#002: Funding the Future with Nisha DSouza from EcoNiche

In this episode, Alyssa chats with Nisha D'Souza, founder of EcoNiche, a conservation consultancy based in India helping frontline organisations build the systems they need to create lasting impact. Nisha shares how she left her role at IUCN to start EcoNiche in 2019, only to face COVID overnight. She opens up about walking away from a paying contract that didn't align with her mission, writing a winning Chanel Foundation proposal the night before her wedding, and why planting a million trees isn't the same as creating real impact. From helping a nomadic tribal community get included in India's census through a mangrove aquaculture project, to converting abandoned salt pans into thriving wetland habitat for migratory birds — this episode is full of powerful stories about what conservation looks like when it's done right.