Community Impact Lab Awarded EBCE Community Innovation Grant

By SLNext
In Uncategorized
Jun 27th, 2019
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San Leandro non-profit organization Community Impact LAB has been announced as one of six recipients of East Bay Community Energy’s first ever Community Innovation Grant.  Community Impact Lab was one of six awardees to receive up to $40,000 in grants for energy projects, specifically proposals designed to deliver local benefits to targeted communities in areas such as job creation, workforce development, economic empowerment, and climate and social resilience, as well as projects that advance innovation and collaboration.

Community Impact Lab was awarded $40,000 for their Community Energy Conservation Initiative (CECI).  This 10-month initiative will work to empower and educate Alameda County families and businesses to tackle climate change through energy conservation and literacy.

The goal of the Community Energy Conservation Initiative is to encourage households and other community stakeholders to take action to decrease societal consumption of energy resources. The project will leverage the power of families, especially mothers, to mobilize the community to use energy more efficiently, choose strategic sources of energy, and reduce energy use altogether. The three main objectives include:

  1. Promoting a base understanding of energy, energy sources, generation, use, and conservation strategies to make informed decisions about smart energy use at home, and consumer choices;
  2. Identifying action-oriented steps individual households and businesses can take to reduce energy consumption, and;
  3. Encouraging individuals, businesses, and organizations to make a positive environmental impact through in-person and online education and engagement opportunities.

The Community Energy Conservation Initiative will include conservation challenges which utilize technology to audit and reduce usage, a Clean Energy Mini-Conference and Business/Career Fair, a three-part workshop series, and an online educational campaign.

A three-month long Energy Conservation Challenge will be offered for households and businesses to utilize the DERNetSoft platform technology to understand, assess, and ultimately reduce their energy consumption. A Clean Energy Conference and Career Fair will help to bring individuals and businesses together, including speakers, booths, and hiring teams looking to staff up with this ever-expanding industry.  Workshops will also be offered to provide guided online support to help participants reach their identified energy goals. Components include general workshops and an online campaign to educate families on environmental justice issues and energy literacy, and to engage our community with awareness, as well as jobs in the clean energy industry.

Community Impact LAB is launching the first cohort for the Community Energy Conservation Initiative in the next few months and is looking for community stakeholders (organizations as well as individuals) who might want to partner and/or participate!  For more information, visit www.communityimpactlab.org, or email info@communityimpactlab.org.

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