Advancing Climate Equity in 2024

In the 18 months since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was passed, the landscape of clean energy and climate action has changed in tremendous ways. Yet only 40% of Americans know about the Inflation Reduction Act, and even fewer understand how to harness its provisions to bring clean, green infrastructure to their communities. 

The Green For All team at Dream.Org has changed, grown, and adapted to meet the moment. We are working across several sectors and launching communications campaigns that ensure IRA funds will reach the communities that need them most.

We're working across 4 primary program areas to advance climate equity in 2024:

• Climate Investments 
• Transformative Communities
• Green Jobs & Entrepreneurship
• Federal and State Policy

Climate Investments 

As trillions of dollars funnel into the new green economy, the focus of our Climate Investments team, led by Jackie Omotalade, is to drive historic levels of public and private investment to low-income communities and communities of color. We are proud of the role we have played in helping shape the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to direct more than 40% of the $27 billion fund to disadvantaged communities and BIPOC entrepreneurs and will work with a network of government agencies and financial institutions to make sure the funding goes to the communities who need it the most.

Major Goals and Activities

• Promote thought leadership through the creation of research publications & equity frameworks focusing on IRA implementation to impact where money flows
• Collaborate with the Coalition for Green Capital to ensure equitable implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as well as work with private financial institutions to inform equitable green capital allocations
• Collaborate with agencies, track agency accountability to the Justice40 Initiative, and inform agencies on equitable program implementation
• Work with state governments to inform equitable program implementation and create pipelines for federal climate funding
• Establish feedback loops with Dream.Org’s Transformative Communities program and Dream Entrepreneurship Network to identify challenges in program design and implementation that require regulatory solutions

Transformative Communities

Underserved communities are hit first and worst by the climate crisis yet have very little or no support to tackle climate change. Our Transformative Communities team, led by Edilah “EJ” Jordan, works with local leaders to create pipelines of community-supported climate infrastructure projects in underserved communities and ensure minority-owned businesses are the first in line to build them out. Ultimately, this will produce massive work, wealth, and health benefits for working-class communities and communities of color.

Major Goals and Activities

• Provide technical assistance to community-based organizations and local entrepreneurs to help access federal funds and develop shovel-ready projects.
• Educate local stakeholders to prepare communities to compete for federal funds. Provide a newsletter on philanthropic and federal funding opportunities for community-based organizations.
• Partner with financial investors to remove barriers to private capital that will scale and grow BIPOC-owned community organizations and businesses.

Green Jobs and Entrepreneurship

BIPOC and system-impacted communities are most severely impacted by systemic problems like climate change and mass incarceration but are rarely included in the creation of solutions. Our Green Jobs and Entrepreneurship team, led by Kasheef Wyzard, helps individuals at any stage of their green career journey – from entry-level to CEO – grow, scale, and accelerate their readiness to meet the moment. 

Major Goals and Activities

• Provide scholarships through the Climate Tech Career Pathways Scholarship Fund to help BIPOC and justice-impacted individuals acquire the technical skills and professional certifications they need to kickstart their careers in climate tech
• Expand our start-up founder network, the Dream Entrepreneurs Network (DEN), to 40, building community and maintaining an active, engaged network.
• Work with DEN members to draw down federal funding to grow and scale their businesses.
• Conduct our second Climate Tech Launchpad Cohort to provide intensive investor readiness training to 10 more BIPOC founders and connect them to prospective investors.

Federal and State Policy

We must fight for climate investments to not only improve the health and wellbeing of frontline communities but also to create equitable access to the work and wealth opportunities that the green transition promises.  Our Climate Advocacy team, led by Chief Advocacy Officer, Janos Marton, is working to uplift new leaders to be a part of creating solutions for cleaner, healthier communities. We elevate the stories of communities most impacted by climate change to decision makers on Capitol Hill while educating those communities about the IRA and helping them advocate for their unique needs. As climate decisions are being made, Green For All is a leading voice for equity at the state and local levels. 

Major Goals and Activities

• Design and implement organizing programs in targeted states, including education campaigns that draw in new community-based climate champions and deepening connections with green economy coalition partners in target states
• Scale up relationships to ensure our recommendations are incorporated by decision makers, and ensure that climate is an important part of the 2024 political discourse
• Build public pressure and leverage relationships to hold Congress accountable for funding the EPA at IRA mandated levels
• Produce best practices reports for regulatory guidelines and share them with relevant stakeholders
• Build bipartisan support for permitting reform
• Conduct listening sessions, outreach, and building relationships with key community leaders and decision makers, particularly across EPA Region 9 states
• Highlight stories from the frontlines of pollution through our “Make It Real” media campaign 

Learn more about our impact thus far as we work toward equitable Inflation Reduction Act implementation here, and join our mailing list below to get involved!