Community Leadership Summit: Best Practices for Building Successful Projects
California Climate Investments (CCI) is a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment-particularly in disadvantaged communities. CCI-funded projects are administered by 17 State agencies, and have included affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling and much more. At least 35% of these investments are concentrated in disadvantaged and low-income communities.
On March 12th, community members, advocates, technical assistance providers, outreach partners, local government, and State agencies gathered in Riverside to hear from communities about how the CCI programs can fund strong projects that meet community needs. Just like CCI more broadly, this day was a joint effort organized and made possible by the State agencies administering funding, community organizations, and local partners working together on a common goal.
Watch this short video recap of the day:
The event included a series of speakers and panels to set the scene, covering what we’ve accomplished so far, and where we are hoping to go. We understand how important it is for the investments to meet community needs and provide real benefits to those communities who need it most.
We spent the majority of the day in group sessions. The sessions focused on:
- Statewide outreach
- Meeting community needs
- Building local partnerships
- Technical assistance
Some of the major themes that emerged included the need to create trust and partnerships among agencies, applicants and community organizations; the desire to include youth and local workforce development in projects; making participation meaningful and accessible to members of the community; and the need for technical assistance for priority populations.