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City of Seattle’s Environmental Justice Fund Awards Record $1.2 Million to Community Organizations

Seattle, WA — The City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) is excited to announce that $1.2 million in Environmental Justice (EJ) Fund grants will be awarded to 26 community organizations. Funded projects range from hands-on education for youth to outdoor activities for Seattle’s Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and low-income residents.  

“Seattle’s frontline communities are disproportionately experiencing the impacts of the climate crisis like worsening floods, air pollution, and dangerous heat waves,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said. “Through our unique Environmental Justice Fund, Seattle continues to be a leader in advancing climate justice and building community resilience by prioritizing investments to support those most overburdened by the climate crisis. I’m grateful to the many community organizations who have partnered with the City and helped grow Seattle’s EJ Fund with their innovative, community-centered solutions to help prepare their neighbors for climate change.”

The Environmental Justice Fund was established seven years ago in 2018 as part of the City of Seattle’s Equity & Environment Agenda to invest in community-led projects advancing climate justice. The EJ Fund is designed to protect and strengthen Seattle communities hit first and worst by climate change, extreme weather, and environmental inequities, including BIPOC, immigrants, refugees, youth, elders, and low-income residents. 

“Urban heat islands and elevated air pollution levels are pressing concerns in the Central Area of Seattle leading to increased health risks for vulnerable populations,” said Mdigo Kisimbo, Executive Director of Outreach & Transform Lives. “By receiving funds though the EJ Fund, we can utilize digital storytelling to foster a deeper understanding of the environmental challenges that our BIPOC seniors and African immigrant populations face while supporting advocacy for climate resilience and justice.” 

Since launching the Environmental Justice Fund, OSE has received 250 applications and awarded more than $3.8 million to 55 community-based organizations whose projects are led by or are in direct partnership with communities disproportionately impacted by environmental injustices and historical inequities.  

“Seattle’s Environmental Justice Fund recognizes that communities on the front lines of the climate crisis have their own unique solutions to advance climate justice,” said Ximena Fonseca Morales, OSE’s Environmental Justice Fund Program Manager. “Local organizations embedded in communities deeply understand the needs of their neighbors. OSE is honored to invest in these groups through the EJ Fund to carry out the environmental solutions best suited for their communities — from climate preparedness for low-income residents to workshops for BIPOC youth teaching about clean energy.” 

The City incorporated community feedback to improve the 2024 granting process. OSE piloted a rolling application in the grant cycle to meet the needs of small community organizations like Tribes, Indigenous-led organizations, and community groups. OSE also invested in projects that first received EJ Fund grants in 2022 or 2023 to offer continued support to their growing programs that are well-loved by community.  

“With the help of the EJ Fund in 2023, The Common Acre has been able to focus on building spaces where BIPOC folks can gather, celebrate, and reconnect with the land,” said Talia London, Executive Director of The Common Acre. “By receiving additional funding through the EJ Fund, we can continue to foster cultural preservation for people of color, restore Camas prairie habitats, and build relationships across historically underserved populations in South Seattle.” 

OSE also allocated a portion of 2024 funding to community organizations engaging in climate preparedness and climate workforce development for youth. These partners have also helped inform Seattle’s Citywide Resilience Hub Plan coming later this year through hands-on community engagement. 

OSE is looking forward to releasing the Environmental Justice Fund 5-year impact report and open another application cycle later this year. Learn more about the EJ Fund on OSE’s website. Read about the work of previous EJ Fund grantees in OSE’s EJ Fund blog series. Below is a list of 2024 EJ Fund grantees. 

New Environmental Justice Fund Projects 

  1. The Backpack Academy 

Funding will support the “Let’s Build a Better Car” project, which provides young adults ages 16-24 with hands-on instructional learning about the impacts of a combustion engine versus electric vehicles.  

  1. Beavers Northwest 

Lead eight nature outreach events in coordination with the organization ECOSS to provide educational, volunteer, and community building opportunities in South Seattle, centering immigrant and refugee communities. Opportunities will cover beavers in the urban environment and their effects in mitigating the impacts of climate change. 

  1. Black Farmers Collective 

Engage community stakeholders through focus groups and conversations to understand how they can communicate the organization’s work and mission across the community and Yesler Terrace. Funding will also contractually hire members of Yesler Terrace to support the need for translation for events. 

  1. Community Land Conservancy 

Facilitate a persons-of-color Community Review Committee to guide the work of equity-committed historically white-led environmental organizations to address community-identified inequities in environmental planning and funding policies and practices. 

