TL/DR –
Invest in Our Future, a donor collaborative created to leverage federal dollars for workers and communities across the US, has received $240m in funding commitments from donors like Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The organization’s goal is to leverage around $1tn in public and private investments towards clean-energy transitions, focusing on communities that have historically been left behind. The collaborative has already granted $55.5m to over 20 organizations and aims to ensure that the opportunities created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 are equally accessible to all communities.
Invest in Our Future Leverages Federal Dollars To Boost Clean Energy Transition
Recently appointed Executive Director of Invest in Our Future, Peter Colavito, brings a rich background in labor movement advocacy and cross-sector initiatives in climate, labor, and economic justice to his new role. Invest in Our Future is a large donor collaborative committed to supporting workers and communities nationwide through the leveraging of federal dollars.
Formed earlier this year following the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and the CHIPS and Science Act, the donor group sees potential in these laws to catalyze US$1 trillion in public and private investment toward the clean-energy transition. The combined legislation, it believes, can transform industries, creating jobs for communities usually left behind in such initiatives – from urban to rural.
Invest in Our Future has already attracted US$240 million in funding commitments from a range of big donors, including Breakthrough Energy, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and a donor-advised fund created by the Ballmer Group, the family office of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
The challenge, as Colavito sees it, is to ensure the fund adequately supports communities caught in the transition, helping catalyze opportunities for them. This includes making sure low-income communities benefit from the transition away from fossil fuels.
The collaborative has already granted US$55.5 million to more than 20 organizations, with another US$7 million in grants identified but not yet disbursed. Grantees include the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, which aims to increase its tribes’ capacity to secure funding to provide electricity for reservations, and the New York-based Climate Jobs National Resource Center, which works with union-led coalitions in eight states.
The collaborative aims to raise awareness of the benefits of this influx of government funding and seeks to boost public confidence in U.S. institutions like the IRS and the Department of Energy. It is exploring how to support the technical and capacity needs of government agencies that are engaged in implementing policies so they work effectively and deliver on the promise of these new laws.
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