Meet the women unlocking climate and sustainability solutions every day

Mar 4 2026 - Seattle, WA

Meet the women unlocking climate and sustainability solutions every day

Climate Action Innovation

By Jessica Bernhard

Writer and Editor, Amazon Sustainability

The Fin-Erth awards celebrate women leaders driving sustainability in business and beyond.

The Fin-Erth Climate Awards celebrate women scientists, investors, and innovators whose integral work addressing the climate crisis has historically gone unacknowledged. Last year, the awards recognized 101 women from around the world with more than 700 nominations from 65 countries.

This International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting three Fin-Erth Climate Awards recipients from Climate Pledge signatory and collaborating organizations: Sarah Dimson-Tararuj, head of strategic projects and programs for The Climate Pledge at Amazon; Leah Ramoutar, director of environmental sustainability at Aviva; and Ara Erickson, vice president of corporate sustainability at Weyerhaeuser.

Content excerpted from Fin-Erth.

Sarah Dimson-Tararuj
Mavericks Award (in partnership with Howden): Those challenging convention and thinking differently. Where would we be without them?

Sarah Dimson-Tararuj is reshaping how industries confront climate action. As Amazon’s first head of strategic projects and programs for The Climate Pledge, Dimson-Tararuj leads a global team accelerating decarbonization across hard-to-abate sectors such as buildings, clean energy, transport logistics, and supply chains.

Blending system dynamics, technology, and deep climate expertise, Dimson-Tararuj designs large-scale programs that help Amazon and more than 600 Climate Pledge signatories advance toward net-zero carbon by 2040. She’s created a powerful collaboration model that unites industry, finance, and policy while also integrating social-environmental principles. Her leadership is grounded in more than 20 years in sustainability roles across Africa, South Asia, and the U.S.

Dimson-Tararuj, on the meaning of receiving the Mavericks Award: “Mavericks consistently challenge conventional thinking and ways of working; we are independent-minded and bold in our convictions and decisions. I am thrilled to be in the Maverick category alongside women who live out what it means to be a Maverick, pioneering unique pathways to climate action. Fin-Erth provides a platform for us to innovate together, question our assumptions, move forward with our visionary ideas, and acknowledge those who have shaped our thinking by helping each other connect with others. The Climate Pledge sponsored the Energy category to demonstrate the progress we are making in carbon-free electricity and in the spirit of moving faster together—with those who are consistently pursuing transformative impact.”

Leah Ramoutar
Insurance Award (in partnership with MSCI Sustainability Institute): Radical collaboration and new systemic models can only be underwritten by enlightened insurance doers.

Leah Ramoutar is redefining what climate leadership looks like in financial services, unlocking the solutions to integrating nature into transition planning. As director of environmental sustainability for Aviva insurance company, Ramoutar led the creation of one of the sector’s first integrated climate and nature transition plans, embedding nature-related risks, dependencies, and opportunities into the company’s strategic roadmap.

Her work sets a new precedent for how financial institutions can address climate and biodiversity together: not as separate challenges, but as deeply interconnected imperatives. Known for her ability to turn ambition into action with her grit and collaborative spirit, Ramoutar is consistently challenging the insurance sector to deliver meaningful change with longevity beyond our lifetimes.

Ramoutar, on the meaning of being recognized by Fin-Erth: “For me, the significance of this Fin‑Erth Award runs deeper than the recognition itself. It is a moment to pause and appreciate the extraordinary global community of problem‑solvers, innovators, and action‑oriented leaders that I am part of—people who show up every day with integrity, optimism, and determination to move climate solutions from intention to implementation. None of us drives change alone—every milestone is shaped by the people we collaborate with, challenge, and learn from.

The award is also a powerful reminder of why this work matters, and of the essential leadership that women across sectors are providing to accelerate progress at a moment when it is needed most.”

Ara Erickson
Natural Capital & Biodiversity Award: From the oceans to the soil, this category is for thinkers and doers working in partnership with nature.

Ara Erickson is vice president of corporate sustainability at Weyerhaeuser, the largest private timberland owner in the U.S. There, she drives strategy across working forests, sustainable housing, and resilient rural communities, turning complex climate and land-use challenges into tangible solutions.

She also leads the company’s 3 by 30 ambitions, launched in 2020 to harness forests and wood products as natural climate solutions, enable sustainable homes, and strengthen rural economies.

Erickson serves on the board of American Forests, the United States’ oldest national conservation nonprofit, and is a founding steering committee member of the Women’s Forest Congress, advancing inclusive and equitable forest stewardship.

Erickson, on what inspires her daily work: “Sometimes the work of integrating sustainability into our everyday actions and decisions can feel overwhelming or slow moving, so awards like Fin-Erth are especially rewarding because they recognize that it’s not one thing, one project, or one accomplishment. It’s an acknowledgment that it takes time and effort, over the long term, to change how we approach challenges and seed bits of change into the ecosystem of humans and resources.”

Read about all of the award winners here.

Fin-Erth was founded in 2023 by Serena Oppenheim and Patrick Keogh as a global community for women in finance, investment, policy, law, innovation, and operations. In addition to the awards, the group convenes climate leaders to collaborate and find solutions, including at an annual forum at the University of Cambridge known as the Fin-Erth Forum. Its partners include Cartier, MSCI, S2G Investments, Dubai Holding, Howden, Amazon, The Climate Pledge, and L’Oreal.