About PACE
Partners Advancing Climate Equity (PACE) is a new capacity-building program for frontline community leaders from across California to connect with peers, take their skills to the next level, and catalyze transformative change.
PACE focuses on increasing the capacity of leaders in California’s communities to advance community-driven, equitable climate solutions at the pace and scale demanded by climate change and ongoing injustices. Ultimately, we envision a connected and mutually supportive network of emboldened community leaders with the capacity, resources, and partnerships needed to realize their community’s vision for climate resilience and social equity.
Program Priorities
PACE prioritizes those directly serving frontline communities by honoring and uplifting existing leadership, lived experiences, and local expertise. We define frontline communities as historically marginalized communities that experience the first and worst consequences of climate change and other injustices.
These include Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and other marginalized communities that have shouldered the largest health burdens and face the greatest economic barriers, including SB-1072 Under-Resourced Communities, SB-535 Disadvantaged Communities, AB-1550 Low-Income Communities, and the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program’s Vulnerable Communities.
Program Structure
PACE was a yearlong program split into two six-month phases. In Phase 1, participants engaged in virtual workshops and supplemental activities for approximately 10-15 hours per month. Following the cohort participants received technical assistance in Phase 2 for greater support on project development. Participants received up to $8,000 for their commitment and active participation in the program.
Phase 1: Cultivate & Co-Create
Phase 1 brought together a cohort of community leaders for a series of virtual workshops and activities to rapidly develop skills, build new connections, and create community needs assessments for cohort members’ own neighborhoods. The PACE Curriculum equipped cohort members with the knowledge, strategies, and partnerships necessary to become effective drivers of change and facilitators of ongoing capacity building within their own local ecosystems.
Phase 2: Propagate & Activate
Phase 2 provided technical assistance (TA) to cohort members to bring to life the program’s train-the-facilitator approach and set in motion an ongoing cycle of capacity building. TA recipients received mentorship, guidance, and customized project support to facilitate trainings for their network, advance priorities identified in their community needs assessments, and build long-term capacity to achieve their community’s equitable climate resilience vision.
Participant Benefits
Phase 1 included a series of virtual workshops, trainings, networking activities, and learning opportunities for participants to be able to:
Leverage available resources to advance local climate resilience and social equity priorities
- Lay the groundwork to support successful grant applications
- Clearly articulate your community’s vision and priorities for equitable climate resilience
- Connect with peers and mentors from across California
Form and sustain cross-sector partnerships that enhance collective impact strategies
- Map out local and regional opportunities for new partnerships
- Learn about effective methods for building consensus and achieving collective breakthroughs
- Lead trainings to build the capacity of your networks and local ecosystems
Create data-driven community needs assessments and develop action plans
- Use tools like Cal-Adapt, CalEnviroScreen, and Healthy Places Index to understand neighborhood-level data
- Learn how to analyze community assets, strengths, barriers, and needs to inform action
- Learn about case studies and models for addressing climate change and social equity issues
Navigate State funding programs, policies, resources, and decision-making processes
- Understand State goals related to mitigating and adapting to climate change
- Become more well-versed in California Climate Investments and other State resources
- Establish contacts at key State agencies to support ongoing engagement
Questions?
We encourage you to reach out! The PACE program team is available to answer questions about the program at info@partnersadvancingclimateequity.org.
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