Capacity Building Grant Award
Worcester Roots – RENEW Awarded Energy Justice Grant
In the spring, we applied for and were awarded funding from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) Office of Environmental Justice and Equity (OEJE) in the form of a Capacity Building Grant. The OEJE Capacity Building Grant program is part of the Healey-Driscoll administration’s ongoing commitment to addressing environmental inequities and ensuring that all Massachusetts residents, particularly those in low-income and marginalized communities, have the tools and resources they need to tackle climate change and other environmental challenges.
“These grants are not just about growing food or building organizational capacity—they’re about advancing racial and economic justice from the ground up. Worcester Roots-RENEW is building a cooperative model rooted in equity and shared leadership, intentionally creating pathways for historically marginalized voices to shape the future. This is what community power looks like.”
Sen. Robyn Kennedy, May 21, 2025 (Press Release)
Why We Applied
Our reach and impact in the community is currently limited by our size. It limits our ability to plan beyond the next event, and to extend our recruitment and messaging reach. This grant will help us make effective use of our resources, expand our reach, and create an action plan that can guide our work into the future. It will help us to absorb new members who can assume leadership in the organization.
We have spent the last two years expanding our contact list of people interested in renewable energy and alternative clean energy solutions, but we currently don’t have the capacity to mobilize them and activate them to engage in the organizational work required to plan and execute clean energy projects. The capacity building grant we received from the Solstice Community Benefit Fund will help us recruit new members including those needed to fill new roles and support their training in those roles, but we also need to empower them to to take ownership of the vision, mission, and activities of RENEW as we move forward. This grant allowed us to pay for technical assistance from a consultant who is experienced in helping organizations transition their leadership to more cooperative, equity-based models. The detailed plan we developed in collaboration with our consultant will be our guiding document as we host events, support the activities of our partner organizations, recruit and onboard new members, and track progress on our goals.
The capacity building grant we received from the Solstice Community Benefit Fund will help us recruit new members including those needed to fill new roles and support their training in those roles, but we also need to empower them to to take ownership of the vision, mission, and activities of RENEW as we move forward.
