The following list of 90 organizations and fiscally sponsored projects were awarded grants of various sizes for projects of diverse scopes and varying durations in the inaugural year of the Environmental Justice Data Fund.

Who the fund will support

Environmental justice organizations the Fund will support must:

• Be located in the United States (this includes all states, the federal district, territories, and outlying islands)

• Meet at least one of the following requirements:

  • Have 501(c)(3) legal status

  • Be fiscally sponsored by an organization with 501(c)(3) legal status

  • Be a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) legal status applying on behalf of a project

  • Be a federally recognized Indian tribe, or organized under Section 17 of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

• Aim to create a local social and/or environmental impact

• Center the perspectives of frontline communities, especially those with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leadership  

• Have established credibility in the communities they serve

Additionally, the organizations can:

• Serve communities that have been historically underserved and disproportionately impacted by climate change and environmental injustice (preferred)

• Be anywhere on their data journey, from starting to develop a data strategy to already entering the late-stage implementation phase of data work

• Implement their program at a local, regional, or national level, so long as those efforts lead to localized impact

• Operate as standalone organizations, as part of network hubs, or as coalitions of multiple organizations partnering on a single project.

The Small Grants Pot

The EJ Data Fund has set aside $2 million in available grant funds for smaller-scale or early-stage data projects, including organizational capacity building for data work. The EJ Data Fund will award grants in two tiers: $25,000 and $50,000. The fund anticipates making 40 to 80 of these grants and will prioritize locally focused community-led organizations as the primary recipients.

If you are unsure of whether your organization currently engages in relevant data work, please know that these funds can be used to build capacity in service of building future data projects. The purpose of these funds is to support organizations who might currently lack the resources to begin building their capacity to collect, analyze, and use data to inform their work. Examples of relevant projects that could be funded under this special allocation include:

• $25,000 to fund a data dashboard that integrates and visualizes air quality data from different low-cost air monitors (PM2.5, NO2, tVOC) deployed throughout a community. The dashboard will show data from the monitors and include a link to the air tracker so residents can look at potential sources of air quality. Funds will go toward hiring a consultant to plan the dashboard and resources needed to execute the monitoring.

• $25,000 to hire a data consultant to work with a community for six months to create templates or automatically generate monthly, quarterly, and/or annual reports of the community’s air-monitoring data and alert residents when there are anomalies in baseline air quality measurements or unhealthy levels of air pollution. The consultant will also help the organization create templates for data visualization for communications.

• $50,000 to help an environmental health organization purchase low-cost smart phones and software licenses, and pay door-to-door canvassers, to complete a comprehensive neighborhood survey on transit access to supplement an application for an EPA or DOT grant.

• $50,000 to help an environmental justice organization purchase low-cost air sensors, work with an affected community to prioritize locations for monitoring, hire a data analysis consultant, and engage local media to tell the story.

The Environmental Justice Data Fund hosted an informational webinar about the new set aside fund for small grants on August 3, 2022.
VIEW THE WEBINAR RECORDING HERE.

The webinar, hosted by two of the Fund’s Advisory Board members, Karla Palmer and Afua Bruce, provided an opportunity for prospective applicants to learn more about the purpose and scope of the Fund, what data work could look like at the $25,000 and $50,000 funding tiers, and logistical and administrative items. Afterwards, we hosted a Q&A session addressing questions that were submitted beforehand and live during the session. We encourage you to submit your applications as early as possible.

Please reach out to the EJDF team at ejdatafund@windwardfund.org with any questions.