Originally published at usbank.com. U.S. Bank ranked No. 17 on The Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in 2022.
U.S. Bank Foundation is investing $1 million in green energy through its annual Market Impact Grant program. The funding will support a variety of organizations and programs focused on green energy initiatives in low-to-moderate income communities with an emphasis on supporting people of color and/or women. The grants will go to 20 nonprofit organizations across the country.
“As we strive to be a responsible steward of the environment, it is critical that we continue to invest in nonprofits and programs that focus on green energy,” said Reba Dominski, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at U.S. Bank and President of U.S. Bank Foundation. “We are excited about these projects, including solar energy, eco-friendly housing and renewable energy workforce opportunities and the impact they will have on our communities.”
U.S. Bank Foundation is awarding $50,000 Market Impact Fund grants to the following organizations:
- CHN Housing Partners (Cleveland, Ohio) The grant will help CHN develop and implement a plan to carry out its whole home approach to increase service delivery and expand weatherization and home repair services.
- Columbus Housing Partnership Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) The grant will support Columbus Housing Partnership’s Homeport proposal to promote a “green-leaf” economy by expanding the urban tree canopy in an affordable housing development.
- Earth Advantage, Inc. (Portland, Oregon) Earth Advantage (EA) develops and delivers unique Green Construction Workforce Trainings for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) populations, at-risk youth and previously incarcerated individuals residing in LMI communities in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area and Central/Eastern Oregon.
- Employment Connection (St. Louis, Missouri) The grant will support the Solar Workforce Development Program (SWDP) and Employment Connection (EC) which will contract with the St. Louis Community College (SLCC) and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) to provide the training component.
- For the Struggle, Inc. (Charlotte, North Carolina) Funding will support FTS’s Elder Response Initiative which addresses the disparities in homeownership, economic mobility, generational wealth and displacement by offering wrap-around services to seniors in historically and predominately Black neighborhoods.
- Forterra NW (Seattle, Washington) The grant will support the organization’s work to decarbonize the affordable housing supply chain by proving out a triple-bottom-line solution for environmental sustainability, economic development and social equity.
- GRID Alternatives Inland Empire (Riverside, California) The grant will support GRID IE job training and no-cost solar programs which build equity through providing access to the benefits of a growing green energy economy for low-income households at or below 80% average median household income and the local underserved workforce.
- GRID Alternatives North Valley (Sacramento, California) The grant will support GRID’s no-cost single-family solar program, Energy for All, which is a multi-benefit intervention that can strengthen communities’ economic and environmental progress. Given the detrimental economic impact of the pandemic on low-to-moderate income communities and Black, Brown and women workers, there has been increasing interest in accelerated short-term job training programs that successfully teach the in-demand skills needed for good-paying jobs.
- Groundwork San Diego – Chollas Creek (San Diego, California) The funds will support the Green Energy Campaign, which will deliver neighborhood-scale renewable energy/climate education, including specific strategies for energy efficiency, energy generation and advocacy for government investments in energy incentives for low-income communities. The Green Energy Campaign will reach 300 families and 40 students with information about energy efficiency, electrification (non-gas) cooking, electric vehicles and rooftop solar information/installation opportunities.
- Jamboree Housing Corporation (Irvine, California) The grant will support the reduction of energy consumption by replacing lighting and appliances with energy efficient versions and preparing and educating the residents at family, senior and permanent supportive housing communities in Orange County.
- Kor Community Land Trust (Bend, Oregon) The funds will help mitigate displacement by developing 40 permanently affordable and goal net-zero homeownership units — featuring solar panels, a tightly sealed building envelope, upgraded fixtures, hard surface flooring and energy efficient lighting and mechanicals.
- Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (Los Angeles, California) The grant will support the organization’s program focused on recruiting and supporting women founders (across all LACI programs). Since 2016, the program has helped to provide a pipeline of female entrepreneurs to startup programs, leading to increased overall startup diversity with 26% growth in women founders and 47% growth in BIPOC founders.
- Mercy Housing Lakefront (Chicago, Illinois) The grant will support Mercy Housing Lakefront’s (MHL) Green Hope Initiative which was designed to reduce MHL’s consumption of natural resources, reduce waste and create healthier living environments. MHL has committed to be a responsible steward of the earth by making several external environmental commitments.
- Mercy Housing Lakefront (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) The funds will support Mercy Housing Lakefront’s (MHL’s) Green Hope Initiative which was designed to reduce MHL’s consumption of natural resources, reduce waste and create healthier living environments.
- Mutual Housing California (Sacramento, California) The grant will support the organization’s Sustainable Communities Program, which focuses on bringing greater awareness of environmental justice issues and green/sustainable field opportunities to Mutual Housing residents.
- New Energy Economy (Santa Fe, New Mexico) The grant will help the organization install a 84kW solar array in a food market near Zuni Pueblo, which is providing a critical service to the 12,000 members of Zuni Pueblo who live inside a food desert and need healthy, nutritious, fresh food. Cost savings from the solar array will make it possible for them to hire additional staff while reducing their carbon footprint and setting a model for green energy in the region.
- Project for Pride in Living Inc. (Minneapolis, Minnesota) The funds will support PPL’s Hawthorne EcoVillage, a four-block cluster of single and multi-family homes in north Minneapolis aimed at creating a neighborhood of sustainable, affordable housing.
- Re:Vision (Denver, Colorado) The grant will support Re:Vision, which hires local Westwood Latinx women as family garden promotoras, who not only deliver our food sovereignty and racial equity curriculum at family garden visits, but also receive professional development paths that begin at the promotora role and move into coordinator, manager and program director roles to lead our organization.
- Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity (Loves Park, Illinois) The funds will help create financially and environmentally sustainable homeownership opportunities targeted toward a population that has not had equal access to the mortgage market nor equal access to the green economy of environmentally sustainable and energy efficient homes.
- Working In Neighborhoods (Cincinnati, Ohio) The grant will support WIN’s Near Net Zero Urban Village in its use of net zero technology in single family affordable homeownership units in a low-income community of color. The project provides the opportunity of sustainable homeownership for low-income first-time homebuyers in a community of color and the opportunity for our seniors to age in place by reducing maintenance & lowering energy costs.
This is the fourth time U.S. Bank Foundation has activated the Market Impact Fund grant program. The grants are an opportunity for markets to compete for larger, strategically focused grants for women, people of color and low-to-moderate income communities.
