GreenLatinos Receives $4.75 Million Inaugural Grant from the Bezos Earth Fund for Urban Greening

WASHINGTON — July 17, 2023: GreenLatinos today announced that we received a $4.75 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to support urban greening in Albuquerque, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The Greening America’s Cities initiative is a new $400 million commitment to create more equitable access to urban greening in underserved U.S. communities.

“Through the Urban Greening Initiative, GreenLatinos can use its unique and influential position as a national network of Latino/a/e environmental, conservation, and climate justice advocates to support urban greening, gardening, and farming projects in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Albuquerque,” said Mark Magaña, Founding President and CEO of GreenLatinos. “Central to our mission is supporting our members increased capacity to do their work through more access to resources. Through this new initiative, we can increase the number of sustainable communities by ensuring they attain equitable access to naturally cooling green space in their historically nature-starved communities.”

"Green spaces are critical for people and the planet. The Bezos Earth Fund is proud to partner with local communities and government to expand urban green spaces," said Andrew Steer, President & CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. "In partnership, this new initiative will support historically underserved communities, supporting their health and well-being."

There is clear evidence that "greening" U.S. cities with more — and better — parks, trees, and community gardens can improve physical and mental health, increase local resilience to climate impacts like extreme heat and reduce energy consumption. Health benefits come from improved air quality, more physical activity, reduced heat, the stress reduction effect of green spaces, and the opportunities green spaces create for social interaction.

Historic systems of segregation, exclusion, and land dispossession have led to many communities living in nature-deprived areas. Consequently, these communities often do not benefit from nature’s benefits, like air and water purification, climate mitigation, or biodiversity.

The Earth Fund’s Greening America’s Cities initiative starts with community projects in five cities: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Wilmington, Delaware. It will extend through 2030 and expand to new communities, building on its earlier $300 million in funding to climate and environmental justice groups in the U.S. For more information, visit www.BezosEarthFund.org.

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GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.