Our 2019 Impact Report 100% Committed

Since 2014, we’ve worked hard to turn the vision of 100% clean energy into our new reality.

With the launch of the 100% Campaign, we set out to shift the culture, creating affordable clean energy solutions. With our grantmaking, we promised to support and lift up frontline organizations already out there creating solutions.

In the last five years, we’ve seen cities, states, and businesses committing to 100% clean energy targets. We’ve seen the narrative around clean energy shift – in the media and among the general public. Now more than ever, people want climate action — and so 1 out of every 3 Americans today live in a place already committed to 100% clean energy.

We’re well on our way to a cleaner, greener future. But The Solutions Project believes that a green future must also be just and inclusive, with no one left behind – and we are 100% committed to seeing that through.

Join us as we look back on 2019, and what commitment means to us.

Activists marching together at a climate protest Mark Ruffalo speaks at a Solutions Project event

Committed to
justice.

The Solutions Project was in the front of the pack as the first national organization to call for 100% clean energy for all, and now it’s in the lead again with its 2019 100% Commitment to Justice.

Justin Winters

Justin Winters Board Member and Executive Director of One Earth

Last year we made our groundbreaking 100% Commitment to Justice.

We believe that the communities most affected by climate change are the ones best positioned for impact, and we know that racial and gender diversity in leadership brings greater chances of success. Yet only a small percentage of U.S. philanthropic dollars go to organizations led by women and people of color. That’s why, in February of 2019, we made a big announcement.

To back up our strong belief in equity and justice, and to help address the extreme funding gaps in climate philanthropy, we made our 100% Commitment to Justice pledge to invest 95 percent of our resources in frontline organizations led by Executive Directors of color, with at least 80 percent going to organizations led by women.

Reaching our
Grantmaking Goals

95%

95% Executive Directors of Color

in 2019, compared to 53% in 2018

80%

80% Women Executive Directors

in 2019, compared to 56% in 2018

Want to learn more?
Download our 2019 Impact Evaluation

Our commitment goes beyond grant dollars. We strive to bring equity and justice into every aspect of our work.

Valuing diversity in our leadership and staff.

The Solutions Project team at their 2019 retreat.

Backing solutions created by women and people of color.

Wahleah Johns, Co-founder and Executive Director of Native Renewables.

Modeling equity in philanthropy.

Working session at our Funding Climate + Equity Narrative Convening.

Committed to
investment.

The Solutions Project's approach to partnership is innovative and reflective of your commitment to unconditionally supporting our community-based efforts. Most of all, it is a reflection of the trust we have built as partners.

Tatewin Means

Tatewin Means Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Our 2019 Grantees

Our grantees are our partners and our collaborators. We do everything in our power to move money, media and momentum in their direction, and provide the tactical support and training needed to accomplish their missions. In 2019, we awarded 40 Fighter Fund grants to organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico, and 6 Fighter League grants to leaders from the Gulf South.

Capacity Building $550,000 / 27 grants Rapid Response $63,000 / 13 grants Fighter League $60,000 / 6 grants $673,000 INVESTED IN 2019

Capacity Building and Rapid Response Grant Recipients

UFW Foundation

Los Angeles, CA

Groundswell

Washington, DC

Zero Hour

Washington ,DC

Miami Climate Alliance

Coral Gables, FL

Project South

Atlanta, GA

Solstice

Cambridge, MA

Hijra House

Biloxi, MS

North Montgomery Citizens United for Prosperity

Duck Hill, MS

Education Economics Environmental Climate and Health Organization Inc. (EEECHO)

Gulfport, MS

UPROSE

Brooklyn, NY

PUSH Buffalo

Buffalo, NY

La Maraña

San Juan, PR

We Own It

Madison, WI

Video Highlights

New York State Commits to 100% Clean Energy

Last year, New York State passed the nation’s most ambitious climate bill, committing to carbon-free electricity by 2040 and a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

PUSH Buffalo co-chaired the NY Renews coalition. They spent the last several years creating, and then working to advance the legislation that eventually became the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), the country’s strongest and most equitable climate policy. PUSH teamed up with Seventh Generation to spread the word and protect the equity provisions in the bill.

Uniting Communities of Color in the South

The Justice First Tour visited 25 cities across the South, convening a diverse range of community members, organizers, and activists in an effort to inspire a “stronger, more unified and intersectional Southern movement centered around justice.”

Led by Rev. Leo Woodberry of South Carolina-based New Alpha Community Development Corporation, the tour was instrumental in building a clean energy narrative that centers justice and equity. This greatly influenced the framing of the Green New Deal which called to “Promote justice and equity by preventing current and repairing historic oppression to frontline and vulnerable communities.”

Committed to
community solutions.

When people who live every day with the effects of dirty energy and a changing climate draw on that experience to create solutions and drive change, the results can be game-changing.

Don Cheadle

Don Cheadle Board Member and Donor

We believe communities at the frontlines of climate change can best create and implement solutions.

Group of people celebrating in front of a solar panel.

Bringing a Community Solar Project to Life

Read More
Ribbon cutting with a group of people  outside, in front of solar panels.

Sharing Strategies for Community Solar

Read More & Download

2019 One100 Awards

Pushing Back on Oil Drilling in Southern Los Angeles

This year our One100 awards shined the spotlight on real-life heroes in South and Southeast Los Angeles who came together to stop toxic oil drilling in their communities. The awards were hosted by The Solutions Project board member Don Cheadle, and coincided with the Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame premiere.

Committed to
inspiring action.

A transition to clean energy that is just and equitable takes everyone. We’re lucky to have amazing advocates and ambassadors – some who reach into media and pop culture to spark conversation, and some who work every day to inspire their own communities to participate & act.

Board member Don Cheadle supporting our grantees at the Youth Climate Strikes.
Regina Hall sending a shout out to the Climate Justice Youth Summit.
The Avengers cast modeling limited edition threads as part of a fundraising collaboration with Marvel Studios.
Leonardo DiCaprio presenting the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Artist Inspiration Award to co-founder and board member Mark Ruffalo for his activism for racial and climate justice.

The Solutions Project helped Seventh Generation to take action in support of frontline leaders and equity outcomes when New York state was deciding to commit to 100% clean energy in 2019. We were able to work together with PUSH Buffalo and the NY Renews coalition because of the trust we all had in The Solutions Project, including taking out a full page ad to show that our business not only supported the highest clean energy targets, but also demanded clear benefits for the most impacted environmental justice communities in the state.

Kate Ogden

Kate Ogden Advocacy and Movement Building Manager, Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation ad asking New York legislators to vote on the Climate Community Protection Act

Committed to
transforming our world.

Join us.

With your support, we can provide funding and training to more of the grassroots organizations that are leading the way to a clean energy and green economy future that includes all of us.

Donate to The Solutions Project
LET’S CREATE THE FUTURE WE WANT. LET’S CREATE THE FUTURE WE WANT. LET’S CREATE THE FUTURE WE WANT.

Thanks to Our Funders

We are grateful to our partners and funders, and all of our supporters and participants, whose contributions make our work possible.

Curious about becoming a funder?

Contact Us

More about The Solutions Project

Our Team Request our 2019 Financials View us on Guidestar