All posts in “News”

HR&A Principal Greta Byrum Speaks at FCC Roundtable on Broadband Access, Affordability and Deployment

March 28, 2023 / No Comments

 

 

HR&A Principal, Greta Byrum was invited to speak at this roundtable discussion hosted by the Federal Communications Commission’s Communications (FCC)’s Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC). Alongside stakeholders spanning community organizations, internet service providers (ISPs), federal agencies with emergency broadband funding, and state agencies, Greta shared lessons learned from the pandemic.

 

When building solutions to close the digital divide, Greta stressed the importance of working with organizations on the ground that might not be considered technology providers at first glance — for example, churches, food banks, schools, libraries, and community organizations. These connections can be the key to getting digital access to people who need it most.

 

You can learn more about the Roundtable discussion on the FCC’s website.

Video: FCC

A Simple Housing Fix for Wake County: Buy the Building, Cap the Rent

March 20, 2023 / No Comments

This opinion piece by Phillip Kash was originally published in INDY Week.

 

Change is a natural phenomenon in any neighborhood – families move in and out, businesses come and go, new immigrant groups bring different languages, cultures, and cuisines. When rents begin to grow faster than the incomes of residents, however, the resulting economic pressure can force people from their homes before they are ready to leave. The result is displacement that harms individuals, families, schools, and communities.

 

Displacement, sometimes called gentrification, is primarily driven by affordability, the difference between the cost of housing and a household’s income. As rents rise far faster than incomes, long-time residents are forced to leave and are replaced by higher-income newcomers.

 

In North Carolina, unprecedented population growth and limited housing development over the past decade has eroded housing affordability.

 

The most powerful tools to prevent displacement require systemic changes to the housing market – building more housing in desirable areas, dedicating more public funding, and adopting legislation that balances tenant and property owner interests. Even in an optimistic scenario, these reforms will take years to adopt and decades to create a healthy, equitable housing system.

 

Wake County is one of a small handful of local governments around the country that are taking on a more direct solution to affordability: buying existing apartment buildings and imposing limits on future rent increases.

 

The benefits are myriad – the purchases can be targeted to neighborhoods facing displacement pressure, limited public or grant capital can be leveraged to create far more affordability, and, most importantly, the impact of these policies is immediate. Current residents can stay in their homes with the confidence that their rent will only rise in relation to income.

 

This year, Wake County has established its own loan fund to purchase existing apartment buildings, preserve their affordability and prevent the displacement of current tenants. With an investment of $10.5 million, the county is leveraging over $40 million from banks and the City of Raleigh, and is expected to preserve over 1,000 affordable homes in the next two years.

 

Buying apartment buildings is the most effective tool available to Wake County – and potentially hundreds of other counties and municipalities nationwide – to protect residents from rapidly rising rents and forced displacement.

 

Amazon has already taken up this strategy as a corporate stakeholder. The company’s Housing Equity Fund was created to preserve affordable homes in communities where Amazon has a significant employee base. Part of its $2 billion commitment to preserve or create 20,000 affordable homes, in less than 21 months since launch, the fund has committed financing for the purchase of more than 20 existing apartment buildings, representing nearly 5,000 rental homes.

 

In cities like Arlington, VA and Bellevue, WA this represents a 20%+ increase in the number of long-term affordable homes. Rents in these apartments will now remain permanently affordable, rising only as an area’s median income rises. More than half of those investments have gone to minority-led developers and thousands of those units have easy access to public transit.

 

Amazon’s story in Seattle and Arlington is one that can be replicated across the country – and local governments like Wake County can take action without the support of a major private backer like Amazon.

 

Housing affordability and displacement require solutions that provide immediate relief to give time for longer-term solutions that rely on grinding zoning fights and policy reform. Stakeholders with financial means, both public and private, can have a near-immediate impact by buying and preserving affordable housing options.

 

Photo: Unsplash

HR&A named New York Urban League Recruitment, Retention, and Belonging Champion

February 22, 2023 / No Comments

We are proud to announce that HR&A Advisors has been named a 2023 New York Urban League Champion!

 

“Champions are considered to be one of the highest accolades for individuals and organizations committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. As one of the oldest civil rights organizations in the country, the New York Urban League seeks to celebrate companies and individuals who embody the pillars of our mission for equity.”

 

We are honored to be included amongst an impactful group of fellow Champions working to foster anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in their industries, and we are even more honored to have been nominated by HR&A Analyst Ejiro Ojeni.

