Established in 2022 by Smart Growth California and Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties, with leadership from San Diego Foundation, The California Endowment, and the International Community Foundation, the Climate Funders Collaborative supports funder learning and collaboration to promote healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities in the Baja, Imperial and San Diego Region. 
Funders can play a critical role in ensuring that policies and public investments benefit all residents, particularly traditionally underserved people and communities. The Climate Funders Collaborative focuses on building funder knowledge in a supportive, interactive and generative environment to collectively learn and enable action on critical climate-related issues.
The group focuses on intersectional issues relating to climate justice, as well as philanthropic and community-based practices and trends relevant to the region. Together, funders are working to identify new opportunities and areas of alignment, and activate philanthropic resources to strengthen connections to support frontline communities impacted by climate change and uplift locally driven solutions that build climate resilience integrating a trust-based and racial justice lens.
Read more about the group’s October 2022 in-person gathering.
Who’s Involved
The Climate Funders Collaborative is open to all funders currently supporting efforts to build healthy, equitable, and sustainable in the region. The steering committee for this group is in the process of being formed (if you’re interested in learning more, please contact Ron Milam).
Get Involved
As part of the Climate Funders Collaborative, you can:
- Network and build relationships with other funders committed to creating healthier, equitable, and sustainable communities in the Baja/Imperial/San Diego region.
- Learn about model practices, tools, and strategies that you can apply to your work, plus share knowledge and insights with your peers.
- Explore opportunities to create joint funding opportunities and drive policy change.
- Leverage the impact of your own giving through collaboration with other funders.
Our funder network hosts quarterly face-to-face gatherings including Funder briefings, meetings, and learning-from-place site visits.
How to Join the Climate Funders Collaborative
To join our network, we ask that you support our vision and allocate some portion of your giving to creating healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities in the Baja/Imperial/San Diego region. If you currently don’t fund in the region but are exploring opportunities to do so, we also welcome your participation. We also ask that you join The Funders Network and Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties.
Contact Ron Milam, Director of Smart Growth California, to learn more and get involved. In joining the Climate Funders Collaborative, you also become part of Smart Growth California.
