Dany Sigwalt

I’m a strategist, organizer, and network builder working across climate, racial justice, and power.

Most of my work is behind the scenes. I help organizations make better decisions, move money with more intention, and build structures that actually hold up over time.

I’m currently Managing Director at Green Leadership Trust and have spent the last decade building and supporting national networks in the climate justice space.

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Portrait of Dany Sigwalt, climate and racial justice strategist
What I think about

I spend a lot of time thinking about:

Most of my work sits somewhere in the overlap.

What I’m working on
01

Circle

I’m building a system to help movement organizations take control of their data and build more effective ways of working, so they can win more often.

This builds on years of working with organizations navigating fundraising, governance, and growth across national networks.

It’s for people who:

  • feel like existing tools don’t reflect how relationships actually work
  • want to move away from feeding the extractive tech landscape
  • are navigating philanthropy while trying to stay accountable to community
02

Governance and board work

I work with organizations to:

  • build boards that reflect their values and communities
  • make decisions with more clarity and shared understanding
  • move beyond compliance toward real accountability

I’ve supported board development and governance strategy for organizations ranging from early-stage groups to national networks.

03

Writing and thought

I write about climate, racial justice, and power.

My work has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, and I’m the author of This Book Will Save the Planet, part of the Empower the Future series.

The through line is simple: climate change isn’t separate from inequality. It’s one of its outcomes.

04

Network building

Through Green Leadership Trust and other work, I spend a lot of time:

  • connecting leaders of the global majority to positions of influence
  • building relationships across organizations and sectors
  • creating spaces where trust and strategy can deepen over time

Green Leadership Trust includes a network of 200+ members working across climate, philanthropy, and racial justice.

The through line

“Climate change isn’t separate from inequality. It’s one of its outcomes.”

Where I come from

I grew up in Washington, DC, watching gentrification, displacement, and the racial wealth gap reshape the city.

I came into this work through organizing — anti-war work, housing justice, and community-based support systems.

That grounding still shapes how I think about power and responsibility.

Dany Sigwalt wearing a beaded Carnival crown
What I’m thinking about right now
A note on tech, climate, and power

Most of the conversation about climate and tech is happening at the wrong level.

It tends to focus on better tools, better data, better models.

But the climate crisis wasn’t caused by a lack of technology. It came out of systems designed to concentrate power and extract from people and land.

If those systems don’t change, better tools just make them run faster.

The questions I care about are simpler than that:

Outside of work

Outside of work, I like to make things.

figuring out home repair, slowly and sometimes incorrectly
woodworking projects that get more complicated than they need to be
gardening, especially food that connects to memory and place
fiber arts — slow, repetitive work that gives my brain somewhere to land

I like understanding how things are built, whether that’s a house, a system, or an organization.

Work with me

I take on a small number of projects, usually focused on:

Often with organizations at key transition points — growth, leadership change, or strategic reset. Mostly with organizations working in climate and racial justice.

Selected experience
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