 

Time to Create a Fast Lane for Zero Emissions Vehicles 

February 21, 2023 / No Comments

 

This opinion piece by Eric Rothman, Ignacio Montojo, Hayley Prim was originally published in the Gotham Gazette.

 

In late January, Mayor Adams announced a bold and exciting goal to require New York City’s for-hire vehicle fleet to reach zero emissions by 2030. This was a welcome step forward, considering the goal is shared by major for-hire platforms, including Uber, as well as the City Department of Transportation, who recognize the climate crisis is an existential threat to our city and our planet. 

 

​​​While these shared goals are a North Star, getting there is another matter. It will require coordination across the public and private sectors to make the changes necessary to reach zero-emissions. 

 

Uber has already committed $800 million in resources globally to help support drivers’ transition to electric, covering an array of EV and charging discounts and incentives around the world to make the switch. Last year, Uber hired HR&A Advisors to help them assess what strategies and policies need to be implemented in order to help spur such a transition​ in New York City​, and whether the City’s current plans for charging infrastructure could support a full adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in New York. The resulting report found that critical gaps in New York City’s infrastructure will pose significant challenges to achieving this transition in the next seven years. 

 

While there are currently critical gaps in the infrastructure needed to achieve these goals, by taking direct and clear action now, we believe the City, utilities, EV charging companies, and mission-driven landowners can work together to accelerate the path to a 100% zero-emissions future. 

 

Supercharging NYC’s EV Infrastructure 

Despite rapid growth in EV sales, today, New York City is currently lagging far behind other U.S. cities in adoption among for-hire drivers. EVs represent fewer than 1% of for-hire vehicles on city streets, compared to 9% in San Francisco and 11% in San Diego.  

 

To transition to EVs, many ride-hailing drivers need access to overnight and off-shift charging at or near their homes. Given their high daily mileage, for-hire drivers also need convenient, low-cost, and fast public chargers in areas where they make most of their trips. 

 

New York City has only 2,000 public chargers, of which only 200 are the direct current fast chargers that drivers can depend on throughout their day. The trend in the ratio of new public chargers to new registered EVs also poses challenges. 

 

The highest concentrations of public chargers are in high-cost business and residential districts in Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, and Long Island City and are often behind a paywall in for-profit parking garages. Those chargers are convenient for commuters or high-income residents, but not for the for-hire drivers who drive more miles than residents do and disproportionately live in neighborhoods throughout Queens, Southern Brooklyn, and parts of the Bronx, where there is currently minimal access to charging — let alone high-speed charging. 

 

Strategies to Electrify New York 

If the City and its public and private stakeholders, including rideshare platforms like Uber, work together, we can meet the moment. This is an ideal time to be engaging in this work, and leveraging unprecedented federal legislation, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, to support EV infrastructure and help drivers purchase new and used EVs. The work has already begun with the City’s Department of Transportation “Electrifying New York” plan, which includes a goal of 40,000 low-cost chargers and 6,000 fast chargers by 2030, through a combination of public and private investment, and the recent electrification recommendations of the Taxi and Limousine Commission in their “Charged Up” report. 

  

Our report recommends 10 strategies that will support enhanced access and affordability to EV charging infrastructure, build the processes and systems to support for-hire driver needs, and help achieve the 2030 zero-emissions goal: 

 

  1. Identify high-need neighborhoods that overlap with where for-hire drivers live to prioritize where to place low cost and fast chargers.
  2. Work with utilities to identify high-volume pick-up and drop-off areas in which the grid currently has capacity to support new fast chargers.
  3. Develop a comprehensive EV infrastructure deployment plan to strengthen coordination with utilities, optimizing the City’s ability to achieve its emission reduction and environmental equity goals, and electrify the for-hire vehicle fleet. 
  4. Aggressively pursue new federal funding opportunities to direct investment to target neighborhoods.​ 
  5. Streamline the permit process for EV charging as part of the City’s ongoing efforts to improve land-use processes. 
  6. Leverage real estate assets owned/managed by public or faith-based entities to provide land for accessible, affordable chargers in targeted neighborhoods and near high-volume trip areas. 
  7. Explore land use incentives for private developers to integrate public chargers with no gate/parking fees into new developments. 
  8. Continue targeted outreach and engagement specific to the for-hire vehicle industry. 
  9. Support EV charging operators in communicating electricity prices and charger availability with drivers, as well as in developing driver-centric incentives to reduce charging during peak load times.   
  10. Further develop a new pricing structure for the cost of power for charging operators that makes charging more affordable. 

