Inaugural Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grant Recipients Announced

Five Georgia-based family foundations today announce the awarding of inaugural Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grants in support of efforts that advance climate solutions and prioritize equity in Georgia.

Five two-year grants of $100,000 per year were awarded to: Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture, Georgia Organics, Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund, Gwinnett Housing Corporation, and Athens Land Trust.

The Climate Solutions & Equity Grant program is directly inspired by Drawdown Georgia and is focused on advancing climate solutions that prioritize equity across the state, including: Composting, Conservation Agriculture, Energy Efficiency Improvements, Food Waste Reduction, Large-Scale Solar, and Rooftop Solar.

“The Ray C. Anderson Foundation is proud to be a part of this collaboration, along with our partners at the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation, The Wilbur & Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, and The Sapelo Foundation,” said John Lanier, executive director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and a founder of Drawdown Georgia. “Historically, climate efforts have often neglected underserved areas or offered charitable aid without the input of the target communities. These grants are designed to engage and empower BIPOC communities in Georgia to take action on climate solutions, while at the same time bringing investment, jobs, and other benefits where they are most needed.”

This inaugural effort is funding five, two-year grants of $100,000 per year for work to be conducted in 2023-2024, including:

Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture - their work in Atlanta’s Westside focuses on urban agriculture as a place-based strategy to address food injustice in underserved and BIPOC neighborhoods. Through this grant, Truly Living Well will partner with two organizations - Think Green, Inc. and Historic Westside Gardens - to upgrade and expand Truly Living Well’s Community Compost Lab, train local residents to engage at least 200 of their neighbors in composting, and train 40 new urban growers. Truly Living Well projects these efforts will increase their annual amount of composted material by 300%.

Georgia Organics - working in close partnership with McIntosh SEED, the grant will support the creation of a Climate-Smart Farmer Cohort in Southeast Georgia, with a focus on conservation agriculture and rooftop solar. The organizations will develop climate-smart action plans and connect farmers with the resources to implement them.

Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund - this grant will support their statewide EMC Organizing Campaign, a project working to advance sustainability and drive a transition to clean energy production among Georgia’s 41 member-owned electric membership corporations (EMCs.) The effort will educate and activate EMC member-owners around programs that support energy efficiency and residential solar, sustainable practices in power distribution, and the need to dramatically increase the share of renewable energy in generation portfolios.

Gwinnett Housing Corporation - alongside the Georgia Hispanic Construction Association and the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, the Gwinnett Housing Corporation will develop a comprehensive federal investment and workforce development plan to benefit disadvantaged communities in State House District 98 - the most diverse and under-resourced part of Gwinnett County. They will ultimately create a roadmap to invest federal funds in energy-insecure communities that will expand access to weatherization and build energy efficiency and clean energy minority job pipelines. In addition, the partners will assess roadblocks to minority business enterprise participation in energy efficiency services and work with local contractors to provide training and resources for BIPOC contractors.

Athens Land Trust - this grant will support Athens Land Trust’s work in the West Broad neighborhood as well as communities in North Athens. This includes programs to deliver home repair, weatherization, and energy efficiency improvements; expand workforce development capacity through their Young Urban Builders program; assist low-income homeowners in applying to the state Weatherization Assistance Program for deep energy retrofits; and build community leadership capacity for implementation of climate solutions by supporting the establishment of Neighborhood Advisory Boards.

Funding partners for the initiative are the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation and its Dobbs Fund, The Wilbur & Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, The Ray C. Anderson Foundation’s NextGen Committee, and The Sapelo Foundation.

For more information about the Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grant, visit www.drawdownga.org/grants.

About Drawdown Georgia

Drawdown Georgia is a statewide research-based initiative launched in 2020 that was born from a multi-university collaboration, funded by the Ray C. Anderson Foundation. Taking inspiration from Project Drawdown®, the world’s leading resource for taking action on climate change, Drawdown Georgia localized that work by identifying the 20 highest impact solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our state over the next decade.

This framework focuses on climate solutions in five sectors: transportation, buildings & materials, food & agriculture, electricity, and land sinks. It considers how these solutions can reduce emissions and advance “beyond carbon” priorities, including equity, economic development, public health, and nurturing the larger environment.

Drawdown Georgia has grown into a “leader-full” movement, bringing together many organizations, universities, companies, leaders, and funders who are working to advance climate solutions in Georgia, including members of the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact, Drawdown Congregations, and Drawdown Higher Education. Learn more at drawdownga.org

About the Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions and Equity Grant

The inaugural Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions and Equity Grant was launched in 2022 by five Georgia-based family foundations to support efforts that advance climate solutions and prioritize equity throughout Georgia.

Funding partners for the initiative are the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation and its Dobbs Fund, The Wilbur & Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, The Ray C. Anderson Foundation’s NextGen Committee, and The Sapelo Foundation.

The funding partners awarded a total of $1 million over two years to five grant recipients for work to be conducted across Georgia in 2023-2024.The grants are directly inspired by Drawdown Georgia and will focus on the following climate solutions: Composting, Conservation Agriculture, Energy Efficiency Improvements, Food Waste Reduction, Large-Scale Solar, and Rooftop Solar.