Afrewatch and EarthRights International, we will try to advocate for the community’s cause and eventually bring about changes with the decision- makers and the companies that exploit our natural resources.”
– Alphonse Khonde Lelo, student, Congo River School.
EARTHRIGHTS ADVOCATED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS ACROSS THE GLOBE IN 2023
Environmental Defenders: Working with environmental defenders to protect their rights, resources, and livelihoods.
Supporting and protecting defenders around the world is essential to our work, particularly as attacks against defenders are on the rise, such as in the Mekong region.
As an Indigenous youth from Kaboedin Village in northern Thailand, Duang Kaew has fought to protect her home and community from a mega coal mine that pollutes the air and water, clogs roadways, and destroys local agriculture and livelihoods.
After taking EarthRights courses on campaigning and advocacy, Duang Kaew flourished as a leader and organizer in her community. She educated her peers about possible harms associated with the mine and led her community to collect and analyze data for a community health impact assessment.
In a victory for Duang Kaew and her community, the local court announced in 2023 that operations at the coal plant would halt. EarthRights was proud to support the community in its advocacy.
“As we work towards a more equitable society, we must support youth-led movements in holding businesses responsible for respecting human rights.”
– Duang Kaew, environmental defender, Thailand.
Our Supporters
EARTHRIGHTS RECEIVED GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM OVER 750 DONORS AND FUNDERS IN 2023
Giving to EarthRights: Joining the fight to achieve climate justice, protect defenders, and demand corporate accountability.
Like many of EarthRights’ supporters, Kate Tillery Maruca is committed to social justice and human rights. In 2005,
she volunteered to teach at our Burma School and Mekong School in Thailand.
She found herself heart-to-heart with students of various ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds who had come together to learn how to fight for their human and environmental rights. This experience helped her realize the impact of our global education program.
Kate continued to follow EarthRights’ work in the United States, noting our efforts to promote social justice and personally getting to know the team. In addition to making an annual donation, she has included EarthRights in her estate plan.
“I trust EarthRights to wisely use my donations to make the world a more just and sustainable planet. From their track record in the courts and impactful campaigns, I am thrilled with the return on my investment. I invite you to join me!” -Kate Tillery Maruca (aka Teacher Kate), individual donor.
DONORS
$10,000 +
Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation
Dunn Family Charitable Foundation
Dan Gerard
Polly Howells
Mayer and Morris
Kaplan Family Foundation
Roger and Margot Milliken
SWF Immersion Foundation
$2,500-$9,999
Joy and Paul Adams
Arpels Family
Arthur and Elaine Aron
Chino Cienega Foundation
Kevin Dargie
Elizabeth Davidson
The Edouard Foundation
Lucille Glassman
Mark Houghton
Kelly and Robert Kaplan
Sheila Leete
Kate Maruca
Shobhan Porter
Eleanore Richards
Karen Robinson-Cloete and Johannes Cloete
The Rosewater Fund
$1,000-$2,499 (Cont.)
Anthony and Virginia Barron
Paul Beach
Scott Beardsley and Liz Eber
Laura Borst
Stan and Kim Corfman
Kevin Curry
Elizabeth Ebel-Nuwayser and Peter Nuwayser
Linnea Enz Chu
Aaron Eske
Peter Ewell and Helga Recke
Lauren Feldman and Alban Pyanet
Tracy Forgie Koppel
Scott Gilkeson and Kristin Staroba
Catherine Greene and Eric Herrmann
$1,000-$2,499 (Cont.)
Sonya Guidry
Donald Hess
Michael Hirschhorn and Jimena Martinez
Joseph Jackson and Joann Leskovar
Mary and Richard Jaffe
Nasreen Jordan
Deborah Katzman
Robert Lang
Christopher Lewis
$1,000-$2,499 (Cont).
Anne Manuel and Bill Mascioli
Nicholas Miller
Shalini Nataraj
Sarah Oakes and Michael Joseph Pierce
Raymond Paretzky and Karen Zacharia
Jack Peace and Paul Devine Bottone
Anthony Pellittieri
$1,000-$2,499 (Cont.)
Neil Popovic
Frederick Roses
Mary Ruppert
Jeremy Scheidt
Stephen and Fiona Shore
Paul Silver and Christina Marra
Robert Stagman
Fernando Viton
Craig Walton George and Christine Whelen
Stevan Yee
Lily Yen
$500-$999
David Berkman
Sarah Brown
Judith Carney
L Quentin Dixon
Susanne Essex
The Fitzmaurice-Keller Fund
George Flores
Audrey Gaquin
Peggy Gartner
Mary Gibeau
Elizabeth Glusman
James Green
Carmella Guiol
William Hathaway
Todd Hilson
Gerard Hormiga
$500-$999 (Cont).
Ellen Htoo
Sarah Jaffe
Belgia Jong
Benjamin Keller
Paul and Anne Koeppe
Lexi and Ken Kowalik
Rev. Joseph La Mar Ken Langer and Jennifer Langer Smith
Mildred Langston
Ryan Leenay
Michael Lepie
Maura Lightfoot
Brian MacKintosh
Ryan Madison
Edward Martinez
$500-$999 (Cont.)
Adam Moss
Alan Rowe
Matthew Scarlato
Jennifer Schumann
Kevin Segall and Stephanie Rogers
Kathryn Sheibley
Daniel and Kyrie Shomaker
Betsy and Bert Snyder
Claire Stohlman
Shannon Downey and Guillaume Turpin
Thomas Van Dyck
Stefano Vicini
Marcy Whitebook and Charles Price
Chan Woo Hwang
Shannon Young
Thank you to all of the donors who give gifts ranging from $5-$499. EarthRights is grateful to our generous donors for their sustained support, including those who wish to remain anonymous.
FUNDERS
11th Hour Project
American Bar Association
American Jewish WorldService
Bertha Foundation
Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund
Bloomberg Philanthropies & the Global Health Advocacy Incubator
Broad Reach Fund
Climate and Land Use Alliance
Conservation Food & Health Foundation
CS Fund
D. N. Batten Foundation
Environmental Defenders Collaborative
Equation Campaign
European Union and Oxfam
Flora Family Foundation
Ford Foundation
Goldman Environmental Foundation
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Hewlett Foundation
Impact Fund
Justice Catalyst
Libra Foundation
National Endowment for
Democracy
Open Society Foundations
Philoge Fund
Porticus
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Rockefeller Family Fund
Ronald W. Naito MD Foundation
Sall Family Foundation
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
Swift Foundation
Tara Climate Foundation
True Costs Initiative
Wallace Global Fund
Warsh-Mott Legacy
Waverley Street Foundation
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
William B Weiner Jr Foundation
Weltfriedensdienst eV
FULL FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE FOUND WITHIN THE ANNUAL REPORT PDF, DOWNLOADABLE HERE.
Ka Hsaw Wa’s Legacy
Just as EarthRights has fought alongside communities in the jungles of Myanmar and the Mekong, the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court, and everywhere in between, so has Ka Hsaw Wa.
Ka Hsaw Wa, EarthRights co-founder and founding Executive Director, stepped down from his leadership role at the end of 2023. He leaves a legacy that has touched thousands of lives, hundreds of Indigenous and frontline communities, and has helped shift the tide of power in favor of people and communities across the globe.
He has served as a shining leader to the EarthRights community for decades, and will continue to inspire our commitment to uplifting the voice and action of defenders, litigators, students, and educators worldwide.
Thank you, Ka Hsaw Wa!
