Climate Justice Organizing Fund - Track Two – Implementing a Climate Justice Organizing Strategy Fund Grant

The Climate Justice Organizing Fund - Track Two supports grassroots organizations focused on implementing climate justice strategies. This funding aims to empower groups addressing interconnected issues such as racial justice, food security, health equity, and affordable housing. Eligible organizations must have an annual budget of $500,000 or less and prioritize community voices impacted by climate change. The fund emphasizes direct action, coalition building, and mobilizing communities to engage with policymakers, ensuring a robust response to climate challenges.

Climate Justice Organizing Fund - Track Two – Implementing a Climate Justice Organizing Strategy Fund
About the Climate Justice Organizing Fund
The Climate Justice Organizing Fund will provide resources to groups organizing to advance climate justice in a variety of issue areas. This may include interconnected issues like:
Racial Justice and Climate Justice: Environmental disparities stem from historical redlining, disinvestment, and discriminatory policies that have placed polluting industries, hazardous waste sites, and inadequate infrastructure in predominantly Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and low-income neighborhoods. Food Security and Climate Justice: Extreme weather caused by climate change (fires, floods, and extreme heat) disrupts food supply chains, which leads to higher and unpredictable prices and more food scarcity for communities that often live in food deserts or lack resources to access healthy food, compounding pre-existing environmental and economic injustice.Affordable Housing and Climate Justice: Populations most at risk for climate impacts are the ones experiencing the most significant housing affordability, maintenance, and displacement issues. For instance, Black, Latinx, and Native households spend between 25-45 percent of their income on energy costs. This is referred to as energy poverty. As extreme heat increases, so does energy poverty. Health Equity and Climate Justice: Climate change disproportionately harms communities facing systemic health disparities—who bear the most significant health burdens from pollution, extreme weather, and environmental hazards.Public Transportation and Climate Justice: Public transportation is critical in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, and promoting climate resilience. However, disparities in transit access disproportionately affect communities also the most impacted by climate change.
Track Two – Implementing a Climate Justice Organizing Strategy
This funding track is designed to support grassroots, community-led organizations working in the climate justice space. It is intended for groups that have already developed a climate justice organizing strategy and need financial support to sustain, implement, or scale efforts. Unlike funding for planning or preparation as outlined in Track One, this funding track focuses explicitly on implementation.
Example activities could include:
Implementing direct action activities that address particular climate justice concernsLaunching a climate justice campaignCoalition building or cross-organizational collaborationOffsetting costs to train and mobilize communities to attend public hearings, townhalls, and other engagements with policymakers

Eligibility

Eligibility An annual operating budget of $500,000 or less.Leadership must reflect the organizational membership base, include people directly affected by the climate crisis, and represent communities affected by the climate crisis.  Eligible organizations must use or plan to use community organizing that centers the experiences and voices of climate-impacted communities. Specifically, eligible organizations build power by and with grassroots communities to hold corporations and policymakers accountable to impacted communities.Eligible applicants should demonstrate that they understand climate justice and environmental racism and how the issues they are organizing around promote climate justice.Eligible organizations:Have a track record of community organizing tactics that drive change in legislative or regulatory policies or institutional practices.Invest in community engagement to ensure their strategies are informed directly by community members impacted by climate change.Have a track record of basebuilding, e.g., growing the number of communities and residents supporting climate justice issues by bringing in new people or groups.