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President & CEO, Cadasta Foundation: The SustainabilityX® Magazine's Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards™ 2024 Awardee
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"Bold leadership measures success not by one's own accomplishments, but by the impact created by the people we lead and serve. For me, being bold requires quieting the inner critic to cast a daring vision of what is possible and leading with authenticity in partnership with others." - Amy Coughenour Betancourt, President & CEO, Cadasta Foundation, United States & The SustainabilityX® Magazine Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards™ 2024 (#SustXGlobal50) Awardee
Amy Coughenour Betancourt, a transformational leader with over 30 years in the social sector, has dedicated her career to supporting community-led organizations across the globe. As President and CEO of Cadasta Foundation, Amy leverages innovative geospatial technology to advance land and resource rights for vulnerable communities. Under her leadership, Cadasta has partnered with over 110 organizations, helping to secure land rights for more than 7 million people across 50 countries, a critical foundation for fighting climate change, poverty, and biodiversity loss. Through her work, she collaborates with diverse communities, including Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples, women, farmers, and youth, to foster resilient and sustainable futures.
Amy’s bold approach emphasizes amplifying the voices of those on the frontlines of environmental and social issues. Her leadership style is grounded in empathy and partnership, as she tirelessly advocates for systems that allow people and ecosystems to thrive. Guided by her philosophy of “bold leadership,” Amy has strengthened Cadasta’s theory of change, expanded its reach, and ensured its ongoing impact by securing sustainable funding and reshaping the organization’s strategy. Her commitment to environmental justice has positioned Cadasta as a leader in land rights, supporting local governments to adopt more inclusive and responsive land systems.
Amy’s strategic vision and resilience have guided her through significant challenges, from navigating funding shortages to challenging entrenched interests within the land rights sector. Her bold decision to leave an established role for the transformative work at Cadasta has yielded remarkable results, driving systemic change and disrupting unsustainable practices. Amy’s dedication is not limited to Cadasta; she is a recognized global voice in sustainable development, regularly speaking at high-profile venues like the United Nations, World Bank, and Food and Agriculture Organization, championing climate resilience and social equity.
Honoured with this award, Amy is filled with gratitude for the mentors and allies who have supported her journey. This recognition amplifies her dedication to Cadasta’s mission and serves as a call to action for leaders across sectors to work collectively toward a sustainable and equitable world. Amy’s work embodies the transformative power of bold, inclusive leadership that prioritizes the voices of those most impacted and seeks to create lasting change for communities and the planet.
The SustainabilityX® Magazine Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards™ 2024
The SustainabilityX® Magazine proudly presents its third edition of the Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards™ for 2024. This annual recognition celebrates extraordinary female leaders who embrace boldness in their pursuit of groundbreaking sustainability initiatives, reshaping industries, and driving transformative change towards a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future.
This year also marks a broader strategic mission expansion for The SustainabilityX® Magazine, with a stronger focus on aligning with the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) in addition to the original foundation of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This evolutionary expansion reflects the magazine’s ongoing commitment to advancing women's leadership in sustainability while championing social equity, environmental stewardship, and inclusive growth.
“Empowering women to lead in sustainability is at the heart of our mission,” says Supriya Verma, founder of The SustainabilityX® Magazine and one of Corporate Knights' Canada’s Top 30 Under 30 in Sustainability Leadership and one of The Peak's Emerging Leaders. “These trailblazers are breaking barriers and redefining what sustainable leadership looks like—showing that it’s about more than policies and practices, but also about social justice, economic resilience, and a regenerative future.”
Rooted in the magazine's guiding pillars of environmental protection, economic prosperity, social inclusion, and ethical governance, The SustainabilityX® Magazine's Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards™ showcases women from all sectors, industries, and regions, igniting crucial conversations on the intersection of gender equality and sustainable development.
Amidst global challenges and uncertainties, this year’s awards highlight the critical role of women in steering the world towards a more resilient, equitable future. With a continued digital format, the awards amplify voices across borders, bridging the gap between global sustainability efforts and local impact.
As Verma states, “The future of sustainability hinges on bold, inclusive leadership, and these women exemplify the courage and vision needed to transform our world. The SustainabilityX® Magazine remains steadfast in our mission to celebrate and elevate those who are shaping a future where every voice counts and every effort contributes to a thriving, sustainable world.”
View the full list: The SustainabilityX® Magazine Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards 2024
Read the full press release: The SustainabilityX® Magazine Announces 3rd Annual Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards™ Under the Theme "Embrace Boldness"
About The SustainabilityX® Magazine
The SustainabilityX® Magazine is an award-winning, digital, female-founded, and female-led non-profit initiative bringing the environment and economy together for a sustainable future through dialogue, and now transforming the environment and economy for a sustainable future through the power of women's leadership. Founded on May 8, 2016, and inspired by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals by Canada's Top 30 Under 30 in Sustainability Leadership awardee, Supriya Verma, the digital media initiative focuses on approaching the world's most pressing challenges with a holistic, integrated, systems-based perspective as opposed to the traditional and ineffective siloed approach with a single lens on interdisciplinary topics like climate and energy. This initiative ultimately seeks to explore how to effectively bring the environment and economy together through intellectual, insightful dialogue and thought-provoking discussion amongst individuals across sectors taking an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to untangling the intricate web of sustainability while championing women's leadership in sustainability.
The SustainabilityX® Magazine is built upon the four foundational pillars of sustainability: Environmental Stewardship, which emphasizes the importance of improving environmental health; Economic Prosperity, which promotes sustainable economic growth that transcends traditional capitalist models; Social Inclusion, which focuses on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) for BIPOC, LGBTQ, and other marginalized or vulnerable communities; and Just Governance, which highlights responsible leadership, the equal application of the rule of law, and the creation of fair systems for all.
As we expand our mission to align with the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs), we continue to explore the diverse and interconnected factors that influence sustainability. By recognizing how these elements interact across local, national, and international levels, we aim to accelerate progress toward sustainability goals. In essence, this aligns with The SustainabilityX® Magazine's vision of integrating environmental and economic progress for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future through thoughtful dialogue.
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The SustainabilityX® Magazine is a proud member of the Sustainable Journalism Partnership, serves as a cause-based media partner for various events such as WIRED Impact, and officially delivers remarks at international conferences such as UNESCO's annual World Press Freedom Day Conference.
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