 

Working Towards 2030 Zero-Emissions 

There is unprecedented momentum and alignment among the various players in the mobility and for-hire vehicle industry in New York City. For government, regulators, public utilities, Uber, Lyft, and the taxi industry, the zero-emissions target for 2030 is a North Star. Meeting this goal will require coordination among all parties and achieving success means creating an accessible, affordable, and ubiquitous ecosystem of charging solutions. The time to act is now. 

 

Hayley Prim is a Senior Policy Manager at Uber based in New York City. Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 36 billion trips later, we’re building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities. 

 

Eric Rothman is CEO of HR&A, and a former official at Transport for London and Ignacio Montojo is a Principal in HR&A’s Infrastructure Practice based in New York. HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A) is an employee-owned company advising visionary clients on how to increase opportunity and advance quality of life in cities. Their work focuses on creating vital places, building more equitable and resilient communities, and improving people’s lives. 

  

 

The People Make the Place: Announcing a New Class of Leaders

January 25, 2023 / No Comments

Celebrating the people making an impact at HR&A

 

The old adage is true — the people make the place. At HR&A, we come from diverse backgrounds, have a breadth of lived experience, and share a passion for creating places, systems, and tools that help people thrive. While the problems we tackle are often complex, the driving force behind our work is radically simple. We care. You can see this care in the mission-driven culture we have built across six offices and in the places and impact we’ve helped our clients create.

Principals

 

Arjun Gupta Sarma

Arjun leads product development and data science at HR&A — focusing on the intersection of quantitative methods and policy for clients across the country.

 

 

Jared Press

Jared helps local government agencies leverage public investment in infrastructure and place-based economic development to catalyze the private sector in support of long-range planning initiatives.

 

 

Lydia Gaby

Lydia leads projects that promote equitable economic development and resiliency and manages large-scale participatory planning processes.

 

 

 

Thomas Simpson

Thomas advises clients on devising feasible programs, building public-private partnerships, and infusing equity and innovation into visionary real estate developments.

Directors

 

Amelia Taylor-Hochberg

Amelia’s work focuses on organizational and governance design, sociopolitical analyses of place, and building technological infrastructure that combats disenfranchisement.

 

 

Christina De Giulio

Christina draws from a decade of community and economic development experience to guide clients from visioning to implementation of place-based strategies to advance their goals.

 

 

Erman Eruz

Erman works with state and local governments on accessing once-in-a-generation federal funds and assists with the development and implementation of broadband and clean energy projects.

 

 

Gail Hankin

Gail focuses on crafting strategies that support equitable economic development, creating vibrant and inclusive open spaces, and advising a wide array of clients on pressing urban policy issues.

 

 

Garrett Rapsilber

Garrett supports the development of sustainable, context-specific real estate and economic development strategies.

 

 

Hannah Glosser

Hannah draws on her experience in climate adaptation, stakeholder and community engagement, and economic development to support equitable and resilient practices.

 

 

Jamison Dague

Jamison advises clients through complex planning and development projects with a focus on public-private partnerships that leverage innovative funding and financing tools to create thriving and sustainable places.

 

 

Landry Doyle Wiese

Landry uses economic and strategic analysis to bridge the gap between vision and implementation — designing operating models and governance structures to put ideas into action.

 

 

Rachel Waldman

Rachel advises public, private, and non-profit clients on leveraging their existing assets, funding, and influence to promote mission-aligned real estate and affordable housing development.

Senior Analysts

 

Ana Licona

Ana provides guidance to government and community leaders on closing the digital divide and implementing an equitable broadband future.

 

 

Aram Kamali

Aram performs economic and policy analysis in support of efforts that advance equitable development and build community wealth.

 

 

Ariel Dames-Podell

Ariel supports real estate and economic development strategies for public and private sector clients that enable equitable growth and create transformative destinations in cities across the country.

 

 

Benjamin Cole

Ben helps local governments and nonprofits leverage funding and drive policy change. He specializes in criminal justice reform, equitable economic development, and fair housing policy.

 

 

Geon Woo Lee

Geon Woo leverages data analysis to advance climate mitigation strategies, promote transit equity, and encourage equitable development across the country.

