July 2024 – Your Members-Only Newsletter

As the first half of 2024 concludes, here are the accomplishments Green Umbrella has achieved so far:

• Green Umbrella co-hosted more Climate Safe Workshops in partnership with Groundwork Ohio River Valley.
• We held the second hike in the Greenspace Alliance’s Meet a Greenspace Hiking Series to explore greenspace gems.
• Green Umbrella’s Green Schoolyards Action Network held the first Greater Cincinnati Regional Green Schoolyards Summit – stay tuned for a Summit recap from Green Schoolyards Manager Cynthia Walters.

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Your Member Benefits at Work

Consultations: Greenspaces & Goals with Claire Carlson

Do you have goals for your local greenspaces? Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance brings together committed stakeholders ready to conserve and expand natural places and connect people to the land. Greenspace Alliance Manager Claire Carlson is available to Green Umbrella members for consultations on how to explore and further your greenspace goals. Connect with Greenspace Alliance Manager, Claire Carlson by making an appointment on her calendar here.

Green Umbrella Badges for Members

As a Green Umbrella member, you are part of a regional network dedicated to creating a thriving and sustainable region. Show off your commitment to climate action by sharing your Green Umbrella membership status using our new member badges!

After logging into the Member Portal, you can access and download your 2024 member badge from this page here. Feel free to add it to your website, your staff email signatures, marketing materials and reports – whatever you can dream up!

Feel free to add it to your website, staff email signatures, marketing materials, and reports – whatever you can dream up! You’re also welcome to share your badge on your social media outlets. Suggested social media copy is included on the member badge download page. Don’t forget to tag Green Umbrella!

Get the most out of your Membership:

• Submit your events to our Public Events Calendar
• Submit your jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities to the Green Jobs Board 
• Find tips for navigating and posting in the Member Portal
•  Explore Members Only Resources

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Members-Only Events

Direct Pay Training with Donovan Energy

September 5 from 3:00-5:00 pm at the Digital Futures Building in Cincinnati, Ohio

This training, in partnership with Donovan Energy, will be focused on how communities can take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Direct Pay Program – an opportunity to claim clean energy tax credits. For the first time, the federal government will give tax-free, direct cash funding up to 70% of project costs to tax-exempt entities like local governments, schools, hospitals, public utilities, houses of worship, and nonprofit organizations to build renewable energy projects like solar arrays, wind turbines, and storage resources like batteries. Training will be held in the Digital Futures, Room 140 on September 5th from 3-5 pm.

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Collaborations & Connections

2024 Local Government Climate Action Showcase

Hear first-hand from our three fellows and local government leaders about how they led their communities in their climate action planning process and projects. Green Umbrella will share opportunities that any community can embrace to take the next steps to prepare their community for environmental change and access funding to improve infrastructure, build community resilience, and save money. Topics we will cover include:

• Conducting Capacity and Needs Assessments 
• Starting a Green Team
• Creating a Climate/Sustainability Action Plan
• Engaging Communities
• Projects related to greenspace, green infrastructure, food, and energy

2023 District Commercial Buildings Resource and Vendor List

We’ve created a vendor list of Green Umbrella members at the Sustaining or Leading levels that provide essential building services to help businesses owners develop healthier spaces, save money, and utilize green energy practices. These vendors provide energy consulting, engineering, EV charging, solar installation, HVAC, and more. Visit our website here to view and download our 2030 District Commercial Buildings Resource & Vendor List.

Green Drinks at Samuel Adams Taproom (Tonight!) and Somerset OTR

Join us TONIGHT for an evening of informal networking at the Samuel Adams Cincinnati Tap Room in OTR! Green Drinks is open to all interested in climate action issues and those seeking to get involved in local sustainability initiatives.

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for Green Drinks on August 8 at Somerset OTR from 5:00-7:00 pm! This Green Drinks directly follows the 2024 Climate Action Fellows Showcase at the Digital Futures Building in Avondale from 3:00-4:30 pm.

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Funding & Grant Opportunities

Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Program

The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) has released an FY24 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) program. Up to $607 million is available for planning, capital construction, and technical assistance. This opportunity is open to local governments, tribal governments, metropolitan planning organizations and non-profit organizations. 

Justice40 Accelerator Program

The Justice40 Accelerator helps grassroots organizations grow their climate projects so they can access billions of government dollars dedicated to empowering communities most impacted by the climate crisis. Find their wealth of funding opportunities here.

More opportunities & resources:

• Fairfield Community Assistance Grants – Grants are awarded to support nonprofit organizations serving the city of Fairfield and Fairfield Township
• Thomas J. Emery Memorial Grant – Open to non-profits in the Greater Cincinnati Area supporting physical, social, civic, and educational needs
• 100 & Change – a competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal that promises real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time

More funding opportunities can always be found at Green Umbrella’s Member Funding and Technical Assistance Tracker.

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Other News

July’s Climate Health PSA Topic: Extreme Weather

The recording for yesterday’s webinar “Climate Change & Extreme Weather Events in Greater Cincinnati” is now available! Visit the link here to hear how climate change contributes to the frequent occurrence of extreme weather events and how this impacts health outcomes in Greater Cincinnati. The webinar features Jim Noel, Service Coordination Hydrologist for NWS/Ohio River Forecast Center, and Katie Jo Berkshire Kirkpatrick, Strategic Initiatives Manager of Northern Kentucky Area Development District.

This event is the seventh webinar in Green Umbrella’s “Climate Health Equity” series which builds upon a report in partnership with Scioto Analysis, “Climate Health Equity – Analyzing the Impacts of Climate Change and Health Outcomes in Greater Cincinnati.” All webinars recordings are available on our Youtube page.

Next month’s webinar topic: Air Quality

Fifth Third Earns 150th EPA ENERGY STAR Certification for Superior Energy Efficiency

Fifth Third announced that the George A. Schaefer, Jr. Madisonville Operations Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, has achieved the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR certification for outstanding energy performance. This certification adds an additional 460k square feet, bringing the Bank’s total Energy Star-certified space to more than 1.2 million square feet. With an impressive ENERGY STAR Score of 79, the Madisonville Operations Center outperforms 79% of comparable properties nationwide, meeting stringent energy efficiency standards set by the EPA.

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Meet a Member: City of Fairfield

Located in Southwestern Ohio about 20 miles north of Cincinnati, the City of Fairfield is home to 42,097 residents and is a Leading Member at Green Umbrella. It is situated along the northern loop of I-275, positioned within minutes of recreational, cultural, and business areas.

The City is developing a plan to ensure that Fairfield is maximizing its resources in a way that provides efficiency in city operations now and in the future. The plan, Fairfield Sustains, serves as a comprehensive roadmap for addressing environmental, economic, and liveability considerations, and will be a catalyst for quality-of-life improvements for all residents. The plan also looks at energy usage in the community, open space preservation, resource protection, and economic sustainability initiatives.

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What We’re Reading

Nobi is reading “The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook: Pressure Test, Plan, Launch and Scale Your Social Enterprise” by Ian C. MacMillan & James D. Thompson

“This book connects the often difficult relationship between start-up culture, entrepreneurship, and social causes to create change and gives actionable steps, tools, and resources to launch social enterprises. Its content is based on crowd-sourced feedback on Step One, which was released as a free ebook, and the authors’ expertise to create a social entrepreneurship framework that the publishers themselves used to publish the work.”

-Nobi Kennedy, Regional Climate Collaborative Coordinator