CivicWell

Community design:in 2023, Civicwell partnered with communities around the state to conduct local visioning, planning and implementation of solutions for equitable and sustainable transportation, shared mobility, housing, downtown and neighborhood revitalization, and placemaking. We also provided intensive technical assistance to help underserved and marginalized communities develop proposals and access funding for implementation. We worked with 14 jurisdictions to conduct collaborative community engagement and planning projects with the support of $1.7 million we helped raise from caltrans and other sources. We also wrote proposals in partnership with jurisdictions, raising $1.62 million with 6 communities for active transportation, complete streets, and regional bus rapid transit plans that will launch in 2024.our technical assistance efforts focused on building local capacity and translating initiatives and ideas for change into successful plans, proposals, and awards for implementation. We continued our work providing technical assistance on behalf of the strategic growth council transformative climate communities (tcc) program to help disadvantaged rural communities, California native american tribes, and urban localities apply for planning and implementation projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve health, support local revitalization, and expand economic opportunity. In december, sgc staff approved four grants of $22,125,000 to 4 communities for multi-benefit implementation projects, grants between $1 and $4 million to 4 communities for both planning and implementation, and $300,000 to 3 communities to plan for future implementation.we helped direct $24.5 million to underserved communities and tribes for clean and shared mobility as part of California air resources board's clean mobility options administrative team with calstart and the shared-use mobility center. 12 awardees received up to $100,000 each to conduct needs assessments and 17 received up to $1.5 million each to implement shared mobility projects, including bike and scooter-sharing, carpooling and vanpooling, ev car sharing and innovative microtransit.we expanded our planning, capacity building, and technical assistance support beyond California to 15 communities around the country as part of the us dot thriving communities program with a multidisciplinary team led by rmi. The program aims to advance community-driven, transformative investments in underserved and overburdened communities and help them access unprecedented funding under the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Water:in 2023, Civicwell's water program supported a number of place-based projects along with coordinating groundwater convenings and collaborations to support information sharing among groups and to identify and elevate local concerns to state policymakers. We continued to convene the ngo groundwater collaborative, which works to ensure community engagement in the development and implementation of groundwater sustainability plans around California, and also participate in the California department of water resources' drought resilience interagency & partners (drip) collaborative. As a partner in growing water smart, a joint program of the sonoran institute and the babbitt center for land and water policy, we hosted a workshop that brought together local government and community leaders for water resource and land use development planning and collaboration. These workshops lead to tailored action plans, and participants are eligible for technical assistance to implement the plans.

Climate change & energy:in 2023, Civicwell's climate & energy team supported numerous local, regional and statewide climate change efforts through the alliance of regional collaboratives for climate adaptation (arcca), the capital region climate readiness collaborative (crc), the California climate & energy collaborative (ccec), and the California adaptation forum (caf), engaging with hundreds of jurisdictions and organizations across California. We deepened our engagement with California's growing ecosystem of climate and energy practitioners, and expanded technical assistance services to support under-resourced community leaders. Over 3,250 climate leaders from across the state directly participated in Civicwell convenings focused on collective learning, peer knowledge exchange, and coalition building, including the annual ccec forum and the 2023 California adaptation forum.we provided technical assistance through the justice40 initiative, greenlining the block, and our coalition programs. We also submitted 11 comment letters to elevate local and regional needs in the state budget and various state grant programs. We celebrated the completion of the san diego region coastal resilience roadmap and empower procurement projects, as well as the launch of a new project with uc berkeley and stop waste focused on accelerating adoption of equitable climate solutions across ca. In 2023, arcca became an implementing partner with the California resilience partnership, which has been critical to building institutional capacity and deepening engagement in California's climate policy and regulatory matters.

National service:in 2023, as part of the 2022-23 service year, 87 civicspark fellows provided over 154,197 hours of service to communities across California, Colorado, and Washington state. This was our 9th service year in California and 1st year in Colorado and Washington state. Fellows have supported 87 civicspark projects at 71 agencies across three states. Projects focused on addressing emerging environmental and social equity resilience challenges such as climate change, water resource management, affordable housing, and mobility. Fellows have performed 1,515 hours of volunteering, engaged over 319 ongoing on-going volunteers and 1,831 one-time volunteers.as part of our 2023-2024 service year, the tenth overall, 107 civicspark fellows provided over 151,829 (121,576 ca, 15,438 co, 14,806 wa) hours of service. Fellows built the capacity of 84 agencies across three states, worked on 248 projects, performed 1,515 hours volunteering through regional service days and coordinated over 3,300 volunteers who performed 10,729 hours of service. The civicspark program also was awarded a national planning grant to study further expansion, specifically in the southeastern united states. Between april and december 2023, the program conducted outreach with more than 200 stakeholders through surveys, listening sessions, individual and group meetings, and consultations with state service commissions.local policymaker engagement:in 2023, Civicwell connected over 37,000 leaders through coalition work, projects, events, and communications. We created 19 new reports, tools, webinars, and guides to support local elected officials, staff, and practitioners. We organized 184 meetings and events to engage communities and move local priorities forward.