In late January, People’s Climate Innovation Center (CIimate Innovation)alongside our collaborators at the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) were awarded a $2 million grant from the Waverley Street Foundation in support of the Community Climate Shift (CCS) Initiative. These funds will be allocated to the existing Community Climate Shift Fund to support community-driven decarbonization initiatives across the country. Additionally, we hosted a funding convening for CCS. The convening was attended by various funders including Energy Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Barr Foundation,11th Hour, McKnight, and Tilia Fund. The CCS core team made a $20 million ask to help support our workstream for this year, which includes funding work in Orlando, California, and the Midwest.
Our colleague Antonio from PODER SF also joined the convening to share his perspectives and experiences as a member of CCS and how his organization has leveraged this opportunity to advance equitable decarbonization in the bay area of California. CIimate Innovation and IMT shared our progress to date since launching CCS, almost one year ago, and described the partnerships we’ve made with over 13 environmental justice and technical organizations that have committed to keeping CCS accessible and accountable to the needs and priorities of frontline communities.
We also shared updates from the Orlando Climate Forward Campaign, the first community-based campaign being funded through the Community Climate Shift Fund. The Orlando Climate Forward Campaign aims to provide resources and funding to community-based organizations in Orlando to co-develop a campaign that leads to energy justice, reduction of energy burden in frontline communities, and increased community ownership over climate solutions in the Greater Orlando area.
As the impact and scale of CCS continues to grow, we continue to fundraise to support this growth and maximize the impact of equitable decarbonization in communities across the United States.
