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Blueprints for Change examines lessons from recent federal climate and infrastructure investments and calls for sustained investment in the civic infrastructure communities need to shape, access, and implement major public and private investments.

OAKLAND, CA — Today, The Greenlining Institute, in collaboration with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, released Blueprints for Change, a new report examining what communities, local governments, funders, and implementation partners learned from the recent wave of federal climate and infrastructure funding.

The report comes at a critical moment. Through Justice40, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris Administration created a historic opportunity to direct public dollars toward communities most impacted by disinvestment, pollution, and climate risk. The Trump Administration’s funding freezes, clawbacks, and attacks on federal implementation capacity have cut that opportunity short, leaving many community-led projects, partnerships, and implementation efforts in limbo or outright canceled.

Blueprints for Change captures the lessons from this investment cycle and makes clear that community readiness cannot wait for the next historic wave of federal funding or the next shift in political power. The report argues that government, philanthropy, private capital, and public agencies must invest now in the civic infrastructure communities need to turn funding into tangible, community-led climate progress in their neighborhoods.

“Communities of color have always known what they need to thrive. For too long, they’ve been asked to solve enormous challenges without the resources or support to do it,” said Kirin Kumar, Vice President of Policy at The Greenlining Institute. “As we confront the compounding harm of generations of deliberate disinvestment with the growing impacts of a climate and affordability crisis, investing in communities means more than just funding projects. It means investing in the people, organizations, and local leadership that makes lasting community reinvestment possible. When communities have the tools and capacity to lead, we can truly unlock healthier communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Blueprints for Change is a roadmap for making that future possible.”

Drawing from interviews, survey responses, and a practitioner convening, Blueprints for Change identifies the conditions that help community-led projects succeed, including early community engagement, sustained capacity building, technical assistance, peer-learning networks, development capacity, flexible financing, and stronger partnerships between public agencies and community-based organizations.

“Advancing real climate solutions and supporting frontline community leadership are two sides of the same coin,” says Deneine Christa Powell, CEO of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. “To make meaningful change, we must de-silo our sustainability, community development, and democracy work and make comprehensive local investments. We have the opportunity to achieve deeper and long-term impacts in communities and be ready to operationalize future waves of public and private funding. This report outlines the way forward – with the type of necessary cross-sector partners needed to support an equitable clean energy transition. If we do nothing, we will find ourselves replicating old models that put communities in harm’s way and don’t produce the lasting change we need.”

The report also highlights case studies and examples from community partners and implementation practitioners across the country, including Little Manila Rising, Casa Familiar, Active San Gabriel Valley, Eastside Community Network, Southeast Sustainability Directors Network, Justice Capital, SAGE Development Authority, the City of Richmond, and City Heights Community Development Corporation.

“These lessons come directly from the community partners, local governments, and implementation practitioners working to turn major investments into real neighborhood change,” said Morokot Uy, Senior Program Manager for Capacity Building at The Greenlining Institute and co-author of the report. “The case studies show that community-led projects are most successful when partners have the time, trust, political and technical support, and flexible resources to build from local priorities. These examples demonstrate what becomes possible when investments strengthen local capacity instead of bypassing it.”

Blueprints for Change outlines nine recommendations for government, philanthropy, private capital, public agencies, and implementation partners. Key recommendations include:

  • Invest before the funding arrives by building the strategic, technical, and administrative capacity communities need to develop project pipelines, manage funding, and move quickly when opportunities emerge.
  • Fund capacity as infrastructure by treating staffing, organizational stability, skill development, and staff retention as essential components of successful climate and infrastructure implementation.
  • Design with communities from the beginning by bringing community-based organizations and local implementers into project design, governance, timelines, and funding structures before decisions are made.
  • Grow local development capacity by investing in the expertise communities need to move projects from vision to shovel-ready, including planning, construction, finance, compliance, and long-term asset stewardship.
  • Strengthen the ecosystems that protect progress by building durable partnerships across local government, CBOs, philanthropy, labor, technical experts, and private capital so community investment can withstand political shifts.

The report emphasizes that communities shaped by generations of deliberate disinvestment need public and private investments that match the scale of the harm created by those policies and practices. Short-term, one-off, or status quo funding will not build the climate resilience, community wealth, and local infrastructure needed to repair that legacy.

Blueprints for Change is available at greenlining.org/publications/blueprints-for-change/