The Solutions Project Celebrates its 10 Year Anniversary

Officially launching in 2014, The Solutions Project set out with the bold mission to popularize 100% renewable energy, driven by the belief that clean energy benefits everyone and can advance racial equity. It’s a mission that’s fueled our growth and present day focus on accelerating the effectiveness of climate action by centering the solutions, voices, and power of frontline communities.

In the past 10 years we’ve channeled more than $50 Million to grass-roots organizations working to ensure that everyone has clean air, water, energy, and land. In the past 3 years alone, with the leadership of CEO and President, Gloria Walton, our grantee partners have supported more than one million people with climate solutions and benefited over 100 million more via their campaign and policy wins. We’re an organization with big things to celebrate!

As you read our snapshot of The Solutions Project’s first ten years, we hope you’ll consider a gift towards our campaign goal of $100,000 in honor of our 10 year anniversary!

Back at our start, our co-founders, the actor Mark Ruffalo, the scientist Mark Jacobson, and the businessman Marco Krapels, were often dismissed as naive for their bold climate mission. But the voices, ideas, and innovative leadership of frontline communities accelerated the organization’s ability to effect change, fast.  

In 2014, we launched the field’s first climate justice solutions-focused fund, prioritizing power-building organizations already advancing equitable, renewable energy. These groups were reducing utility bills, improving health outcomes, and cutting CO2 emissions through policy change and local projects – with almost no philanthropic support. We believed that with proper funding, climate solutions rooted in frontline communities would scale to drive systemic change — and now, we know this to be true. A 100% transition of our electricity to renewables is now law in half the country because of the grassroots organizing and advocacy of our grantees partners. These successes and lessons learned informed and fueled our growth, and remain at the heart of our ambitious plans for the future. 

As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary, we reflect on the significant strides we’ve made for climate action and look forward to continuing our work in supporting climate justice solutions from the frontlines.

1. 2014 – The People’s Climate March: 400,000 people marching for climate and climate justice in NYC  was a pivotal moment for the climate justice movement and we played a key role amplifying its impact. We took out a full-page ad in the New York Times, calling for 100% renewable energy. We organized celebrity partners to spotlight Indigenous leadership at the march and echo our message for 100% renewable energy implemented with equity at the core at the United Nations. This was more than just a march; it was a cultural moment where climate justice solutions began to break into the mainstream.

2. 2015 – Climate Justice Leads the Way: We also made our first round of grants to groups in California and New York, innovating in philanthropy with the first fund focused on frontline climate solutions. We also co-founded what is now known as the Just Solutions Collective, a partnership and a strategy to set equity standards for clean energy campaigns across the climate movement. 

3. 2016 – Expanding into the South: We knew the South was critical in the climate fight, but it wasn’t being prioritized by climate funders. We were one of the first to step up, bringing both resources and star-power to support community leaders in places like Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina through the field’s first rapid response movement fund to support them.

4. 2017 – Solidarity Philanthropy at Standing Rock: We initiated rapid response support for organizers at Standing Rock, showing up in solidarity with Indigenous leadership in their fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. For this work, we received the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) Impact Award. This recognition affirmed that rapid-response grant-making and media could drive significant impact for frontline communities.

5. 2018-2019 – Grassroots Grantees Win 100% Policies: From Senate Bill 100 in California to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in New York, to dozens of cities like Atlanta, our grassroots grantees were at the forefront of efforts to make 100% renewable energy law of the land for half the U.S. population. In this period, The Solutions Project affirmed a groundbreaking commitment: 100% of our funds would be directed to frontline organizations, with the majority going to those led by women of color. This commitment recognized that the people most often overlooked in climate philanthropy are not only the most impacted by climate change but are the most critical to solving it.

6. 2020 – Disrupting Status Quo Philanthropy: After three years on the board and five years as an inaugural grantee partner, Gloria Walton became President & CEO of The Solutions Project. Gloria secured the largest donation in the organization’s history—a $43 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund—ensuring that frontline communities were key partners, and setting the stage for significantly scaled impact and growth. In 2020, we increased the number of grantees from 30 to over 100. In her first year, Gloria more than quadrupled The Solutions Project’s influence, bringing climate justice to the forefront of national dialogues.

7. Climate Justice Wins Federal Policy and Governance:The Solutions Project collaborated with partners to launch the Justice40 Accelerator, an independent initiative that helps frontline community-based organizations access funding from the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative. Since 2021, J40 Accelerator participants have secured $43 million in federal and state funding for community-led climate projects.

8. 2022 – 2023 – Innovation, Recognition, and Solidarity: Fast Company named us one of the world’s most innovative nonprofits, and we didn’t stop there. Gloria Walton and Mark Ruffalo were honored at the inaugural TIME CO2 Earth Awards for their work in advancing climate justice and driving transformational change. They were also featured on the cover of TIME’s May issue. Our media and communications efforts earned multiple awards, and we launched two new  independent funds—Communicating Our Power and the Fund for Frontline Power—to scale grassroots innovation. 

9. 2024 – California Grantees Win Big Holding A Polluter Accountable: Local communities, including grassroots partners Urban Tilth, Communities for a Better Environment, and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, spent over a decade organizing to hold Chevron accountable for environmental harm and causing health issues for thousands of residents. Their efforts helped the Richmond City Council secure a $550 million settlement with Chevron over the next 10 years. This agreement is a major win for environmental justice and could act as a nationwide model, benefiting local residents who have faced decades of severe industrial pollution.

10. 2024 – Grassroots Climate Solutions Deliver Major Benefits: The Solutions Project published the first of its kind impact research effort to assess the achievements across the grassroots grantee network. Between 2021 and 2023, The Solutions Project invested $42 million in climate justice groups, leading to more than 20 policy or campaign victories that reduced carbon emissions  benefited over 100 million people, reduced carbon emissions, and helped unlock $350 billion in public funding for climate solutions. 

As we reflect on the past decade of climate justice solutions, we are reminded that all this work is rooted in solidarity. It was built through partnerships, persistent organizing, and the unwavering dedication of frontline communities, whose visions for a just, clean energy future have shaped every step of our journey. This new video, with a voiceover from actress Regina Hall, spotlights how change happens from the ground up 

Looking ahead, our commitment to climate justice remains stronger than ever. The next years will be about deepening our impact, expanding our reach, and continuing to invest in the communities who are leading the way. Together, we will ensure that a Just Transition is possible and benefits all of us.

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, and the tireless leaders on the ground who have made this work possible. We’re excited to embark on the next chapter of The Solutions Project’s story.