Organizations like ACTS — which center the needs of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in their work — are making big strides on climate action. These efforts range from advancing strict truck pollution regulation in California to pushing the federal government to adopt an “all of government” approach to supporting equitable outcomes to partnering with labor leaders to help Oregon pass the sweeping Oregon Climate Action Plan. But despite a track record of success, these organizations also face some of the steepest financial hurdles. In the U.S., a gap of more than $2.7 billion of funding sits between white-led groups and those led by people of color, like Murray, according to the Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in Environmental Philanthropy (InDEEP) Initiative. That difference in funding has a dramatic impact on what groups led by people of color can accomplish. Organizations led by people of color describe the challenges caused by such funding inequities — a lack of resources to conduct analysis, staff burnout, having to scale back their level of ambition, and much more.

These facts reflect a history of underinvestment, but that doesn’t have to be the future. For donors who, like the Hewlett Foundation, want to do more to advance climate action, as well as gender and racial equity, new intermediaries are helping get resources, support, and capacity to groups led by people of color that are advancing the climate cause.

The Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, a key Hewlett Foundation grantee and partner, began providing financial resources to multi-issue community organizations in just two states. Six years later, the fund provides support in 13 states. Despite the specificity of its name, the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund doesn’t only help groups with energy or climate agendas. It also funds organizations with track records of success in other social justice issue areas, including immigration, labor, housing, and reproductive rights.

Read the full article about climate solutions by Yessenia Funes at Hewlett Foundation.