 

 

Laura Semeraro

Laura specializes in real estate advisory, housing affordability, and economic development, supporting financial analysis and strategic advisory for public, private, and institutional clients.

 

 

Madison Morine

Madison works at the intersection of developing cultural institutions, urban open space, and comprehensive plans to help clients improve opportunities for communities.

 

Analysts

 

Adina Jahan

Adina works on projects to create more inclusive cities, build digital equity, and advocate for criminal justice reform. She is guided by the principle that where you live should not determine your quality of life.

 

 

Alejandra Cabrales

Alejandra provides research and analytical support to advance sustainable and equitable placed-based solutions through economic development policy, transit-oriented development, community engagement, and governance design.

 

 

Anna Gallicchio

Anna specializes in housing affordability and economic development policy, working with city governments and non-profits to implement community-centered and data-driven solutions.

 

 

Clark Ricciardelli

Clark provides financial and data analysis for real estate development, asset repositioning, and workforce development projects across the U.S.

 

 

Lauren Kim

Lauren works on place-based projects that bring people joy. Grounded by community insights, she advocates for food justice, parks and open space, and neighborhood revitalization.

 

 

Marco Rodriguez

Marco specializes in knowledge economy, transit-oriented development, and economic development strategy, helping cities across the country become engines of innovation, inclusivity, and prosperity.

 

 

Sophia Campbell

Sophia provides research and analytical support for projects ranging from affordable housing and transit-oriented development to parks and open space.

 

 

Sophia Clark

Sophia provides analysis for real estate development, economic development strategy, and knowledge economy projects across the country.

 

 

Zada Smith

Zada works to advance equitable economic development through placemaking, strategic planning, and policy to drive better outcomes for communities.

Building Momentum in 2023

January 12, 2023 / No Comments

2023 is kicking off with strong momentum and high expectations in cities.

 

Working with some of the most innovative clients and collaborators in the world, we’re focused on building comprehensive solutions that address the complex, interconnected challenges facing urban communities. The unifying theme across this work is our passion for building more prosperous, resilient, and equitable cities for the people who live in them. We’re looking forward to great things in 2023 — building on the work we did in 2022 across 500 projects with clients in 180 cities, six countries, and three continents.

 

Our work includes:

Closing the Digital Divide & Leveraging Technology
Addressing the Housing Crisis
Developing Inclusive & Equitable Cities
Building Resilience in the Face of a Changing Climate
Revitalizing Downtowns & Exploring Adaptive Re-Use Strategies
Rebuilding Economies & Accessing Historic Investments in Infrastructure
Enhancing Community Assets
Living Our Values

 

 

Closing the Digital Divide & Leveraging Technology

 

Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative
State of California

Listening to New Yorkers about their government

December 20, 2022 / No Comments

This opinion piece by Sheena Wright, Shango Blake and José Serrano-McClain was originally published in the Daily News.

 

Bold investments to strengthen New York City’s civic infrastructure are key to a more equitable future and to meet the scale of the challenges we face as a city.

 

We know that historically the design and execution of city policies and programs are less equitable and generally less effective when decisions are made in isolation from the community.

 

We know that New Yorkers aren’t afraid to speak up and tell the government what they think, but government too often doesn’t know how to listen. Even when it does, government doesn’t have the infrastructure to effectively act upon community input.

 

Luckily, almost every New York City agency engages New Yorkers in one way or another.

 

But, community engagement is not coordinated among the 50-plus city agencies. On top of that, engagement teams are often understaffed and under-resourced, and efforts to engage New Yorkers have historically been more reactive and designed in ways that exclude working New Yorkers, parents, immigrants and disabled New Yorkers. All of this leads to duplicate, overlapping and contradictory engagement efforts that further distance New Yorkers from their government — sending the message that their input is not valued.

 

Our civic infrastructure — the practices, processes, supports and data that ensure that New Yorkers can easily and effectively collaborate with government — needs a refresh. We must bring rigor to community engagement — set a standard of excellence to which we hold agencies accountable. And we must provide the resources and tools agencies need and want to support and expand their efforts to engage community residents, partners, clients, participants, and neighbors.

 

Crucially, the city must have a way to coordinate these efforts, so that they add up to greater than the sum of their parts.

 

The Adams administration is pioneering new, exciting ways to deepen democracy by expanding meaningful opportunities for direct participation in government.

