NEW YORK CITY (September 26, 2024)—Finance and philanthropy firm LEBEC hosted and led a prestigious panel that shed light on innovative solutions across the capital spectrum addressing the interconnected global water and climate crises. Moderated by Alix Lebec, founder and CEO of LEBEC, the panel featured Matt Damon, the award-winning actor, screenwriter, producer and co-founder of Water.org and WaterEquity; Thais Lopez Vogel, co-founder and trustee of VoLo Foundation; Amy Dornbusch, founder of AtlasDaughters and director of the Marks Family Foundation; Yoca Arditi-Rocha, executive director of The CLEO Institute; and Vedika Bhandarkar, president and COO of Water.org.

The “Investing in Women, Water and Climate” event took place Wednesday during Climate Week NYC and brought together top minds to discuss the urgent need to direct more philanthropic, governmental, and investment capital toward scalable solutions addressing water and climate challenges and placing women at the center of these efforts.

“We’re standing at a critical juncture where the interconnected global water and climate crises demand immediate, innovative action. The solutions exist—what we lack is the urgency to deploy capital creatively and at scale,” said Lebec.

Damon remarked, “About 2.2 billion people—or one in four people on Earth—lack access to safe drinking water, and those living in poverty feel the impacts more acutely. Climate change exacerbates events that affect water systems, like rising sea levels and more frequent and extreme occurrences of flooding and drought.”

Yesterday’s discussion centered on what it will take to bring philanthropy and innovative impact investment to the table to solve this issue. In a warming world, projections from various organizations, including UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Resources Institute, indicate that half of the world’s population will face extreme water shortages by 2030.

“Women, who bear the brunt of this crisis, are also an overwhelming part of the solution,” said Bhandarkar. “When we empower women with access to water and financial resources, we unlock their potential to drive economic growth and create lasting change in their communities.” Echoing Bhandarkar, Dornbusch stated, “Addressing this crisis requires a collective effort, and by focusing on inclusive investments, we can build a more resilient future for all.”

During the conversation, Lebec and the panelists unpacked how disruptive philanthropy, innovative finance, technology, and inclusive climate policies can solve the global water and climate crises within our lifetime.

In particular, Yoca Arditi-Rocha, Executive Director of The CLEO Institute, which has been instrumental in leveraging more than half a billion dollars in federal funding for climate solutions implementation, addressed the intersectionality between water, climate, and vulnerable communities—particularly women of color—and how key policies, alongside catalytic philanthropy, can create transformational progress.

“Climate justice and social justice are two sides of the same coin. As we confront the interconnected crises of water and climate, investing in women is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic one. Women, particularly women of color, are both disproportionately affected and central to the solutions. Policies like the Inflation Reduction Act are helping channel critical resources. But policy alone is not enough. At The CLEO Institute, we’ve seen firsthand how catalytic & trust-based philanthropy can amplify impact having recently unlocked half a billion dollars in federal funding for climate solutions. By combining strong policies with strategic philanthropy, we can achieve transformational change at the speed and scale this moment demands,” said Arditi-Rocha.

“Investing in climate solutions, especially those that address water scarcity, is not just an environmental imperative—it’s a moral one,” said Lopez Vogel. “Every dollar invested in water and climate resilience has a ripple effect, driving innovation and creating a more sustainable future for generations to come,” said Lopez Vogel from VoLo Foundation, who has invested millions in climate solutions and supports The CLEO Institute’s scaling efforts.

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