The Collective Resiliency Fund: Supporting Women of Color Sustainability Pioneers During COVID-19
Communities of color remain on the frontlines of fighting two public health crises simultaneously, a global pandemic and systemic racism threatening their livelihood and safety on a day-by-day basis. As a collective with the mission of supporting women of color in the sustainability industry, we understand that support is needed now more than ever. We recognize the disparities in our healthcare system, the tireless efforts of essential workers, and protesters demanding equality at this pivotal time. This is why we launched the Collective Resiliency Fund to support black, indigenous, and people of color who are being disproportionately impacted at this moment.
The Collective Resiliency Fund is a fund aimed at supporting pioneers of color and the global majority who self identify as women and are working in the sustainability industry or leading the environmental movement. COVID-19 has created unique challenges for everyone and this is particularly true for brown and black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.
The fund will award $300 relief grants to 10 applicants in July. We are aiming to do so in conjunction with our upcoming and first annual Collective Resiliency Summit (more details to come).
— — — — — — — — —APPLY FOR A GRANT HERE -— — — — — — —
Recent research shows that racial and ethnic minorities, women, young workers, and those with less educational attainment are currently suffering higher unemployment rates. When exploring the effects of communities of color in the sustainability industry, the study reveals that Hispanic and Latino clean energy workers were hit the hardest of clean energy demographics; the clean energy industry is about 14 percent Hispanic/Latino, but an estimated 25 percent of the job losses in the clean energy industry are Hispanic/Latino workers. All non-white racial and ethnic minorities constitute about 37 percent of the clean energy industry while representing 31 percent of job losses. Additionally, women represent more than 19 percent of clean energy job losses in April while making up about 27 percent of the clean energy workforce.
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Additionally, Native American populations are facing a disproportionate brunt of the COVID-19 epidemic with higher infection and mortality rates than the overall U.S. population. A new age-adjusted analysis of COVID-19’s impact shows, black people are more than 3.5 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than white people, and Latino people are nearly twice as likely to die of the virus as white people, the researchers report.
The fund aims to provide the basic necessary relief and support to BIPOC women who work across the climate movement. This fund is supported by Kinetics Communities Consulting, Women of Color Collective in Sustainability (WOC/CS), and Latinos in Sustainability. You must meet all of the criteria outlined below to be considered for a grant.
Who qualifies?
- Applicants must identify as a women
- Applicants must identify as a black, indigenous or people of color
- Applicants must provide services in the United States, with preference given to those living and working in New York City.
How can you support the fund?
Applications are due June 30th at 11:59 pm ET. All questions related to applying for or supporting the grant can be sent to collectiveresiliencyfund@gmail.com.
About the organizers
KC3 is New York City’s first MWBE social enterprise Benefit Corporation who advocates and implements strategic energy equity market transformations for diverse New York communities. By working with energy and affordable housing industry partners, KC3 coordinates, educates, and simplifies energy efficiency opportunities for existing affordable resident owners and operators with limited resources. Our passion is our community. By helping New Yorkers feel empowered on their energy efficiency choices, we can help them save money, feel safe, live in a cleaner environment, and make efficiency a part of their everyday life.
Women of Color/Collective of Sustainability (WOCCS) is a platform for women interested and/or working in the sustainability industry. We are engineers, architects, businesswomen, high-performance building consultants, recycling experts, permaculture-composting gurus social impact doers, civic advocates, artists, etc. The goal of this group is to highlight opportunities for collaboration, connection, resources, and mentorship for women of color in the sustainability industry.
Latinos in Sustainability connects Latinos working in sustainability and supporting the next generation of climate change leaders. This network of Latino professionals currently in the field of or interested in sustainability aims to support and grow the number of Latinos in the space.
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