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What Works Plus Bulletin:March 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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OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE WITH WW+
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A snapshot of learning events and high-impact federal funding implementation-related opportunities in need of philanthropic support. For more information about these opportunities, please contact info@whatworksplus.com.
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New Landscape Analysis from Freedman Consulting: Landmark Federal Funding and Opportunities for Impact
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The Hewlett Foundation engaged Freedman Consulting to conduct a landscape analysis of Landmark Federal Funding and Opportunities for Impact. Prepared for economy funders interested in climate, labor, and equity outcomes, the analysis details the current federal funding implementation landscape as it pertains to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS). The analysis aims to 1) understand the relevant flows of funding from this legislation, 2) identify critical leverage points affecting successful implementation, and 3) identify opportunities for philanthropic intervention to support implementation and maximize impact. The findings are intended to provide insights to funders as they develop strategies to support implementation of federal funding. The analysis incorporates findings from Freedman Consulting’s What Works Plus (WW+) funder collaborative and features a number of partners in the WW+ network.
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You’re Invited! Making Equity Work: A Conversation with Recent Senior White House Leaders
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On February 16, the Biden-Harris Administration issued an Executive Order on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, building on its 2021 executive order on equity and updating its call to transform how federal agencies engage with underserved communities and deliver policy results. New America’s Political Reform program, in collaboration with What Works Plus, Hyphen, and Brookings Metro, are bringing together a group of senior officials from across the federal government to discuss their experiences helping lead the implementation of the 2021 Executive Order, incorporating equity in their work, and lessons learned and best practices for advancing equitable policymaking and implementation. Please join us on Tuesday, April 4th from 10:00AM - 11:30AM EDT for an in-person and online conversation with former senior Biden-Harris leaders as they reflect on their time in the administration and what it takes to move the country on a path to greater equity and well-being. Register for the discussion here.
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Funding Opportunity: Accelerator for America - “Seizing the Moment: Training America’s Infrastructure Workforce For Today and Long-Term Prosperity”
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The Gap: Workforce training is one of the most significant opportunities to influence the trajectory of new federal dollars for the greatest benefit of more Americans. National and regional philanthropic support for workforce training is necessary to seize this moment for American worker opportunity. However, deploying new philanthropic funding to meet this challenge is not a “plug and play” scenario; it requires strategies tailored to local needs. The Opportunity: Accelerator for America proposes to build upon its recent and legacy success in workforce by serving as a national intermediary to assist funders in allocating philanthropic dollars to increase America’s infrastructure workforce. As the intermediary, AFA will support national and regional funders by curating opportunities to advance workforce training in target cities. AFA’s network of over 50 cities provides access to local experts in both the Mayor’s office and the economic/community development agencies. AFA would provide the funder(s) with recommendations on places where it knows there are strong local partners ready to engage with philanthropic support. AFA can also do the groundwork in places identified by philanthropy based on their focus geography or other interests. The philanthropic partner would make all final funding decisions, and AFA can structure the curation process and components based on the funder(s) direction. Read the full proposal here.
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March Spotlight: News from Core Members & Friends
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Have a notable investment, partnership, or event coming up? Let us know at info@whatworksplus.com and we’ll feature it next month.
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The James Irvine Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Ascendium Education Group, Schmidt Futures, and Schultz Family Foundation are supporting Apprenticeships for America (AFA), a national nonprofit focused on scaling and expanding apprenticeship programs across the country.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation released updates to their climate grantmaking strategy, which will focus primarily on efforts related to forests, the ocean and other innovative climate solutions. The National League of Cities launched the Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy, which will engage 12 cities throughout 2023 and 2024 to accelerate city efforts to design, develop, and launch a workforce initiative to build pathways into good jobs created by federal investments, especially for local residents from historically underserved and underrepresented communities. Proposals are accepted until April 28, 2023.
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A snapshot of this month’s key news.
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Rebuild by Design released Atlas of Disaster, a report with recommendations to address climate disasters more effectively. Recommendations include: 1) establishing collaboration between stakeholders to deliver climate resilient infrastructure, 2) developing state-level Resilience Infrastructure Funds financed through ballot measures or a surcharge on insurance, and 3) utilizing cost benefit analysis frameworks to invest resources in projects that have several benefits and are centered on justice. The report also provides state-by-state maps with climate disaster declarations in addition to maps on post disaster public assistance, social vulnerability, and energy reliability across the country.
