Strength in a hotter world

We build resilience to extreme heat

See our work
HERA Gitaben Rawal, headloader

HERA: Focused on protecting the health, income, and dignity of women on the frontlines of extreme heat.

We are a women-led climate adaptation NGO, delivering tangible, innovative solutions with local community partners.

A burning problem

In low-income communities, extreme heat is devastating women’s health and livelihoods, deepening existing inequalities.

1+ billion

Over a billion women globally face extreme heat at work in jobs such as garment and factory work, street vending, domestic work, agricultural labor, and more.

Heat is predatory

Women battle infections, burns, fainting, headaches, and sleepless nights. Yet they must keep working.

Earning a living should not cost you your health.

Our approach

Pioneering solutions for scorching temperatures

Act Now and Innovate

Act Now and Innovate Informal women workers gather at Mahila Housing Trust in Ahmedabad, India, to learn how extreme heat is impacting their work and how to protect themselves. HERA/Supratim Bhattacharjee

We co-create women-centered solutions, from innovative heat insurance to market shade infrastructure, cooling and health centers.

Replicate <br />success Janet Nge'no picks tea leaves in Chemorir, Kericho County, Kenya, working through intensifying extreme heat that threatens her health and livelihood. HERA/Silas Oduor Otieno

Replicate
success

We improve and scale what works, sharing flexible solutions across cities and countries so women everywhere can face heat with dignity.

Build the field
of extreme heat

Build the field <br />of extreme heat Farmer Jashodaben Ravjibhai Parmar works under punishing temperatures in Sanjaya village, India, battling severe headaches and high blood pressure caused by extreme heat. HERA/Rameshwar Bhatt

We're shaping a new field, creating tools, data, and heat literacy rooted in lived experiences. We act as a catalyst to inspire effective heat action everywhere.

Find out more
"I have never seen such heat in my life. I felt like I was cooking inside the fire."
Read our Blazing Realities from the Frontlines series

From the frontlines

HERA around the globe

We work where people feel the heat the most: In India, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia, Ghana, Pakistan, Thailand, and in California.

HERA around the globe
HERA: Built on partnerships HERA CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod and strategic partners advance heat-resilience solutions at Bangkok Climate Week 2025 in Thailand. HERA/Patipat Janthong

HERA: Built on partnerships

We are growing our reach with global and local partners such as the Self Employed Women’s Association, Khwendo Kor, HomeNet, the Green Africa Youth Organization, SwissRe, and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

Listening to women

Our work starts with a conversation. Women are often invisible because of their socio-economic status or the culture they live in.

Together we build and deliver solutions that reflect their needs and help grow their opportunities.

Listening to women Indian Anchor rope recycler Shantuben Parmer is affected by extreme heat, with growing health impacts, slowing productivity, and cutting into already fragile incomes. HERA
Hope and action
"We need both hope and action in equal parts to support women and communities from the grasp of extreme heat."
- Kathy Baughman McLeod, CEO
Meet our team