Sustaining Women is a name
and a call to action.
Our story
What began as a small Atlanta book club in 2021 has blossomed into a network of 800+ across the environmental field.
Across every sector, women are paving the way towards more regenerative, resilient communities, and thinking seven generations ahead. In fact, two in three chief sustainability officers in U.S. corporations are now women, more than double the proportion in 2011. But too often, the women doing this work are carrying it without enough support.
This community exists to change that.
We create spaces where women can take off the professional mask, connect across disciplines and tenure, share opportunities, and find the encouragement needed to keep going.
“Educating girls and advancing women’s leadership is one of the most effective climate solutions available to us.”
Why now
Project Drawdown, one of the world’s leading climate solution frameworks, cites educating girls and advancing women’s leadership as among the most effective climate solutions available to us.
But the heat is rising for many women in this work. Figuratively and literally.
Women, especially mothers of young children, are leaving the workforce in droves as workplace flexibility plummets. At the same time, growing politicization of environmental, social and climate initiatives has forced many corporations and institutions to backpedal on previously stated priorities and nonprofits shrink under funding uncertainty and staffing cuts.
And so, as we face pressure left, right and center, the need for community and connection has never been more urgent.
About Savannah
Sustaining Women was founded by Savannah Seydel, a mother, writer, and sustainability professional committed to helping more women find their voice in the sustainability movement.
Her curiosity has taken her from lending a hand on a Mount Pleasant shrimp boat to building Atlanta’s “Aglanta” urban agriculture brand, supporting community-centered environmental storytelling alongside the Academy Award-winning team at Exposure Labs, to now serving as Vice President of Sustainability at Better Earth, an Atlanta-based B Corp advancing regenerative circularity in the foodservice industry. Savannah furthers this commitment through board leadership with the Biodegradable Products Institute, Georgia Compost Council and Southface.
Through Sustaining Women, she hopes to create a space where more women can see themselves as part of this movement, speak with confidence, build meaningful relationships, and feel sustained enough to keep doing the work.
Outside of work, Savannah finds her greatest joy in the quiet moments with her husband and children outdoors (preferably near a body of water) experiencing and discovering this beautiful world together.
Meet the Sustaining Women Advisory Council
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Iesha Baldwin
Sustainability Coordinator, Spelman College
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Rosa Sabater
CEO, Martellus; Founder, NEXTup