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The program aims to provide funds to community-based organizations working to advance environmental justice in their communities
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, has been awarded a $100 million cooperative agreement under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking program (EJ TCGM). RTI, with its community partners, will serve as the Region 4 Grantmaker, as well as a one of the three National Grantmakers to provide support to the central U.S. (EPA Regions 4-7).
In partnership with North Carolina Central University (CARES Center), the Southern Environmental Law Center, the University of Kentucky, and the National Center for Healthy Housing, RTI will continue to serve EPA’s Region 4 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and six Tribal Nations) through a participatory governing model. The program will build capacity through assessment, planning, and project development in the distribution of grant funding to disadvantaged communities.
“We are thrilled to lend RTI’s wealth of expertise to this important program that will help ensure that local organizations across the U.S., regardless of circumstance, can be active participants in defining how to best advance environmental justice in their communities,” said Daniela Pineda, senior director with the Transformative Research Unit for Equity (TRUE) and director of the Thriving Communities Project at RTI.
As a National Grantmaker, RTI is expanding its partnership with the Southern Environmental Law Center and the National Center for Healthy Housing, along with the International City/County Management Association, to coordinate and deliver an efficient sub-grants program that addresses environmental justice issues across the central U.S.
In total, RTI and its partners will serve 23 states and 116 Tribal nations to ease the administrative burden of grant applications and improve access to resources to support planning, assessment, and development of community-based projects. The grantmaking team brings together RTI’s breadth of experts and innovations in equity-centered research, environmental justice, community engagement, health, environmental sciences, communications, analytics, education, workforce development, and climate solutions.
Earlier this year, RTI was awarded a $10 million grant to coordinate EPA’s recently launched Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) in Region 4. The Grantmaker award will complement the TCTACs to address climate change and advance environmental justice.
Read the EPA press release announcing EJ TCGM
Learn more about RTI’s environmental justice work
Learn more about RTI’s Transformative Research Unit for Equity (TRUE)
