How to Fund Community Energy Resilience Projects

Alex leads GRID GLA’s grant development and commercial solar program. Under Alex’s guidance, GLA has been awarded several large multi-million dollar government grants, including the Strategic Growth Council’s Transformative Climate Communities implementation grants (four total) and planning grants (two total); the California Energy Commission’s Advanced Energy Communities grant, The Next EPIC Challenge: Reimagining Affordable Mixed-Use Development in a Carbon-Constrained Future and the Reliable, Equitable and Accessible Charging for Multifamily Housing (REACH) grant; among others. All of these efforts are dedicated to installing solar, battery storage, electric vehicle supply equipment, and other emerging clean energy technologies for the benefit of vulnerable populations and underserved communities. For GRID GLA’s growing commercial solar program, Alex leads project development through partnerships with affordable housing operators and other nonprofits. This includes several projects over 100 kW, as well as resilience center projects that utilize solar and battery storage to provide power backup when the grid goes down. 

Lori is an interdisciplinary advocate, educator, and organizer working strategically to empower historically marginalized communities. Prior to her current consulting work, Lori was the Director of Civic Engagement at the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). DHF’s redistricting campaign was the most comprehensive grassroots community mapping effort ever in the history of the Central Valley and led to two bills in the state legislature to establish Independent Redistricting Commissions for Fresno and Kern Counties.

Pamela Martinez joined The Climate Center in April of 2023 as the Community Energy Resilience Project Manager. In this role, she leads the Microgrid Equity Coalition which meets on a bi-weekly basis and advocates for environmental justice proceedings. Through her project implementation efforts, she works with community based organizations to help identify and pursue state and federal funding that advances clean energy projects in disadvantaged communities across California. These efforts aim to enhance resilience in historically underrepresented communities.

The Center for Community Energy and Environmental Justice at SDSU Research Foundation is a new EPA-funded center that aims to empower communities and provide technical assistance to community organizations who want to address environmental challenges in their communities. Loren leads project management initiatives, oversees operations, represents the project at outreach and other events, and manages day-to-day operations of the network.