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What Works Plus Bulletin:July Edition
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A digest of news and funding opportunities. The What Works Plus (WW+) funder collaborative is a partnership coordination hub across philanthropy, government, and nonprofits to advance equity and climate resilience through thoughtful implementation of historic federal infrastructure, climate, and economic development funding. WW+ is a project of Freedman Consulting, LLC, which provides strategic consulting services to foundations and nonprofit organizations. This edition marks the two-year anniversary of our What Works Plus Bulletin! We are thankful to our dedicated readership and the WW+ members whose support makes this Bulletin possible.
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July Spotlight: News from Members & Friends
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Have a notable investment, partnership, or event coming up? Let Max Shipman know at shipman@tfreedmanconsulting.com and we’ll feature it next month.
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Civic Nation launched the Save on Clean Energy public education campaign in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE). The campaign brings together a diverse coalition of over 50 businesses, organizations, and local government leaders to spread the word about clean energy benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by: 1) launching a resource hub for consumers and community leaders, 2) coordinating a series of customized trainings, briefings, and workshops for school districts, houses of worship, hospitals, local governments, and other stakeholders, and 3) partnering with local elected officials and community based organizations to host events across the country. Sign up here to join the coalition to learn valuable information about clean energy benefits and participate in key mobilization moments. America Achieves announced $20 million in philanthropic support for the planning and launch of its new Good Jobs Economy initiative, which will help local communities advance strategies for marrying economic growth and economic mobility. Building on the organization’s recent efforts to support CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS)-funded Regional Tech Hubs, this initiative will provide local communities with funding, a community of peers, and high-quality, tailored technical assistance. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is hosting a philanthropic capital convening in the coming months to bring together philanthropic organizations with NSF leaders to discuss opportunities for collaboration around shared priorities. To express interest in being invited to this event, please fill out this form. The Families & Workers Fund released an annual report assessing the organization’s strategic goals and collective impact. In 2023, the fund deployed $45 million to grantees and strategic partnerships and leveraged over $1 billion in external funding. The report includes insights from the fund’s new Powering Climate and Infrastructure Careers Initiative, which aims to advance climate and clean energy infrastructure careers in response to federal investments, and its Benefits Access and Equity Initiative, which aims to improve delivery of poverty-reducing benefits and guarantee economic security. Eight national philanthropic organizations including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Kresge Foundation, Packard Foundation, Pivotal, Rockefeller Family Fund, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation launched the Investing in America Child Care Partnership. The partnership aims to leverage federal infrastructure funding to strengthen child care systems and increase access to high-quality, affordable child care through business and employer engagement, supply-building and financing technical assistance, and advocacy and organizing. Accelerator for America (AFA)’s Matt Horton published a report examining how local communities are tapping new state and federal initiatives to address both housing affordability and climate change. The report includes a framework for cities on how to integrate climate resilience into their housing initiatives. 1A released a podcast episode highlighting the impacts of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Local Infrastructure Hub. In the episode, Barbara Buffaloe, mayor of Columbia, Missouri, and John Giles, mayor of Mesa, Arizona, joined Bloomberg Philanthropies’ James Anderson to discuss how the Local Infrastructure Hub has helped their cities increase problem-solving capacity, navigate the grant application process, and secure federal funding for infrastructure projects. Work Forces released a podcast episode highlighting the Lumina Foundation’s work to increase credential attainment and reduce racial disparities in education and employment. In the episode, the Lumina Foundation’s Kermit Kaleba discussed the foundation’s efforts to develop high-quality, short-term credential programs to advance training and workforce infrastructure in response to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), IRA, and CHIPS. Kaleba also identified challenges the Foundation faces including backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and institutional fatigue.
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CENTER FOR ENERGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
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Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) is leading the creation of the new national competency framework that will be required once “energy and natural resources” is recognized as a national career cluster this fall, allowing energy education to be more readily available to tomorrow’s workforce beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. The organization’s work to provide coordinated, cohesive building blocks to support educational and career-focused pathways for K-16 learners is being driven by curriculum designers, educators, employers, and CTE leaders responsible for similar structures in industries represented in the legacy Cluster Framework. CEWD seeks support from partners that can help enable the industry’s collaborative work in this space, enabling the industry’s historic needs to build a skilled, diverse workforce for the clean energy industry. Work is expected to commence this fall and be completed early in 2025. Please contact Missy Henriksen for more information about this funding opportunity.
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A snapshot of this month’s key news.
