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What Works Plus Bulletin:August 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.
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This Spring, What Works Plus and Invest in Our Future spearheaded Philanthropy’s 500/1500 Challenge to further implementation of federal climate and clean energy investments. The Challenge far surpassed its goals, tracking 1,722 recently philanthropically-funded education and awareness activities in places across the country, and 1,979 recently philanthropically-funded efforts to help stand up and implement projects. The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a piece this month highlighting What Work Plus’ and IOF’s new report about the challenge which includes an analysis of key geographies and communities impacted by philanthropic investments, spotlights on participating funders and activities, and opportunities for philanthropy to help fill existing resource gaps and address evolving implementation needs.
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August 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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The Ballmer Group announced the launch of their new philanthropy, Rainier Climate Group. The organization will focus on supporting strategies that cut greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, aiming for net zero emissions globally by 2050 and even earlier in wealthy nations. Tom Stienbach, the former Executive Director of Tempest Advisors, will serve as the President of the new organization. The Families and Workers Fund announced 14 awardees for its Powering Climate Infrastructure Careers Challenge. Providing more than $12 million in grant funding and technical assistance, these awards will help advance workforce development in clean energy and construction industries. Winning projects include regional hubs for battery innovation, immigrant-centered education and apprenticeship programs, and data-driven efforts to coordinate workforce planning across government agencies and industries. The Climate Jobs National Resource Center released a report examining the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)’s potential to transform the clean energy sector, create high-quality union jobs, and advance equity. The report found over 6,000 utility-scale clean energy projects in the development pipeline across the country that could be eligible for IRA incentives tied to labor standards and highlighted the critical role of unions in maximizing the impact of IRA implementation. The Center for Energy Workforce Development is holding its annual Workforce Development Summit in Washington, D.C. from November 19-21, 2024. The event is open to anyone who leads or supports workforce development for employers, and programming will include peer reflections, lessons from outside influencers, guidance from knowledgeable experts, and forward-facing action steps. Register here by November 1, 2024. Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute, Texas Climate Jobs Project, and Organized Power in Numbers published a report highlighting working conditions in Texas’ clean energy industries, including solar and onshore wind. The report found that racial inequality in pay and access to benefits is prevalent in all sectors, and that all clean energy jobs experience a high rate of work-related injuries and fatalities. Based on their findings, the authors recommend policy-makers require community workforce agreements, create just transitions to high quality jobs for oil and gas workers, and expedite a federal heat safety standard, among other ideas. The National Fund for Workforce Solutions is holding its biennial SHIFT Toward an Equitable Future conference in Memphis, Tennessee from September 24-26, 2024. The conference aims to bring together hundreds of workforce leaders and practitioners from across the country to engage in discussion, share best practices and tools, and activate solutions to build an equitable workforce. The event is open to all. Register here. The National Council for Workforce Education is holding its annual Future-Proofing Workforce Education conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota from October 9-10, 2024. The conference will offer programming on current and emerging technologies, college-to-career pathways, employer and community partnerships, data driven decision-making, and student-centered services. The event is open to all. Register here by September 25, 2024. WDIY 88.1 FM released a podcast episode highlighting the work of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Government Innovation Unit to improve traffic safety in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In the episode, Matt Tuerk, mayor of Allentown, joined Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Jaime Lavin to discuss how the City used funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)’s Safe Streets for All Program to launch their own Safe Streets for All Initiative, which aims to identify and implement equitable safety improvements across all transportation modes.
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SHAPING OUR APPALACHIAN REGION
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Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) is working to connect 1,500 residents to resources and training for good jobs in a region of eastern Kentucky heavily impacted by the decline of coal mining. SOAR has been granted $40 million through the Economic Development Administration’s Recompete Pilot Program to support a social enterprise accelerator, hire peer mentorship coordinators, create a digital career academy, and construct training facilities for in-demand jobs in 12 economically distressed counties. SOAR is seeking funding support for two needs: (1) creating flexible wraparound support for project participants and (2) seeding a fund for social enterprises focused on addressing childcare, transportation, and housing challenges to create long-term solutions to employment barriers. Please contact Colby Hall for additional information on this opportunity.
