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GreenLatinos Sustainable Cities Urban Greening Initiative



GreenLatinos believes that healthy, green communities are not a luxury. They are a right. And for too long, Latino neighborhoods have been among the most nature-deprived, pollution-burdened, and underinvested places in our cities.

The Urban Greening Initiative is our response to that. In partnership with community organizations across Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and Chicago, we have been investing in the people and places that are transforming urban neighborhoods into greener, healthier, more resilient comunidades.

This initiative is part of the broader Greening America's Cities Initiative, funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, and has directed $2,650,000 in grants to community-led urban greening projects across three cities.

What this work looks like on the ground

Our grantees are doing more than planting trees. They are building community infrastructure: opening community gardens that become neighborhood gathering spaces, training the next generation of land stewards, turning food waste into compost that feeds local soil, and restoring parks and waterways through processes that center the voices of the people who live there.

 

Across our three cities, this initiative has:

  • Engaged 7,600+ community members in workshops, events, and site activations
  • Planted 201 trees and expanded food forests, orchards, and community gardens
  • Distributed 13,000+ pounds of fresh food to local families
  • Diverted 611,000+ pounds of organic waste from landfills
  • Reclaimed 7.4 million gallons of water
  • Prevented 161 tons of CO2 emissions annually
  • Trained and certified youth in urban forestry, agriculture, wilderness first aid, and wildfire mitigation
  • Logged 3,500+ volunteer hours contributed by community members

Rooted in something deeper

This work is not new for our comunidades. Latino families have been tending land, growing food, and stewarding natural resources for generations. What this initiative does is resource and amplify that knowledge, putting tools, funding, and support directly into the hands of the people who have always known how to care for the Earth.

That is what community-led climate action looks like. Read our blog on recent work to learn more!