 

Starting on Day One, the Adams administration invited the partnership of NYC Speaks, a collaborative effort of City Hall, philanthropic partners, and a vast network of community leaders and civic institutions to learn from tens of thousands of New Yorkers from all walks of life about their priorities, their problems, and their solutions in order to shape the priorities of the incoming administration.

 

Over the last year, NYC Speaks collected more than 3 million data points from New Yorkers representing every residential zip code through the largest public policy survey in New York City history, convened nearly 5,000 residents as part of more than 220 community events, and collected moonshot policy ideas from nearly 450 city staff.

 

The community-generated data showed that New Yorkers are aligned around housing-first solutions, mental health investments in our public schools, climate-resilient neighborhoods and community spaces, jobs in the green economy, and participatory policymaking.

 

The rigor of this data served as a center of gravity for bringing senior government officials to help solve the problems New Yorkers said they cared about most. Through a series of workshops, senior government leaders, non-profit service providers, activists, academics, and philanthropists together developed policies that were both responsive and actionable.

 

The culmination of the survey data and Community Conversations, and coordination between civic institutions and mayor’s administration, five “North Stars” emerged:

    • North Star #1: Formerly incarcerated New Yorkers will have the support and resources they need to succeed when they return home.
    • North Star #2: NYC public school students will have access to culturally competent mental health resources.
    • North Star #3: Historically disinvested neighborhoods will be prioritized for capital investments in community and recreation spaces that support social, economic, and climate resilience.
    • North Star #4: Young New Yorkers and residents in Environmental Justice communities will have access to green career pathways created by city-led decarbonization and resilience efforts.
    • North Star #5: NYC government will be transformed into a national model of collaborative, inclusive, and accountable governance that strengthens democracy, expands civic engagement, and enhances civic trust.

     

    Last week, NYC Speaks unveiled its first annual Action Plan that includes a set of tangible policy commitments that will serve as the basis upon which the administration, private philanthropy, and civil society will continue to build over the coming year.

     

    NYC Speaks demonstrates that despite the fragmented nature of civic discourse, there are methodical ways to find common ground, and that our government can act in ways that are bold and strategic when provided with a quantified mandate.

     

    NYC Speaks is just scratching the surface of what must be done to strengthen our city’s civic infrastructure if we are to develop solutions commensurate with the scale of the challenges we face.

  • Wright is deputy mayor for strategic initiatives. Blake and Serrano-McClain are the co-executive directors of NYC Speaks.

Partners Launch Nationwide Initiative to Accelerate Energy Upgrades for Affordable Housing

December 2, 2022 / No Comments

Learn more about the free virtual R2E2 Summit on January 19 – 20, 2023 here.

 

After receiving funding from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Rockefeller Foundation, HR&A, as part of a team led by ACEEE, is supporting the design and implementation of a national challenge to scale clean energy retrofits in the low- and moderate-income (LMI) housing market in a way that centers racial equity. The proposed national challenge will be undertaken in coordination with Rockefeller and the Department of Energy to dramatically scale up retrofits in the low- and moderate-income housing market, and drive policy and program innovation among all challenge applicants — including eligible cities, counties, and/or states and their critical private sector and nonprofit stakeholders.

 

In addition to serving as a technical advisor to help design and implement the challenge nationally, HR&A is leading the content development for the affordable housing and energy efficiency in affordable housing trainings and helping to facilitate the R2E2 Summit on January 19 – 20, 2023. The summit will provide programming to educate local/state government staff and community-based organizations on how to leverage federal funding and multi-sector, community-centered approaches to scale up holistic retrofits in LMI housing.

The following press release was originally published on December 1, 2022 on the The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)’s website. 

 

Washington, DC—Communities often left out of climate investments will receive support to develop energy-saving home retrofit strategies under the new nationwide initiative Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity (R2E2). Funded by a $2.5 million grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, $250,000 each from JPMorgan Chase and the Wells Fargo Foundation, and additional support from The JPB Foundation, R2E2 will provide training to state, local, and tribal governments as well as community-based organizations to jumpstart energy upgrades for affordable housing that will lower utility bills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve residents’ health, create good-paying local jobs, and help advance racial equity.

 

Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity (R2E2) will kick off with training sessions in January on scaling up building energy retrofits and leveraging the unprecedented federal funding available from COVID-19 relief programs, the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and other sources.