The World Resource Institute released its analysis on the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool 1.0 (CEJST), which identifies disadvantaged communities through eight categories of disadvantaged status such as climate change, energy, and transportation. The analysis finds that CEJST 1.0 failed to account for multidimensional burdens faced by disadvantaged communities. To make the tool more effective, the analysis recommends that agencies consider cumulative burden (disadvantages in areas of Fossil Dependence, Energy Burden, Environmental and Climate Hazards, and Socio-economic Vulnerabilities) in communities when allocating funding and better capture and address gaps in yearly data to understand whether disadvantaged communities are benefiting from federal investments.
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The Department of Energy (DOE) announced new funding to support states as they prepare to administer the upcoming Home Energy Rebates programs authorized by the IRA. States are encouraged to apply for up to 2.5% of their formula funding allocated by these programs to support administrative costs such as capacity building, strategic planning, workforce analysis, coordination across programs, and consumer outreach.
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At the State of the Net conference this month, Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky shared materials about their Project UP initiative, which will invest $1 billion over 10 years to create programs and partnerships that connect people broadband, advance economic mobility, and open doors of opportunities for jobs in communities.
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The Biden-Harris Administration submitted their budget to Congress for fiscal year 2024, requesting $12.3 billion in discretionary funding and $4 billion in mandatory funding to support the Department of Commerce (DOC)’s goals of equitable economic growth and innovation. To grow regional economies and create a diverse and skilled workforce, the budget requests $4 billion for the Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs program, $804 million in discretionary funding for the Economic Development Administration (EDA), $100 million for the Good Jobs Challenge, $200 million for the Recompete Pilot Program, and $110 million for the Minority Business Development Agency.
The Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the launch of the first CHIPS for America funding opportunity for manufacturing incentives that restore U.S. production of semiconductors. Applicants for the $39 billion program must commit to developing a diverse workforce and creating a plan to hire historically disadvantaged workers. Those requesting over $150 million must provide a plan to provide accessible childcare for facility and construction workers. Projects will also be evaluated on their commitment to building shared prosperity through building R&D facilities in the United States, supporting CHIPS research and development programs, creating opportunities for minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses, demonstrating climate and environmental responsibility, and a commitment to using iron, steel, and construction materials produced in the United States.
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a $20 million cooperative agreement with TradesFutures to create apprenticeship opportunities through its “Scaling Apprenticeship Readiness Across the Building Trades” initiative. This initiative has a goal of enrolling 13,000 participants in apprenticeship readiness programs and fostering equitable opportunities for underrepresented communities.
Constellation and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) signed a pledge with goals to increase a diverse and more skilled trades workforce in the energy industry. The pledge outlines efforts to increase access and opportunities for underrepresented groups, and sets standards to eliminate bias and establish a sense of belonging in the recruitment, hiring, training, and retention process. The Markle Foundation released “Realizing the Workforce Potential of Infrastructure Investments: State Strategies to Advance Job Quality and Build Inclusive Workforces in Transportation and Clean Energy,” a report with strategies for states to realize the workforce and job quality potential of infrastructure investments in critical sectors such as transportation and clean energy. The report provides a framework focused on deepening coordination across state and federal agencies, augmenting workforce program funding, and embedding procurement through quality jobs, inclusion, and accountability.
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The Climate and Community Project released a report on ways to achieve zero emissions transportation while limiting the amount of lithium mining required. Solutions involve reducing car dependence in the transportation system, decreasing the size of EV batteries, and maximizing lithium recycling. The benefits of focusing on a dual approach of reducing lithium mining and building more efficient transportation include achieving climate targets, reducing geopolitical tensions, and reducing harms for communities on the frontline of lithium mining.
The Federal Transit Agency (FTA) is asking Congress for a policy change that would free up $6.7 billion in formula grant funding to help transit agencies make up for budget shortfalls while also ensuring funding from state and local governments remain the same. The policy change would allow transit operators to use formula funds for operations and maintenance of their systems, rather than exclusively for capital spending.
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Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Environmental Defense Fund released the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Tracker. The project includes an IRA database, which contains information about the climate change-related provisions from the IRA, and an IRA tracker that records actions taken by federal agencies to implement these provisions.
National Public Radio published a piece focusing on the barriers rural communities face in accessing federal funding for infrastructure investments due to lack of resources. This gap prompted the government to create the Rural Partners Network to clarify local priorities, navigate programming, connect to assistance providers and funders, and develop strong applications. There is a desire to expand the program, given its limitations of covering a select few rural areas – with entire states left out of accessing the network.
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WW+ Bulletin: March Edition
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