Mizu’s deep roots in action sports made it an easy choice to team up with the amazing women at Changing Tides Foundation. Not only do they rip on a surfboard, but they want to empower young girls and women to protect the planet and promote inclusivity and diversity in and out of the ocean.
Changing Tides Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2016 by a group of female surfers that felt the call to do more than just catch waves.
Born from a desire to create a community connected to the sea, Changing Tides Foundation empowers women to protect the planet and promotes inclusivity and diversity in and out of the ocean.
“Our Mission is to empower women to protect the planet.” – Becky Mendoza, Co-Founder.
The ocean provides an incredible space for healing, life perspective, athleticism and more, but often women and girls don’t have opportunities to gain access to the ocean to learn skills or a community to support them do so.
CTF started their Women’s Outreach Mentorship Program (WOMP) to share ocean knowledge and offer access to women and girls. The objective is to mentor underprivileged teenage girls globally, using surfing as a tool to build self-efficacy, self-confidence, leadership skills, and education on the importance in protecting the planet.
They have run WOMP in Panama with Give & Surf, Dominican Republic with Mariposa Foundation, Peru with Beyond the Surface Intl, and in El Salvador with local surfers.
In Spring 2022 they will be launching WOMP out of their headquarters in Encinitas, California.
Other than programs like the WOMP, CTF are also known for projects like ‘Plastic Swear Jar Challenge’, the ‘Paddle Out for Unity’, community clean-ups and environmental educational video clips like the ‘Where does it Go?’ series.
The vision of the co-founders at CTF is to create a community that connects us all to our humanity, our kindness, our planet, and each other. Their strategy is to encourage individual action so together we can create collective change for equity, justice, and a healthier future.
“Everyone is welcome at this table of positive change. Together we are better!” – Becky Mendoza, Co-Founder.
Co-Founders Becky Mendoza, Anna Santoro, Jianca Lazarus, Leah Dawson.
You can learn more about the passionate women at CTF here at changingtidesfoundation.org