  1. Global Wisdom Collective 

In partnership with the Khmer Community, co-develop a five-year Khmer Indigenous Knowledge Systems Preservation Strategy and a comprehensive digital archive. This project will preserve and document cultural knowledge, stories, and practices from Khmer elders, integrating them into modern environmental justice strategies. 

  1. King County International Airport Community Coalition 

Serving Duwamish Valley neighbors who are disproportionately impacted by climate, air, and lead and noise pollution due to King County International Airport and Boeing Field operations. Build capacity and expand outreach to schools, more community groups, and facilitate “Know the Impacts of Lead & Get Tested” educational outreach events and workshops. 

  1. Montañistas de Washington 

Support the Spanish-speaking migrant community to enjoy outdoor activities and connect with nature to feel included in society with social and racial justice. The organization’s youth group, Pequenos Senderistas, or “little hikers,” serves families with little kids and extends to family members. 

  1. Naa káani Native Program 

Run three initiatives focused on serving Indigenous communities within King and Snohomish Counties through community events, a free internship focused on TEK and Traditional Medicine, and non-clinical clerkship hours to medical students through a partnership the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Indian Health Pathway. 

  1. Outreach & Transform Lives 

Support through storytelling, video, and photography during walks in the Central Area. Funding will help document community challenges and resilience, fostering deep connections, and promoting environmental justice advocacy.  

  1. Serve Ethiopians WA 

Hire a part-time Environmental Justice outreach coordinator to lead activities such as tree planting, park restoration, and environmental education workshops. Aiming to engage 750 community members in environmental stewardship, improving access to green spaces, and raising awareness of environmental hazards that disproportionately impact low-income immigrant communities. 

  1. Shared Spaces Foundation 

The “River Access Paddle Program” offers community programs for paddle sports recreation and fights environmental racism primarily in the Duwamish River Valley. Funding will increase the number of free events offered to the public and community organizations, such as tours, cleanups, water sampling, and restoration projects. 

  1. It Takes a Village 

Host a seven-day in-person BIPOC Kwanzaa celebration in Seattle that integrates sustainability and climate-conscious practices while educating community about environmental justice. The event will feature storytelling, art, food, and community discussion on how the NGUZO SABA (seven principles of Kwanzaa) highlights collective responsibilities in environmental justice.  

Continued Investment Grantees

  1. Braided Seeds 

Continued funding will support a strategic visioning retreat for staff and board members, professional development opportunities for staff, development of a curriculum that integrates outdoors experiential learning and the history of Black environmentalists, and more.  

  1. Community Health Workers Coalition for Migrants and Refugees 

Develop Latinx-youth’s leadership for environmental justice among migrants and refugees in Seattle through the development and execution of a hands-on curriculum focused on understanding climate change and its impacts on daily life. 

  1. FEED 7 Generations 

Support the organization’s Native youth-led project, which develops educational enrichment courses for school-age youth. The project will also conduct a youth needs assessment focusing on culturally significant and traditional foods to enhance health and wellness of the community, youth, and families and strengthen local native food systems. 

  1. Food Forest Collective 

Help implement a remediation strategy to address soil pollution at the Beacon Food Forest and conduct a community visioning process to inform the expansion of the BIPOC Community Garden that will serve as a space for community gatherings, education, and healing. 

  1. Golden Brick Events  

Support “Public Lands UnEarthed”, an oral history project to document and share the experiences, customs, and practices of BIPOC communities on public lands in Seattle. In partnership with the organization Young Women Empowered, the project will provide paid skill-building training for youth to collect stories and learn about outdoor access. 

  1. Serve Ethiopians WA 

Bridge the gap between environmental awareness and the cultural context of East African immigrant communities in South Seattle neighborhoods. Offered community members culturally relevant workshops and activities to increase knowledge, skills and resources to become active participants in environmental conservation and sustainability efforts. 

  1. South Seattle Emerald  

Grow their capacity by contracting more freelance reporters who will specifically cover community-centered and community-rooted environmental justice stories. This funding will help the outlet’s mission to amplify the authentic voices of South Seattle-for, by, and to the community through restorative journalism. 

  1. The Common Acre 

Support ongoing programs that restore relationships between people and land through ecology, agriculture, and art. Workshops centering cultural preservation and connection for Unangan people will take place in partnership with yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective. 

  1. Windz of Change Alliance 

Strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ presence through stewardship of urban forests. Activities will focus on fostering relationships in West Seattle to support conservation of old growth Elder trees via educational workshops with a goal to create tribal ecological teaching tools on climate change and to develop solutions for issues of urban environmental injustice and inequality.