Cover image: Kate Kozak and Oluwaseun Olubodun running a waste station in the Uptown park. Photo provided by Reena Murphy.

Source: Oxford Free Press

This summer, the City of Oxford welcomed two interns, Oluwaseun Olubodun and Kate Kozak, from the Climate Action Fellowship offered through Green Umbrella. 

Green Umbrella is a non-profit organization that connects people, organizations and local governments in the greater Cincinnati area to “take decisive action in the face of climate change.”

This summer marked the second year that Oxford welcomed interns from the Climate Action Fellowship. These fellows work on projects both provided by Green Umbrella as well as relevant tasks for the city. 

Olubodun has studied at Miami University since 2019, first as a master’s student and now working towards her Ph.D. in the ecology, evolution and environmental biology program. Kozak is entering her junior year at Ohio State University as an environment, economy, development and sustainability major. 

Green Umbrella paired the two up to work in Oxford starting in late May under Reena Murphy, Oxford’s sustainability coordinator and the host site supervisor for the fellowship. 

“It’s a great collaboration for Oxford in the region,” Murphy said. “It’s a great way to learn from each other, and it’s a good way to get new perspectives and ideas in our community and really start chipping away at some of our long-term goals. I’m super grateful for the fellowship and the work these two have done this summer.”

Over the summer, the duo worked on various projects for Green Umbrella, such as energy benchmarking and climate budgeting, as well as other priorities for the city. Olubodun researched stormwater management funds, and Kozak concentrated on waste management. 

For Olubodun, the experience this summer differed from her typical work in the lab and in school because it allowed her to see how her research affects Oxford.  

“Being in the lab, you kind of forget the essence of a bigger picture,” Olubodun said. “We’re doing procurement, we’re doing energy benchmarking, we’re doing community wealth, [but] what’s the whole point of it? Why are we doing it? Why is it important? … So being able to take a step away from my regular activities and see how everything makes sense with the lens of sustainability, I think that’s what is very important to me.”

Beyond researching, Olubodun and Kozak also presented their findings throughout the summer to various Environmental Commission and Climate Action Steering Committee meetings. 

“Everybody was really nice,” Kozak said. “They asked so many questions. It was really kind of a jumping-off point. I shared the information, and they were like, ‘Okay, now how does this more directly apply to Oxford?’”

The interns only worked for the city over the summer. Despite their brief time, however, Kozak said everyone she worked with was welcoming and excited to introduce her to Oxford. 

“Considering that we’re only here for 10 weeks, they don’t necessarily have to get to know us,” Kozak said. “I think it’s really nice that people are putting in an effort to be nice. We’ve met people in other departments, and we’ve gone on various tours of places. All city staff members [want] to answer our questions, and they want to show us around town.”

Their research and work since arriving in Oxford has given both interns valuable experience in their fields, as well as introducing them to experts in different industries. Kozak said working on these projects, including a climate budgeting project that analyzed the city’s capital improvement plan through a sustainability lens, has taught her about what she likes in terms of data and research. 

Outside of working for the city, the interns have enjoyed spending time at the summer events in Oxford. From Freedom Festival to Red Brick Fridays, they have been able to see the people in Oxford that their work impacts.  

“It’s so nice,” Kozak said. “We’ve been at these community events for the waste stations, [and] that’s been my favorite part. It’s so nice to see all the people come out and get together … I think it’s very pretty around here, and everyone cares about sustainability, so that’s been uplifting as well.”

The fellowship term ends on Aug. 8. Kozak and Olubodun will attend the fellowship showcase on Aug. 20, where they will share their experiences with interns from other cities at the University of Cincinnati. 

Although this is only the second summer that Oxford participated in the Green Umbrella Climate Action Fellowship, Murphy said the city would love to continue participating and highlighted the benefits to both the interns and the city. 

“I just have a soft spot,” Murphy said. “I started in the city as an intern during my graduate program. The best way to learn is to do and to see what local government is all about.”

Source: NKY Tribune

Green Umbrella is accepting applications for its Climate Action Fellowship program for governments in Greater Cincinnati communities.

