Equity and climate change
Equity and climate change are interconnected. We know that low-income communities, communities of color, Indigenous peoples, and immigrant communities are hardest hit by climate change. Yet, these groups have historically produced the least GHG emissions.
MarinCAN acknowledges these communities have existed and still exist in Marin County. We seek to co-design and implement solutions with these communities. We know this requires a continuous effort to normalize, organize, and internalize equity at MarinCAN. Read more about our organization's internal and external equity work below.
MarinCAN's equity progress report and training
With generous funding from the Marin Community Foundation, MarinCAN produced a report which measured progress toward engaging communities of color in its work. Read the MarinCAN Equity Progress report.
In addition to this report, MarinCAN Board members participated in a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training in May 2020. View the training materials.
Community Ambassador Program
MarinCAN's Community Ambassador Program recognized and supported existing community leaders from underserved communities of color to advocate for community priorities, learn about climate change, and share information with their community. Ambassadors were encouraged to submit project proposal ideas for funding. Project applications were reviewed by MarinCAN's Equity Task Force, the Multicultural Center of Marin staff, the Environmental Forum of Marin staff, and Canal Alliance's "Voces del Canal" program volunteers. The project selected for implementation was the Empowered Women Cleaning Marin by Fátima Piña.
Other grantmaking efforts
In Spring 2023, MarinCAN distributed Marin Community Foundation Equity Grant funding to three organizations working at the intersection of climate action and equity in Marin County.
- The LIME Foundation - In October and November 2023, underserved youth ages 18-24 will learn skills in the construction trades at the The LIME Foundation’s Next Gen Trades Academy. This initiative is funded in partnership with the County of Marin, MCE, BayREN, and the Transportation Authority of Marin.
- Ride and Drive Clean - This project will engage residents of the Canal District of San Rafael in community-based transportation solutions such as transit, walking, biking, e-bikes, and electric vehicles with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving local air quality.
- ExtraFood - This project will increase the number of non-profit distribution partners and number of individuals served by the ExtraFood program in the Canal and Marin City communities.