We Believe
The most powerful, lasting climate solutions start on the ground in communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis:
The Solutions Project deepened its work where community organizing and power building in the climate justice movement is thriving – where local solutions, disaster resilience, and the transition to renewable energy are creating the future we want – and everyone deserves.
Since then, and in the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, we have experienced an alarming backlash on both equity and climate. From the defunding of environmental justice to suppression of DEI initiatives, which strip communities of hard-fought resources and rights. The stakes for our work have never been higher.
Yet, despite these challenges, frontline communities continue to lead with innovative vision, resilience, and unwavering determination.
As we celebrated ten years of climate solutions, The Solutions Project continues our commitment to shift power and resources to those on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The impact speaks for itself. In the three years from 2021-2024 we supported our grassroots grantee partners to organize and create climate solutions serving more than one million people. This helped deliver 53 policy and campaign wins benefiting over 100M people. Over the same period we provided over $42M in funding to 300+ organizations.
In 2024, just nine policy wins from our grantee partners is estimated to benefit nearly 42M people and estimated to unlock more than $4B in public funds and new revenue for climate solutions.
This year, we’ve rooted our work in a bold new strategic plan shaped by the wisdom of our grantee partners, funders, advisors, and board. At its core, it is a renewed commitment to accelerate climate action by resourcing the leadership, solutions, and building power of frontline communities. We’re doubling down on community-led efforts to ensure that everyone has access to clean energy, air, water, and land by growing our fundraising and narrative work to meet this moment.
As political opposition to justice and equity grows, we are not backing down—we’re doubling down. Our network of grantee partners is leading from the ground up: strengthening community resilience, driving local and state policy victories, and innovating new climate solutions.
We know that people are at the heart of climate solutions. Even in a high stakes moment such as this, change is always possible – and creative, durable strategies are already underway.
This is not a moment to retreat. It is a moment to push forward, towards the horizon. It’s a moment that requires courage, unity, and exercising fortitude together.
Stand with us to invest in the movements, organizations, and people that are proving every day that an equitable and sustainable world is within reach.
Join us in going all in on community-led climate solutions.
In solidarity,
Gloria Walton
President + CEO
Solutions & Funding
For decades, The Solutions Project’s grantee partners have been organizing in their communities and building power from the ground up.
With our long-term support, they are realizing a vision for a world where everyone has clean air, water, energy, and land.
2024 brought some huge wins not just for our grantees but for entire communities.
Grassroots Solutions in Action
Our grantee partners are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, creating a better future for their communities and all of us. Here are just four of their stories.
Breathing Clean Air
Growing Renewable Energy
Cultivating the Land
Working with Water
Resourcing Grassroots Climate Solutions
Grassroots organizations are at the forefront of effective climate and social justice efforts. However, they often face significant challenges, including chronic underfunding, capacity limitations, and barriers to deepening and scaling their impact.
The Solutions Project resources the power building, community organizing, and movement infrastructure of grassroots organizations advancing climate solutions.
115 grantee partners
in 31 states
were awarded
$5,017,000
84% are women of color-led organizations
86% are women-led organizations
96% of organizations are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led organizations
Narrative & Influence
At The Solutions Project, we are shifting the media narrative on climate by placing frontline communities and their solutions at the heart of the national conversation. When communities tell their own stories, they are victors and visionaries, not victims, reframing the narrative from disempowerment to self-determination.
Our work aims to inspire larger public audiences to play their part in solving the climate crisis.
reach for our media and digital campaigns
reach for 2024 grantees, including those who received past communications capacity building support from us
produced for grantees, with total estimated views of 1.3M
Sharing Stories & Shaping Conversations
The Solutions Project proudly hosted the fourth annual Black Climate Week in 2024 to celebrate the Black-led organizations and leaders whose innovative climate solutions are improving the lives of millions.
We partnered with Black Girl Environmentalist, JCDecaux, and The Climate Museum to amplify the week’s impact and inspire more people to join the movement for lasting change.
313 press and social mentions
83M estimated editorial reach
3 events held in NYC, Chicago, and Washington DC
In 2024, The Solutions Project launched a new Story Bank designed to equip journalists and screenwriters with practical, inspiring, real-world examples of community-based climate solutions.
The first 12 stories highlight examples of communities building power, creating change, and delivering transformative results across climate solutions (i.e., renewable energy, climate disaster resilience, community development). It showcased new videos, featuring solutions like Casa Adelante – a green affordable housing building in San Francisco. The project was subsequently amplified by many media organizations, including a feature in the National Press Club.