The fellowship pairs undergraduate and graduate students, and individuals who want to pivot careers into the sustainability space, with Green Umbrella government members to develop practical plans and solutions for a changing climate.

Local governments receive research support and added capacity, assistance in sustainability planning. Fellows receive invaluable experience in the public sector, and networking and professional development support.

The three local governments selected for Green Umbrella’s Climate Fellowship program inaugural year were the Cities of Covington; Milford, Ohio; and Oxford, Ohio. These cities initiated or accelerated their sustainability planning processes during their fellowship, as well as implemented projects related to energy cost savings, greenspace, and more.

Only 3 jurisdictions (the Cities of Cincinnati, Fairfield, and Oxford, OH) in Green Umbrella’s 10-county region, encompassing 188 jurisdictions, have sustainability action plans. Milford and Covington designed and launched environmental committees last year with support from the fellowship to start their planning process. The Climate Action Fellowship program will work directly with local governments to provide capacity to help kickstart a community-driven, whole-of-government approach to sustainability planning and implementation that centers community resilience, helps stabilize budgets, and supports access to expanded funding.

The 2025 Climate Action Fellows are supported by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.

Green Umbrella

Source: City of Covington

From neighborhood workshops to Carnegie exhibit, Climate Action fellow made mark on, in The Cov

COVINGTON, Ky. – Communications professional Elese Daniel’s mission during her two-month stint at Covington City Hall was to gauge interest in climate and environmental issues and opportunities, and to be a resource for questions not only from City leaders and staff but also from community partners.

That work involved nearly 40 hours of meetings with City staff, Daniel told the Covington Board of Commissioners during a presentation Tuesday night, but it also took her to neighborhoods like Austinburg, Helentown, and Eastside, where Daniel participated in climate-safe community workshops.

“That was really cool,” said Daniel. “It was a mapping activity with residents from those neighborhoods. So, folks were educated on some of the climate change impacts and challenges that Covington is facing, but then there’s specific neighborhoods that are overburdened by x, y, and z, and for them to tell us what was happening in their neighborhood – experiencing heat, wanting more trees – was cool, because you get that frontline community feedback.”

From June into August, Daniel was a Climate Action Fellow with the City, part of Green Umbrella’s regional climate collaborative that pairs undergraduate and graduate students with local governments to provide capacity to help kickstart a community-driven, whole-of-government approach to climate planning, that centers on equity and community resilience.

She told Commissioners that the City was already involved in many services and initiatives that pushed Green Umbrella-related goals, from renewed focus on stormwater issues to a push for more EV chargers for vehicles to innovative recycling opportunities to pollinator gardens and tree plantings. She said she hoped her time bolstered energy around climate initiatives, and she ended her presentation by recommending the City create a Climate Action Task Force of City staff and outside partners to create a playbook for the future.

Having such a document could help the City secure grants in the future, she said.

“Yes, there is a climate crisis among us, and yes we have to combat it, and there are a lot of opportunities for us to go about doing that, including there are already a handful of big projects that you have going on, including the Central Riverfront and the large RAISE grant that you were awarded, the new City Hall …” she said.

But she listed other opportunities and goals, including greening the City’s vehicle fleet, reducing energy use in City facilities, creating more green spaces, and more work on stormwater and air quality issues.

Mayor Joe Meyer thanked Daniel for her work and voiced high praise.

“We’ll take your recommendation under consideration and deal with it at some point in the future,” Meyer said. “But in the meantime, Elese, I wanted to acknowledge your presence. You’re very impressive, and we were delighted to have the experience of having you in our City Hall and working with the folks in the building. Your contribution was meaningful, and thank you for that.”

What Daniel didn’t tell the Commission, however, was her contributions to Covington outside her climate work.

It seems she’s an equally talented artist and writer with art on display as part of the “Suspended Between Forms” exhibit at The Carnegie. In fact, her work is front and center at the entrance to The Carnegie.

Daniel also didn’t talk about her impressive background: Hailing from South Bend, Ind., she made her way to the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati region when she landed a full scholarship to the University of Cincinnati as a forward on the Bearcats basketball team.

