This year has been a year of remarkable growth, collaboration, and impact for the Sustainable Cities Urban Greening Initiative. Last December our team was barely coming together, and there were many questions left to be solved. However, 2024 taught us that with the support and wisdom of our comunidad, we can navigate any challenge and, together, create something truly beautiful. From planting the seeds of our program in early planning meetings to celebrating the fruits of our labor through funded projects and community events, this year has showcased the power of community-driven solutions. With $2.65 million in grant funding distributed to organizations in Albuquerque, Chicago, and Los Angeles, we’ve supported initiatives that grow and strengthen impactful urban greening projects. Along the way, we’ve worked closely with dedicated partners, local advocates, and grantees to build a robust network committed to creating sustainable and thriving cities.
Let’s reflect on the journey we’ve taken, highlighting milestones and the power of collective action as we continue to grow greener and stronger in the years ahead.
Planting the Seed: Building Our Community Advisory Board
When we began envisioning our Urban Greening Initiative, one of our top priorities was establishing a community advisory board to review grant applications. After months of intentional outreach and relationship-building, we established a community advisory board of 18 dedicated leaders, with six representatives in each city.
This approach was essential to ensuring that funding decisions reflected the needs and priorities of the communities most affected by the projects. Community members bring lived experiences, local knowledge, and cultural understanding that traditional grantmaking often overlooks.
By evaluating applications through a community-centered lens, the advisory board played a vital role in ensuring that the benefits of the grants were directly felt within the communities they served. Their perspectives helped to identify projects that genuinely address the root causes of community challenges and reflect solutions tailored to their unique contexts. By providing communities an opportunity to take part in decision-making, grants can be distributed in a way that prioritizes those who have historically been excluded from funding opportunities, fostering trust and accountability between funders and the communities they serve. This model has proven invaluable, and we plan to continue using it in future initiatives while sharing insights and best practices to help others create their own community advisory boards.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the advisory board members who worked tirelessly during those final weeks of evaluations to select the projects. We recognize the challenge of this task and deeply appreciate your commitment and perspectives. It is because of your insights that our Urban Greening Initiative awardees are a part of the GreenLatinos familia. Thank you for helping us ensure equity remains at the core of our work.
Sprouting Leaves: From Launch to Grants
Our team began the year by preparing for the launch of the Sustainable Cities Urban Greening Initiative and its accompanying grant. With the support of our Community Advocates, we spread awareness through in-person encuentros and a virtual launch, creating excitement and engagement across our networks. The application process for the grant ran through late spring, and we were thrilled by the 54 total submissions we received. Each application showcased incredible community-driven ideas for urban greening, workforce development, and health equity. After a rigorous review of about 30 finalists, in July, we proudly announced the 12 awardees, whose projects truly inspired our team and will transform urban landscapes and improve community health, resilience, and food security.
Urban Greening Initiatives Albuquerque Grantees:
- Southwest Organizing Project: Project Feed the Hood and International District Community Garden
- The Semilla Project: Growing Resilience: Land-Based Learning and Community Gardens
- YES Housing: Fruits of Health
- The Center for Social Sustainable Systems: CESOSS Acequia Education
Urban Greening Initiatives Chicago Grantees:
- Southeast Environmental Task Force: Greening the Calumet River
- Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization: Canal Origins Park Riverfront Revitalization and Renovation Project
-Centro San Bonifacio: Together We Shine Green Corner Project
- Academy for Global Citizenship: Southwest Chicago's Nature-Based Haven
Urban Greening Initiatives Los Angeles Grantees:
- LA Compost: Strengthening LA’s Food & Climate Network Through Community Composting
- Proyecto Pastoral: Boyle Heights Community Garden
- CultivaLA: Union Ave/Cesar Chavez Community Garden
- San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps: GreenWorks: Growing Resiliency, Urban Greening, and Workforce Development Project
The announcement of our awardees in late July coincided with the anniversary of the Bezos Earth Fund’s Greening America’s Cities Initiative, marking a significant milestone. The awarded projects, which included community gardens, composting initiatives, and riverfront revitalization, received a combined total of $2.65 million. We celebrated these efforts with events in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Albuquerque, where awardees were introduced to the community, urban greening partners, elected officials, and potential funders.
Branching Out: Advocacy, Travel, and Growing Partnerships
October was an exciting month for our Urban Greening team, packed with meaningful travel and impactful events. We celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by bringing our urban greening awardees to Washington, D.C. to participate in GreenLatinos Advocacy Week. During this week, awardees had the opportunity to meet with over 10 elected officials’ offices and three federal agencies. They shared powerful stories about their projects' transformative impacts on their communities. We engaged in thoughtful conversations on topics like the importance of cleaning up polluted sites in our districts, the effectiveness of planting trees as a solution to urban heat, and how we can improve language justice by ensuring outreach and education on urban greening in Spanish. A standout moment was visiting the Bezos Earth Fund headquarters, where awardees engaged with key partners from the Bezos Earth Fund team and the USDA Urban and Community Forestry Program. This meeting allowed our grantees to showcase their work firsthand and provided a platform for our partners to deepen their understanding of the communities driving this important work. The conversations were rich with insight and left us inspired by the shared commitment to urban greening and community resilience.
Later in the month, we traveled down to Albuquerque for the Greening America’s Cities Fall Convening, set against the stunning backdrop of the Sandia Mountains. This gathering brought together Greening America’s Cities partners for workshops, thought-provoking panels, and shared meals, fostering connections across the urban greening community. A highlight of the trip was visiting our Albuquerque awardees, where we experienced their projects in action. From YES Housing’s greenhouses filled with the scent of drying chiles to the culturally significant acequias sustained by CESOSS, these site visits demonstrated the deep impact of these initiatives. We ended the year with a virtual convening, reconnecting with awardees to celebrate their successes and set the stage for an even more transformative year ahead. We are filled with gratitude and excitement for what lies ahead in 2025!
Looking Ahead- Deepening Roots
As we wrap up 2024, we feel energized and optimistic about the future. Our final convening in late November allowed our awardees to reconnect, share their progress, and celebrate the accomplishments of the year. We’re excited about the continued work our partners will do in 2025, as we move forward with new goals, deeper partnerships, and a continued focus on community-driven, sustainable urban greening efforts. I want to give flowers to everyone who made this year’s accomplishments possible. While the unknown and inevitable changes ahead may feel like concrete covering our flowers, the year ahead holds the promise of even more growth and lasting impact. As we deepen our roots and extend our branches, no matter what, we will continue to nurture a more sustainable and resilient future.