 

A partnership of the American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Elevate, Emerald Cities Collaborative, and HR&A Advisors, R2E2 will offer guidance on energy upgrade financing models, economic inclusion, navigating the complexities of the affordable housing sector, and engaging with community-based organizations to ensure proposals reflect community needs. People’s Climate Innovation Center is advising R2E2 on centering equity in the project and its outcomes and on facilitating community-driven planning processes.

 

Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity will center environmental justice and racial equity to address the compounding crises of housing affordability, energy insecurity, and climate change. Energy insecurity is particularly acute in Native American, Black, and Hispanic households, which pay an average of between 20% and 45% more of their incomes on energy bills than white households but are among the least likely to receive energy upgrades. R2E2 will encourage state, local, and community teams to prioritize authentic engagement with underserved communities, bolster community priorities and leaders, advance local workforce development, and target programs to those who have historically been excluded by past policies, such as BIPOC communities, renters, and marginalized groups.

 

“Too many households—especially families with lower incomes—live in poorly insulated and energy-inefficient homes, leaving them with high utility bills and uncomfortable or dangerous temperatures,” said Annika Brindel, ACEEE’s director of Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity. “We are working with communities to craft a pathway to safer, more comfortable, and less expensive housing, while centering racial equity, community priorities, and local job creation.”

 

Henry Love, Elevate’s senior director of municipal and community programs, said: “Upgrading and decarbonizing homes makes them healthier, safer, and more resilient against a changing climate. Our approach supports communities as they develop strategies for upgrading their buildings and protecting their residents. R2E2 creates a one-stop shop for communities to get support as they create a strategy for upgrading their buildings. We’re taking a holistic approach to zero-carbon buildings in a way that benefits the communities that need it most.”

 

Meishka Mitchell, president and CEO of Emerald Cities Collaborative, said: “Our transition to an energy-efficient economy must include underinvested communities that have been most impacted by our history of environmental injustice. Emerald Cities Collaborative is pleased to lend its expertise in economic inclusion, workforce development, labor standards, and community benefit agreements to this valuable initiative.”

 

Jonathan Meyers, partner at HR&A Advisors, said: “We are excited to work with this diverse team to support a national transition toward equitable decarbonization in low- and moderate-income housing. This challenge will require a holistic response, and we have high hopes that this initiative will help transform the way housing and energy experts partner with each other and communities to improve the lives and communities of all residents.”

 

Corrine Van Hook-Turner, director of People’s Climate Innovation Center, said: “We are pleased to serve as the strategic advisor of R2E2, providing guidance and community-driven capacity building support to help strengthen and shape the delivery of key investments to frontline communities. In collaboration with project partners, we will continue advocating for and practicing structures and decision-making practices that are rooted in equity and justice to drive this important work.”

 

R2E2 will begin its training and technical assistance with an online summit on January 19 and 20. The summit will feature interactive, in-depth sessions on leveraging federal funding, community-driven planning, and the multiple benefits that residential retrofits can bring to communities. The summit is free and community-based organizations are eligible to receive stipends for their participation. Those interested in receiving periodic updates and information about the upcoming summit can sign up here.

 

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a nonprofit research organization, develops policies to reduce energy waste and combat climate change. Its independent analysis advances investments, programs, and behaviors that use energy more effectively and help build an equitable clean energy future.

 

Elevate is a nonprofit organization that works nationally and is headquartered in Chicago. Elevate designs and implements programs to ensure that everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water in their homes and communities —no matter who they are or where they live.

 

Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) is a national nonprofit network of organizations working together to advance a sustainable environment while creating sustainable, just and inclusive economies with opportunities for all — an approach we call “the high road.” ECC develops energy, green infrastructure and other sustainable development projects that not only contribute to the resilience of our metropolitan regions but also ensure an equity stake for low-income communities of color in the green economy. This includes developing the economic infrastructure for family-supporting wages and career paths for residents of such communities, as well as contracting opportunities for women, BIPOC and other disadvantaged businesses.

 

HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A) is an employee-owned company advising public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic clients on how to increase opportunity and advance quality of life in cities. We believe in creating vital places, building more equitable and resilient communities, and improving people’s lives.

 

People’s Climate Innovation Center brings a whole systems approach to movement building, cultivating a strong culture of designing transformative solutions that restore and regenerate healthy earth systems and built environments for all. Our approach emphasizes the need for solutions that are community-driven, interconnected, and intervene at multiple levels.