“I came here because I’m a jock,” Daniel said.

With a degree in journalism from UC, Daniel was hired by then-Cincinnati Vice Mayor David Mann as his community liaison and office aide. Daniels was Mann’s bridge to Cincinnati residents, fielding emails and visiting with and scheduling community council meetings among the 50 councils in Cincinnati.

“I worked for David Mann for almost four years, and still have a good relationship with him,” said Daniel, who went on to gain experience in transportation, particularly bicycles.

During a 7-year stint with Red Bike, Daniel created the company’s equity and outreach program creating a monthly membership for folks that were income qualified.

“My work with them was about equity and access, how to make it easy and affordable and feel culturally like the right thing for more folks, because at first it seemed like it (the bikes) were for tourists,” said Daniel. “We expanded the spectrum of who rides and now the discount program is nationally recognized.”

The program was a awarded a number of large grants based on bike share equity and access, and Daniel later went on to work as the program’s engagement manager. Daniel also participated in a Transportation Justice Fellowship with the North American City Transportation Officials (NACTO), and later participated as a coach in that capacity for NACTO.

“On a national level, I’ve got to do lots of cool stuff like bike share and transportation,” said Daniel.

The fellowship opportunity with Green Umbrella was another “incredible” opportunity for Daniel.

“As a person that generally cares about the environment and the world and people around me, I want to know more from a city policy standpoint how our cities are thinking about climate change and what they’re trying to do to mitigate or change the situation,” said Daniel.

During her two-month fellowship in Covington, Daniel drew upon one of the many things she’s good at – communicating – to get people to think about something new in a different way.

“The City is dealing with everything that a city deals with, but how do I make it make sense that climate action is something they should maybe take on?” said Daniel. “Honestly, it was a lot of learning and understanding the different departmental needs and priorities, and how does climate action, storm water, energy, heat – how does all of that slide into some of their priorities?”

City leaders said Daniel made her mark in many ways.

“Elese made it look easy as she engaged with the City staff and community members to raise awareness and educate about Climate Action Preparedness,” said Covington Solid Waste and Recycling Manager Sheila Fields. “We are grateful for all the work Elese accomplished to equip the City of Covington with the necessary tools and resources to be ready for changes in our climate.”    

As for what happens regarding the City’s plans for climate action initiatives now that Daniel is gone?

She said there were already engaged individuals inside and outside of City staff who care about climate action and sustainability initiatives.

“The thing that I really hope people support (because we have to work in community and we don’t just make decisions on our own) is there’s a task force that creates a climate action plan or environment sustainability plan for the City that can be used as a unified vision of what matters and the goals to work toward – reducing carbon emissions, improving quality of life, and making it economically make sense,” she said. “I think that would be helpful. I’m hoping we’ve planted enough ideas and related enough information that they will want to do that.”

Source: Environmental Resilience Institute

Just like climate change knows no borders, neither do effective models to help communities take steps to address it.

This summer, Cincinnati-based Green Umbrella launched a pilot program to support the climate action planning efforts of three local governments in the region, which includes parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

Inspired by the IU Environmental Resilience Institute’s (ERI’s) McKinney Midwest Climate Project (MMCP), Green Umbrella’s Climate Action Fellowship connects local governments with students and young professionals to advance their community’s climate journey.

Over the course of 10 weeks, local governments and fellows work together to make progress in six areas related to climate action and resilience planning. The program includes a three-day training and regular support from Green Umbrella staff, culminating with a community showcase where participants present on the progress they made.

The inaugural cohort, funded by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, pairs the cities of Oxford, Ohio, Milford, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky with local students and young professionals interested in public sector climate careers.

“I see this program as such a boon for getting folks excited about climate work who are both currently and not currently in the public sector space,” said Savannah Sullivan, Green Umbrella’s senior director of programs and climate strategy. “It’s also very encouraging to community members who want to see this action from their governments.”

