IMPEL is a woman-led, DOE-funded tech-to-market program accelerating equitable access to next-generation building decarbonization technologies for schools, homes, and commercial buildings. For Earth Day, Forbes published an exclusive on the program's remarkable success over the past five years. IMPEL innovators – over half of whom identify as women, non-binary, and/or people have color – have raised $90 million in funding, created 180 jobs, and won 167 awards, grants, and prizes.
In Chicago’s Morgan Park neighborhood, 16% to 35% of residents are at risk of experiencing food insecurity. To help address the problem, Dion’s Chicago Dream and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois unveiled a Dream Vault – a set of network-enabled smart lockers that provide free, fresh produce – at the Blue Door Neighborhood Center Morgan Park. FOX 32, CBS Chicago, and Block Club Chicago covered this uplifting story.
Read MoreOn October 19, environmental justice leaders held a press conference to call on President Biden to stop the expansion of the biomass industry, which is polluting Southern communities and clearcutting Southern forests.
Read MoreDion Dawson of Dion’s Chicago Dream is developing innovative ways to ensure all people have the healthy food they need to thrive. Story & Reach was proud to work with MatchPoint Studios to produce this video about Dion’s latest innovation: the Dream Vault.
Read MoreFunded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Berkeley Lab's IMPEL program helps building efficiency start-ups overcome the "commercialization valley of death." The program is the subject of an in-depth article by Commercial Property Executive, a leading publication for commercial real estate professionals.
Read MoreNoria Energy designed Aquasol – South America’s largest floating solar array, at Colombia’s Urrá dam – to show how hydropower and floating solar can work together to generate more energy, more reliably.
Read MoreFor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Axios Generate shares this inspiring story about how Molokai residents are reclaiming their energy sovereignty by building a community-owned and -designed clean energy economy.
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Dion Dawson is a Chicago native who experienced homelessness & food insecurity both as a child & as a military veteran. Now, he runs a nonprofit – called Dion’s Chicago Dream – that feeds over 600 Chicagoland families in need so they don’t have to go hungry like he did. Watch Dion’s moving story on the TODAY show.
Read MoreFor its 10-year anniversary, we helped the Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE) produce materials showcasing its success in working with partners to turn New York state into a national clean energy leader. Along with key partners, AGREE secured passage of the nation’s first utility decarbonization law, decarbonized hundreds of homes, launched the state’s community solar program, and kept utility bill rate hikes in check. To learn more, please see AGREE’s 10-year impact report and brochure.
Read MoreWGN-TV Exclusive: This year, Dion’s Chicago Dream & Digs with Dignity will deliver housing stability & food security for 65 families in need on the South and West Sides. The nonprofits recently served a family in Englewood, with the help of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Read MoreAs featured in a Southside Weekly cover story – as well as on TMZ, Fox 32, and Block Club Chicago – the rapper G Herbo is partnering with the nonprofit Dion’s Chicago Dream to address food insecurity throughout his native Chicago. By serving as a brand ambassador and making monthly donations, G Herbo will help the nonprofit raise $500,000 to move the 500 households on its waitlist from food-insecure to food-secure. For every $1,000 the organization raises, it’s able to provide a new household with a 10-pound box of fresh produce every week for a year.
Read MoreOn LinkedIn, energy expert Pat Stanton of E4TheFuture highlights one of the most exciting features of the Senate’s Inflation Reduction Act: a historic $9 billion investment in making U.S. homes more energy efficient. This important piece of legislation will help address climate change, create over one million jobs, and save families money on their energy bills. Talk about a triple win for the environment, the economy, and equity.
Read MoreIn honor of Juneteenth, Solutions Project grantee and Chicago-based national environmental justice and economic development organization Blacks in Green (BIG) created two new sustainable, innovative green infrastructure spaces - called the Prairie Rainwater Parkway Garden – at the organization's Mamie Till-Mobley Forgiveness Garden, a key feature of BIG’s Sustainable Square Mile project in historic West Woodlawn.
The Prairie Rainwater Parkway Garden will provide rainwater management, conserve water, improve habitat, provide cooling shade for residents, and create beautiful spaces for this historic neighborhood.
Read MoreFor Earth Week, Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green participated in a panel on Chicago Tonight Black Voices and Latino Voices to discuss how air pollution and climate change disproportionately affect communities of color in the Chicagoland area, and the solutions that are underway, including BIG’s Sustainable Square Mile Initiative.
Read MoreIn honor of Black History Month, The Solutions Project has launched the second annual Black Climate Week, which runs Monday, February 21 through Friday, February 25. Every year, the campaign focuses on a different theme related to Black leadership in the climate movement. This year, the campaign celebrates the work of 14 organizations that are spearheading climate justice solutions that are rooted in Black history.
Read MorePG&E fire survivors are now on the hook to bail out the utility if it starts another devastating fire. Reclaim Our Power - a campaign mobilizing utility ratepayers including social justice advocates - calls out Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to grant PG&E a safety certificate, or as advocates call it a “license to burn.” In the wake of being called a “continuing menace” by a federal judge, the utility can now tap into a multi-billion-dollar fund, paid into by ratepayers, to repay itself if PG&E starts another fire.
Read MoreCalifornia’s landmark environmental justice law, AB617, is supposed to clean the air in frontline communities – a first step in cleaning up the toxic legacy of redlining. After four years and $1 billion spent, local environmental justice leaders warn communities are being ignored and emissions reductions are not happening. CalMatters spotlights Stockton’s Little Manila Rising and why we cannot afford to get this wrong.
Read MoreOur client Pack4U has acquired the leading pharmacy technology company Catalyst Healthcare. Together, they’re making in-home healthcare more personalized and effective – an approach that will help address the $528 billion problem of non-optimized medication therapy.
Read MoreThe HBCU Green Fund is working with historically Black colleges and universities to create a sustainable future. In a story for Prism, Howard alumna and founder Felicia Davis shares some exciting projects the HBCU Green Fund has in store.
Read MoreIn a Bronx Times feature, The Point CDC's Danny Peralta describes the powerful advocacy and resilience that defines the community:
“Hunts Point is an incredible place, where neighbors preserve culture and solve problems and support and advocate for one another. Our book is filled with stories that will inspire the imagination necessary to fight for environmental justice. This book will continue to shape the perception of Hunts Point with stories of stewardship and not just marginalization and poverty.”
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