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The Department of Homeland Security announced nearly $1 billion in grant awards from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program for projects that will help communities protect against extreme weather events. Funded by BIL, the majority of awarded grants addressed flood control, utility and infrastructure protection, and building codes. The Environmental Protection Energy (EPA) announced $325 million in grant awards from the Community Change Grants Program, which aims to benefit disadvantaged communities through community-driven initiatives that reduce pollution, increase climate resilience, and build capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. Funded by the IRA, the program is expected to award a total of $2 billion to eligible organizations and is accepting applications on a rolling basis through November 21, 2024. The EPA announced $4.3 billion in awards for Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, authorized by the IRA, to implement community-driven solutions that address the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice, and accelerate the clean energy transition. The grants will fund projects in 30 states, including one Tribe, that target reducing greenhouse gas pollution from six sectors including transportation, electric power, industry, and more. The Department of the Interior (DOI) opened applications for $120 million in grant funding from the IRA, BIL, and annual appropriations, to help tribal communities prepare for climate-related environmental threats to their homelands. Grants are available for both planning and implementation projects. DOI will provide technical assistance to support tribes’ and tribal organizations’ applications, which are due October 18, 2024. Canary Media published a piece on the Casa Blanca project, the first canal-based solar project in the U.S. Using IRA funds, the pilot installation is placing solar panels over part of the Casa Blanca canal, an extensive canal network owned by the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. Compared to large solar farms, canal-based solar projects limit disruption to ecosystems and can provide environmental benefits such as preventing water evaporation. The Casa Blanca project is set to connect to the distribution grid at the end of summer. The EPA released an updated edition of their report, “Climate Change Indicators in the United States”. The report compiles key indicators of climate change and documents how climate-related events – including heat waves, sea surface temperatures, coastal flooding, and wildfires – are increasingly affecting people’s health, society, and ecosystems. The White House published an updated brief describing recent progress in the construction of clean energy manufacturing facilities and clean energy technology deployment. Private companies have announced over $410 billion in investments in clean energy manufacturing, electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries, and clean power generation since January 2021. These investments are contributing to an increase in wind and solar capacity, which is projected to double from 2022 to 2030.
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The Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced $504 million in grant awards to 12 Regional Tech Hubs under the Department of Commerce’s Tech Hubs Program. The program, authorized by CHIPS, aims to scale up the production of critical technologies, create jobs in innovative industries, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and national security, and accelerate the growth of industries of the future. The White House released a fact sheet providing a read-out of the 2024 Freedman’s Bank Summer Symposium, an event focused on supporting and growing minority owned businesses. At the Symposium, leaders announced that commitments from private companies and philanthropy to make deposits at community lenders are on pace to reach $3 billion by 2025. Leaders also announced that more than 40% of investments from the American Rescue Plan’s State Small Business Credit Initiative have supported minority owned businesses.
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The DOE opened applications for nearly $1 million in grant funding for organizations who can support the development and distribution of resources to help guide communities claim IRA tax credits through the IRA’s Elective Pay provision (often called “direct pay”), given that many eligible, tax-exempt entities do not have significant experience with tax filings and often have limited capacity to dedicate to navigating IRS regulations and filing processes. Applications are due August 8, 2024.
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The White House announced $244 million in grant awards to modernize, diversify, and expand the Registered Apprenticeship system — the largest single federal investment in Registered Apprenticeships in U.S. history. The funding will reach Registered Apprenticeship Programs in growing, in-demand industries, including clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and more.
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The Department of Transportation (DOT) opened applications for $600 million in grant funding under the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, which aims to improve access to daily needs such as jobs, education, and healthcare as well as foster equitable development and restoration. The program will award two types of grants: $457 million in capital construction grants for projects focused on reducing environmental harm and improving access in disadvantaged communities. $150 million in community planning grants for planning activities to support future construction projects and address localized transportation challenges.
Applications for both grants are due September 30, 2024. The World Resources Institute found that electric school bus adoption in the U.S. has grown to a total commitment of over 12,000 buses – two thirds of which were funded by the EPA’s BIL-funded Clean School Bus Program. Before the Program’s awards in 2022, the largest percentage of electric school buses were in districts with the lowest shares of low-income households. By December 2023, 66% of committed electric school buses, according to the report, were in districts with the highest shares of low-income households. Volts released a podcast episode discussing the work of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, a collaboration between the DOE and DOT, to advance EV charging for multifamily residences in urban settings. The Joint Office’s Gabe Klein emphasized the importance of public EV chargers and highlighted innovations in business models and technologies that promote equitable access to EV charging.
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Atlas Public Policy released two new resources that offer tax, financial, and legal expertise to tax-exempt organizations setting up clean energy projects: The Clean Energy Tax Navigator provides information on elective pay eligibility and requirements based on whether the intended project is providing access to EV charging, EV vehicles, or solar/wind/geothermal energy. The Project Finance Hub provides tools and guidance to help organizations finance clean energy projects. The Hub consists of a technical assistance directory, resource library, grant opportunities dashboard, and directory of clean energy finance institutions.
The Breakthrough Institute released a systematic review of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) litigation cases. The report found that NEPA, which requires federal agencies to conduct environmental reviews of proposed activities, delays progress on clean energy projects and does not significantly alter environmental outcomes. The DOE’s Energy Communities Interagency Working Group launched a site review tool for manufacturers and investors interested in clean energy manufacturing projects. The interactive map provides nationwide information on facilities, nearby infrastructure, and community attributes, including energy community census tracts.
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WW+ Bulletin: July Edition
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