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A snapshot of this month’s key news.
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The Department of the Treasury (Treasury): Released data, in partnership with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), on IRA tax credits showing that more than 3.4 million American families claimed over $8 billion in residential clean energy and home energy efficiency credits in 2023. A deeper analysis of the data found: 1) most of the tax credit dollars were being put towards solar energy adoption, 2) sunbelt states claimed the most credits, and 3) wealthier Americans disproportionately benefit from the credits. Published a piece explaining how households can combine the IRA’s Home Energy Rebate Programs and Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credit (25C) for additional savings. Released educational materials, in partnership with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission, to help consumers identify and address unfair and deceptive practices in the residential solar power sector.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) obligated $27 billion in grants to the recipients of the three Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund competitions – the National Clean Investment Fund, the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator and the Solar for All Program. Grant recipients can now begin accessing funds to mobilize financing for thousands of climate and clean energy projects. The Department of Energy (DOE) launched a video series spotlighting the workers and communities whose lives are being transformed by new federal clean energy investments. The first video in the series focuses on workers at a new iron-air battery manufacturing facility located at the site of a former steel plant in Weirton, West Virginia.
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The White House released a fact sheet documenting implementation progress of the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS) two years after its passage. The fact sheet reported nearly $400 billion in semiconductor investments by dozens of companies across the country since the passage of CHIPS, resulting in the predicted creation of over 115,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs. As a result of these investments, the U.S. is on track to produce nearly 30% of the global supply of leading-edge chips by 2032.
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The Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2024 United States Energy Employment Report (USEER), a comprehensive summary of national and state-level energy jobs, reporting by industry, technology, and region with data on unionization rates, demographics, and employer perspectives on growth and hiring. Heatmap News published a piece examining the impact of the IRA’s prevailing wage and apprenticeships provisions on labor standards, job creation, and apprenticeship programs for clean energy projects. The article found that developers are motivated to comply with labor standards to secure IRA tax credits, though prevailing wages vary widely across locations. The author also highlighted increased engagement between unions and developers, with union apprenticeship programs expanding to meet the growing demand for skilled workers. The National Skills Coalition published a piece arguing decision-makers must consider the needs of parents and caregivers in workforce policy design to ensure the inclusive implementation of federal funding. The article details improvements to workforce development systems, including increasing access to public benefit programs, making childcare more accessible, and improving the availability of non-degree pathways to careers.
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The White House issued new guidance to improve the Federal Government’s hiring experience. The guidance outlines critical steps to strengthen strategic workforce planning, design and build a more streamlined federal job applicant experience, and empower human resource professionals to simplify processes and advance hiring policies to help attract and retain needed public sector talent. Maine has become the seventh state – alongside North Carolina, Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Connecticut – to join the IRS Direct File Program for filing season 2025. States are rapidly joining the Program after a pilot in 12 states saw 140,000 taxpayers claim more than $90 million in refunds and save an estimated $5.6 million in filing costs.
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The White House announced $5 billion in grant awards to reconstruct, repair, and restore 13 large bridges – making them safer and more resilient to extreme weather. The awards are funded by BIL’s Bridge Investment Program, which aims to invest $40 billion over five years to ensure the nation’s bridges remain safe and operational. The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation released their Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Playbook, a guidebook to help communities navigate key considerations for planning and deploying EV infrastructure. The guidebook provides interactive resources including guiding questions, videos, and worksheets to develop EV infrastructure plans, deploy EV charging infrastructure, navigate costs and funding, and more. Climate Mayors announced a new commitment from nearly 350 mayors to electrify at least 50% of municipal fleets by 2030 while increasing elective vehicle chargers by at least 500%, with 40% or more of the charging infrastructure benefiting disadvantaged communities.
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The White House launched environmentaljustice.gov, a website that highlights the federal government’s actions on environmental justice and shares tools, resources, and funding opportunities to help communities navigate federal programs.
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WW+ Bulletin: August Edition
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