How ClimateWorks centers equity in its philanthropy

When protests and rallies broke out around the world in response to the killings of George Floyd and other African Americans in May 2020, many philanthropies and nonprofits responded by pledging to better promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. ClimateWorks Foundation was among the many that vowed to center equity in its work. Three years in, the San Francisco-based nonprofit has started implementing changes, such as seeking more ways to include the voices of communities most affected by climate change in its decision making on grants and reporting requirements for grantees, Illyasha Peete, the organization’s chief of equity, justice, and culture, told Devex. “This organization, unlike so many others, did not just post something of support on the website and then, kind of say, ‘I’m done. I’ve checked that box,’” said Peete, who was appointed in January. Peete came on after previously serving as executive director of the racial and social equity initiative at California Life Sciences. She was also director of diversity, training, and consulting at the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits based in Redwood City, California. While she is still mapping out her priorities for the new post, she is clear on what she wants to accomplish. Justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, or JEDI, should be at the center of all of ClimateWorks’ efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change and help communities around the globe adapt to the changes it already has made to their lives and livelihoods, she said. “Putting JEDI into all we do is critical,” Peete said. “I think of a cinnamon raisin bagel, and I know that sounds strange. But if you don’t like the raisins, you can pick them. If you don’t like the cinnamon, you’ve got to throw the bagel away,” she said. “Our goal is to make JEDI the cinnamon within our organizational culture.” And so far, she has had the full support of ClimateWorks leadership, she said. The foundation has added a team of five staffers for its justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, or JEDI program and Peete reports directly to CEO Helen Mountford. “I think with a direct line to Helen, it just demonstrates the importance of the work,” Peete said. It’s a contrast to what often happens at other organizations, where equity officers are hired and then are left “fighting the fight or doing the work by themselves with no support,” Peete explained. ClimateWorks’ team of researchers, strategists, and grantmakers has long advocated for increased philanthropic funding for efforts to fight climate change and mitigate some of its worst effects. Now the organization wants to make equity a bigger part of that campaign. “Simply put, the future we strive for will be impossible to realize so long as systemic racism and anti-Blackness persist,” former president and CEO Charlotte Pera wrote in a July 2020 blog post laying out a seven-step commitment plan to “foster racial and social justice in pursuit of our mission.” The plan would further diversify the foundation’s board, engage and partner with a more diverse array of experts and organizations, and include more organizations representing “historically underrepresented” communities among its grantees and contractors. Other foundations have made similar pledges. Many such as Open Society Foundations and the Bezos Earth Fund also have hired DEI directors and staff as a sign of the seriousness with which they were advocating for more equitable approaches to domestic and international issues. In addition to Peete, ClimateWorks has brought on three outside advisers to guide its equity and justice work. Yet the path to effecting change when it comes to equity within philanthropy hasn’t been easy. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome have spoken publicly about how their efforts to increase racial, ethnic, and gender diversity have fallen short of their stated goals. ClimateWorks also has issued public updates on the ways it wants to hold itself accountable and be transparent about its goals for JEDI. It also has established a trust-based grantmaking pilot for JEDI that this year will distribute $4.1 million to “organizations that can get the money closer to the ground to help with climate solutions,” Peete said. As part of that pilot, the foundation is examining how it can make reporting requirements for grantees less cumbersome, she said. That process has included consideration of more innovative ways to collect that information such as requiring an end-of-year phone call or brief impact report, rather than a lengthier document, according to Peete. ClimateWorks is one of the few organizations to focus exclusively on climate philanthropy. Research shows that climate change philanthropy is woefully underfunded within philanthropy. In 2022, ClimateWorks provided more than $284 million in grant funding globally. And it receives funding from several groups that are seeking to drive more funding to climate change, including the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, Gates Ventures, IKEA Foundation, and Open Philanthropy. This year, ClimateWorks announced adjustments to its grantmaking strategy so that it would focus more on “people-centered climate solutions,” rather than the “gigatons first” approach it has historically applied to its greenhouse gas emissions work. An example of this is when Spain’s government worked with mining unions to implement a plan to transition from coal mining that also would provide training, social protection, and employment opportunities for former miners, ClimateWorks noted in a recent blog post co-written by Peete — ClimateWorks was not involved in the plan. Since 2020, the foundation has sought to ensure climate change solutions it promotes, such as using renewable energy instead of fossil fuel, yield social and economic benefits for the communities most affected by climate change. ClimateWorks is part of a coalition of climate funders seeking to raise $1 billion to speed the global transition to electronic transportation by 2026. Part of ClimateWorks’ evolution to a more people-centered approach will involve funding more climate adaptation work, which recognizes that many impacts of climate change are already here, Peete said. The organization previously was more focused on supporting efforts to mitigate future effects of climate change but now sees the need to do more to help communities already bearing the brunt of climate change’s more extreme impacts, she said. This approach “means we are seeking out grantees who are accountable to the communities they serve, or working with larger organizations who have existing relationships with grassroots organizations,” according to the same blog post. ClimateWorks’ experimentation with participatory grantmaking that includes affected communities into the process also is part of that people-centered approach, the post said. Update, May 17, 2023: This article has been updated to clarify the focus of the $1 billion coalition of which ClimateWorks is part.