On August 5, 2022, a Leadership Conversation with Daniela Gómez and Ana Hanhausen, Founders of Widu, took place online. Widu is an app to help people take effective climate action. When asked about it the founders mentioned that Widu was born out of an intention to make a real difference in the lives of people, allow them to take ownership of the issues, and contribute to resolving it. Dr. Ash Pachauri asked what leadership meant to them. They mentioned that leadership is about transforming vision, growing, and setting a strong culture among the team, being transparent, and carrying people with you. Ivan Ransom, from the POP Movement asked how Widu is helping businesses become more environmentally committed to which Ana and Daniela said that this tool aims to make companies’ environmental targets clear and transparent so the consumers can make more informed decisions and make sure the companies are keeping up with their goals.

Komal from the POP Movement asked about where the idea came from and the importance of measuring our day to day actions. Widu leaders spoke about the need for easier pathways to create changemakers and how technology became their enabling tool. They added that building a community is key to creating strong and impactful movements which is what they are trying to achieve.

Alejandra Fragoso from the POP Movement asked about the use of technology to tackle climate change. The founders spoke about innovative solutions in the realm of renewable energy and how these allow people to come together; making social movements massive, allowing transparency and constant improvement.

The final questions focused on challenges for environmental activists and the journey of Ana and Daniela as they decided to become accountable for their actions. They spoke about the growing need of citizen involvement in social and environmental movements to promote effective action at higher levels even if it meant sometimes feeling demotivated– as if they are swimming against the current– since this is an issue that affects us all.

About our guest speakers

Daniela Gómez is a Biologist from Universidad de las Américas, Puebla. She has focused her work on evaluating and increasing the effectiveness of environmental education within her institution.

Ana Hanhausen is a Chemical Engineer from Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico. She has worked with several national and international NGOs during the past years including Plastic Oceans and POP Movement. Her work is focused on increasing youth climate action and ocean protection.

Daniela and Ana founded Widu, an app to help people get involved in the solutions to the climate and water crises. Through the app people can measure their carbon and water footprint and they can find the most effective way to reduce it through personal and community actions. Widu aims to bring together people, institutions, governments, and companies to implement solutions to reduce emissions and save water.