Climate Solutions & Equity Grant
An exciting grant opportunity that supports efforts to advance climate solutions and prioritize equity in Georgia.
The Climate Solutions & Equity Grant program is designed to accelerate the Drawdown Georgia mission to advance achievable climate solutions that prioritize equity across the state through composting, electric vehicles, energy efficiency improvements, food waste reduction, plant-based diets, and rooftop solar.
These grants empower BIPOC communities across Georgia to scale climate solutions that bring new jobs, environmental benefits, improved public health, and neighborhood investments where they are most needed.
Six two-year grants of $100,000 per year have been awarded in 2024-25.
Five two-year grants of $100,000 per year have been awarded in 2025-26.
2024-2025 Awards
Community Farmers Markets
This grant will help Community Farmers Markets expand the MARTA Markets program to serve more transit riders with healthy, locally-grown fruits and vegetables. The program rescues leftover food from local farmers markets and divides produce into ready-to-eat, grab-and-go portions conveniently available at Atlanta-area transit stations. Funds from the Climate Solutions & Equity grant will also be used to feature Black chefs from the local community to present year-round, seasonally-appropriate cooking demonstrations at MARTA Markets.
Concerned Citizens of Cook County
In partnership with Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL), Concerned Citizens of Cook County will work to organize, educate, and implement clean energy strategies in multiple houses of worship in the town of Adel and across Cook County. The work will focus on providing energy efficiency upgrades and solar installations with a goal of giving these communities of faith the opportunity to serve a dual role as centers for both education and resilience.
ECO-Action
In partnership with Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, and the Peoplestown Revitalization Corporation, two of Atlanta’s most disinvested neighborhoods, ECO-Action will conduct community-wide monthly trainings on energy efficiency strategies, weatherization, composting, and plant-based diets. Adult volunteers and youth apprentices will have the opportunity to receive training and conduct weatherization assessments and upgrades. The training and experience gained by the youth apprentices will be valuable for workforce development and eventual placement in clean energy jobs.
Groundswell
Funds from this grant will provide energy efficiency upgrades to more homes in rural Troup County through Groundswell’s Save On Utilities Long term (SOUL) program. SOUL reduces utility bills for homeowners by boosting energy efficiency, using a “Pay As You Save” (PAYS) approach to use energy savings to pay for efficiency improvements.
Mothers & Others for Clean Air (MOCA)
In partnership with Georgia Clinicians for Climate Action and the Georgia State Medical Association, Mothers & Others for Clean Air will provide educational programming at the city and county level on the health and equity co-benefits of electric school buses. The grant will also help these groups connect school districts to opportunities to apply for federal funding to implement these upgrades in their communities.
Sustainable Georgia Futures
This grant to Sustainable Georgia Futures will expand on the established WeatheRise energy efficiency program that provides weatherization improvements for low-to moderate-income Black households in Atlanta. It will also fund solar workforce development through recruitment, training and certification of solar installation apprentices from the local community. Training these apprentices will help ensure that people in previously disinvested communities of color have equitable opportunities to be hired in the wave of solar-related jobs that are coming to Georgia.
2025-2026 Awards
Georgia Organics and McIntosh S.E.E.D.
Georgia Organics (GO) and McIntosh Sustainable, Environmental and Economic Development (McIntosh S.E.E.D.) were part of the first Climate Solutions & Equity Grant cohort in 2023-24. This year’s grant extends the Climate Smart Farmer Cohort to at least 15 additional farmers within a 30–60-mile radius of Coastal Georgia, a continuation of the pilot project to prepare and support Black farmers in Coastal Georgia with adaptation and mitigation tools to build resilience and maintain productivity in the face of climate change.
Georgia WAND Education Fund
Georgia WAND Education Fund and two of their existing partners, Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff Community and BeSMART Home Solutions, will work to extend energy assistance services to residents in rural Burke County, Georgia. These residents are some of the state's most vulnerable populations, with a high percentage of senior citizens living in aging housing stock.
In the first year, the grant partners will introduce weatherization programs, educate residents on the economic and social benefits of energy-efficient retrofits, identify target neighborhoods, and conduct comprehensive energy audits.
Harambee House
The Harambee House Community Farm Project will put grant funds to work expanding existing community gardens in the Woodville and Hudson Hill communities in West Savannah. Gardens will be paired with small local farms to increase capacity and provide the support necessary to distribute nutritionally dense produce throughout historically underserved communities. The preparation, cultivation, processing, and distribution of all produce will be done within the guidelines of regenerative, climate-smart agricultural practices to achieve the overall goal of nutritionally rich and healthy food sovereignty.
Thomasville Community Development Corporation
Grant funds will be used to scale existing work in the historic Dewey City neighborhood in Southwest Georgia focused on decreasing the energy cost burdens for residents in 52 senior apartments while improving the health outcomes of hundreds in the surrounding community, which is currently designated as a “food desert.” Thomasville Community Development Corporation (TCDC) will work with the owner of Marathon Market, a nearby Black-owned food market, to implement a neighborhood plant-based food program. TCDC seeks to subsidize produce boxes, prepared meals, and plant-based education programs for neighborhood residents, sourcing the produce from local Black farmers.
Green Team of English Avenue
The Westside Passive Cooling Tree Equity Partnership and Project will establish a community-driven model to address the impact of tree removal on the energy efficiency of residential buildings within the Westside Lead Superfund Site in Atlanta. The Green Team of English Avenue is partnering with the Climate Consortium of the Commons and Carinalis Consulting to assess the impact of trees removed within the Site on residential energy efficiency and thermal comfort of residents. The ultimate goal is to develop a replicable, scalable model that can be applied to additional homes in English Avenue, and in other Superfund sites within Georgia, and beyond.
About Us
The Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grant is supported by funding partners from Georgia-based foundations as well as Georgia-based expert advisors and consultants.