Sullivan, who worked at ERI during her time as a graduate student at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, is no stranger to developing climate programs and resources for local governments. While at IU, she supported the ERI Toolkit, a guide to help Midwest communities prepare for and address climate change impacts. Sullivan also contributed to some of ERI’s early programs for local governments focused on climate risk and vulnerability. Those experiences helped inform her approach to engaging communities at Green Umbrella, whose members include governments, businesses, nonprofits, and educational institutions invested in local climate action.

When brainstorming program models to support smaller local governments with limited resources and varying levels of sustainability experience, Sullivan knew exactly where to turn. Since 2019, ERI has engaged nearly 50 local governments in Indiana on climate and resilience planning. Through MMCP’s Resilience Cohort, Indiana cities, towns, and counties have tackled topics spanning greenhouse gas inventories, climate action planning, solar readiness, and tree canopy replenishment.

“Early on, ERI heard from many Hoosier communities that they wanted to make progress on climate but didn’t really know how to get started,” said Therese Dorau, ERI assistant director for policy and implementation. “Since then, tremendous progress has been made in Indiana with guidance from ERI and with the support of McKinney Climate Fellows, IU students striving to become the next climate leaders. This model of collective impact could work across the country wherever there are shared goals and an organization willing to facilitate it. It’s exciting to see Green Umbrella pilot it in neighboring states.”

After consulting ERI staff in 2023, Sullivan adapted the Resilience Cohort model to fit Green Umbrella’s members, confident the program would achieve its stated goals. Though the pilot program doesn’t wrap up until early August, other local governments have already expressed interest about joining the next iteration, Sullivan said.

“What works about it is that the local government space is very community oriented,” she said. “Local governments like to learn from each other. They also like to see what their neighbors are doing.

“This program really lays the ground for accessible examples and stories for other governments in the region to look to.”

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About the Environmental Resilience Institute

Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute connects a broad coalition of government, business, nonprofit, and community leaders to help Indiana and the Midwest better prepare for the challenges of environmental change. Together, we integrate research, education, and community to create environmental resilience and climate solutions—building a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future. Learn more at eri.iu.edu.

About Green Umbrella

As Greater Cincinnati’s Regional Climate Collaborative, Green Umbrella leads a network committed to taking decisive action in the face of climate change. We help our communities become more climate resilient and equitable, and work collectively to decrease our region’s emissions. Find out more at greenumbrella.org.

Image: Bill Rinehart / WVXU Covington, KY as seen from Devou Park

Source: WVXU

Covington, Milford and Oxford receive support to plan for effects of climate change

Green Umbrella selected Oxford, Covington and Milford to participate in its Climate Action Fellowship Program this summer.

The three local governments will receive support for climate action planning — creating policy that provides communities with actions to take to address the negative effects of climate change.

Currently, just a few cities in Greater Cincinnati have developed climate action plans, like the Green Cincinnati Plan.

“There’s not nearly enough coordinated climate action happening right now in our communities,” said Savannah Sullivan, senior director of programs and climate strategy for the nonprofit Green Umbrella. “That’s where Green Umbrella comes in, to help way-find and then support these governments in reaching those goals, and not only goals within their individual jurisdiction, but collaborating together.”

The three cities selected for the 2024 Climate Action Fellowship are all at different stages of the planning process.

Oxford is one of the few municipalities in Greater Cincinnati that have created a climate action plan.

“We’re looking forward to collaborating with them to just further expand upon what they already have and support their advancement in the mitigation realm, as well as introducing a bit more resilience and adaptation efforts,” Sullivan said.

That could look like incorporating more green infrastructure and expanding the city’s tree canopy.

Covington city commissioners approved a resolution that supported the creation of policies relating to climate change in 2019.

Sullivan said the Climate Action Fellowship will provide the Northern Kentucky city with “capacity to move that into more practical action.”

Milford, meanwhile, is formally beginning its climate action planning.

Each city will work with a college student or professional throughout the fellowship.

The 10-week program is not necessarily long enough for Covington and Milford to produce complete climate action plans. But the cities will begin to work with the climate action planning framework.

“We hope that the coordination, support and the projects that we’ll be doing with local governments will help bring together the staff within the three city halls to be able to better communicate and share what the long-term climate action journey is with residents and how they can engage with the process,” Sullivan said.