6,000 page views since launch
Trailer video reached an audience of more than 20M, with 122,000 views
The intersection of climate justice and democracy has never been more critical, as communities strive to defend and protect hard-won climate policies and public funding for popular climate solutions. Our grantee partners approach democracy as a key tenet of their climate justice work, with a non-partisan focus on voting, electoral protection, and self-determination.
Local government leadership will be critical in the face of recent federal cutbacks that have already resulted in significant losses for environmental protections and climate solutions programs. Frontline communities’ climate solutions can still adapt and scale, even when the political pendulum swings the other way. However, local and state policy support is needed to help the seeds of their grassroots innovation to grow.
In 2024, we provided communications grants to seven groups who received federal funding to implement community-determined climate solutions like shared solar energy, sustainable farmers cooperatives and disaster resilience hubs. Equipping these partners to tell their stories showcased to public audiences what is possible when the government follows the will of the people.
Seven grantee partners generated 1,000 cumulative press hits with a potential audience reach of 3B
Produced two grantee-focused videos: Blacks in Green $10M Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Thriving Communities Technical Advisory Center and CEER’s $1M Department of Energy (DOE) grant to lower barriers for households to weatherize with energy efficiency upgrades, together reaching over 20M people and nearly 500,000 views
Launched “From the Ground Up” video, narrated by actress Regina Hall, highlighting how grassroots organizing leads to federal policy change, reaching nearly 30M people on Instagram and surpassing 350,000 views.
Climate disasters are fueling climate displacement and migration domestically and globally. This phenomenon also coincides with rising anti-immigrant sentiment. The Solutions Project is investing in a pilot program in three communities to better understand the dynamics of climate migration in the US and to support the most impacted communities. This work includes grantmaking as well as communications support for community organizers.
Grantee partners Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) in Oakland, CA, Catalyst Miami in Miami, FL, and PUSH Buffalo in Buffalo, NY were chosen based on the unique attributes of their communities in contending with climate displacement and migration:
Miami: A community threatened by major climate displacement due to rising sea levels and high heat cultivating ideas for mitigation and far-future goals that can resonate with places across the South and West
Oakland and Richmond, CA: Two resilient communities with stable climate futures that attract an influx of regional climate migrants, despite frequent climate disasters and a cost of living crisis.
Buffalo: A welcoming community for climate migrants prepared to support an influx of climate migrants from within the U.S. due to its location along the Great Lakes and mild temperatures, which may offer protection from some climate-related disasters like hurricanes or droughts.
Demonstrating Philanthropic and Movement Leadership
In 2024, The Solutions Project celebrated a decade of accelerating transformative climate justice solutions with the release of groundbreaking research. Validation of the impact of scaled investment in grassroots-led climate justice solutions offers a paradigm shift for philanthropy.
Our work and CEO were also featured in major media outlets to amplify ground up climate solutions on a global stage. We proudly celebrated Gloria Walton’s prestigious McNulty Prize for her leadership in grassroots climate justice philanthropy and joined forces with our grantee partners to elevate frontline communities during Climate Week NYC.
We further solidified our role as a highly trusted leader in the climate justice movement and philanthropy—expanding our community to 120,000+ across our digital platforms.
“Working with The Solutions Project has been transformative for Native Organizers Alliance. They have consistently shown that they value Indigenous knowledge, follow through on their commitments of solidarity to show up for our strategy to succeed, trust us to know what our community needs, and offer the resources and space to make that work possible.”
What's Ahead
The Solutions Project stands with grassroots climate leaders who are driving bold, transformative solutions to the climate crisis. Across the country, these courageous leaders are organizing, building power, and innovating climate solutions from the ground up. They are leading disaster response, strengthening community resilience, and ensuring a future where everyone has clean air, water, energy, and land.
Yet, despite proven impact, the forces of disinvestment, disinformation, and opposition are working against them. Climate disasters are escalating and systemic inequities are deepening at the same time that so many are retreating from commitments to climate justice.
This is not a time to pause or hesitate. It is a moment to act. Ground up climate solutions work and grassroots leaders are ready for scale. Our moment is now.
We can’t do it alone. We depend on the deep partnership of funders, donors, and allies.
Stand with us. We invite you to contact our Development team, at donate@thesolutionsproject.org or visit our website to make a donation online.
Together, we can help scale climate solutions from the ground up, and build a just, resilient, and vibrant future.
We are grateful to our partners and funders, and all of our supporters and participants, whose contributions make our work possible.
We are also grateful to all of our grantees, including Partnership for Southern Equity, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), Urban Tilth, NY Renews, Catalyst Miami, PUSH Buffalo, Smile Trust, West Street Recovery, CEER, and Philly Thrive, Blacks In Green, Good Life Garden, Native Organizers Alliance, SCOPE, UPROSE, and WeCount! who’s work was featured in either content or imagery in this year’s report.