Award-winning journalist, producer and media executive, Pat Mitchell continues to broadcast women’s stories – elevating their leadership and ideas to change the world–mimicking in Project Dandelion the way a dandelion spreads its seeds on a puff of air. Pat points out that the dandelion exists on every continent in the world because it has one purpose–to make more dandelions. Project Dandelion was born out of the work of Connected Women Leaders, a social profit cohort of women from 50 different countries, in business, government, social enterprise and the arts. Their interest was in how they could solve problems of the world’s challenges: food security, gender equity, global health and climate. Pat says, “We realized that the intersectional connection between all those issues was climate.” Women are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. Nine million women died of air pollution last year, more than TB, malaria and many other lethal diseases combined. Overall women are leading the way in finding solutions, but getting those solutions out there is tricky because they don’t have enough resources. Project Dandelion’s mission is to connect these women’s groups all over the world who are working similarly for women and girls to work for climate justice.
Pat says that climate change is a reality, but it needs to be addressed in a just way. Project Dandelion’s goal is to elevate the groups doing the work, support the research and identify the projects that are addressing the crisis. Then, they want to connect these groups to each other, so that they can collaborate, build new partnerships and have a greater collective force for change. Where women lead in a community, others follow. Nine million women farmers in India have joined the Project Dandelion coalition.
She reminds us of the numbers cited in the Paris Agreement, “If we did not reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, the damage would be irreversible in terms of having enough air to breathe, water to drink and the ecosystems necessary for biodiversity.” She says that we can get close if companies and governments will fulfill the commitments they’ve already made. We know how to create a clean energy future but our government continues to spend “$8 trillion a year subsidizing the very corporations, companies and industries that are killing us.” Pat warns, “We’re headed for catastrophe.”
Dangerous Times Call for Dangerous Women
Pat’s memoir, Becoming a Dangerous Woman: Embracing Risk to Change the World, tells the incredible story of her own path to power, from a childhood spent on a cotton farm in the South with no connections or resources to her unprecedented rise in media and global affairs. In this interview, she says that when she wrote the book, she was accustomed to telling other women’s stories, and her own was difficult. She wanted to be sure that the readers found meaning in her stories. She was a trailblazer for women in her rise to power in the media world: the first woman PBS president and for CNN, on the frontlines of change with documentaries, people and locations, and says she’s even more dangerous today racing to create change.
Work for Climate Justice
Pat says that it’s up to us as individuals to make change. She quotes Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, as saying, “Do something personal every day.” Pat says that little actions really do add up. When she travels around the world and sees that Kenya has reduced gas and oil consumption by 85% off, she knows it’s possible. Seeing different parts of the world progressing so far ahead of us working to solve the climate crises, we can learn from them and commit to climate justice. She emphasizes, “It’s up to us. We’ve got the knowledge; we’ve got the commitment’ we’ve got the passion, and if we come together, we’ll have the power.”
Project Dandelion launches in July 2023. To find out more, sign up for Pat’s newsletter, read about the actions on climate justice and other initiatives from Connected Women Leaders and get involved. If you’d like to know what it takes to be a dangerous woman, read Pat’s book, Becoming a Dangerous Woman: Embracing Risk to Change the World.
Listen on Red Circle | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Watch on YouTube