The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice

We're so honored to be part of this incredible series. Thanks Ms. Magazine for elevating feminist philanthropy as absolutely essential to a healthy democracy and inviting us to contribute some of what we've learned in our first five years of grantmaking. Check it out, and don't miss Hive Fund Co-Director Erin Rogers Roger's piece, "Why a Feminist Approach to Philanthropy Is Synonymous With Effectiveness" https://lnkd.in/eggNTQCH

Last call for applications for our Senior Communications and Development Manager Position. We're looking for an experienced content creator with strategic vision who is well versed in climate/environmental justice and related issues and understands philanthropic audiences, ideally based or rooted in the US South. Applications due August 31. https://lnkd.in/gDdF4XQR

Northeast Houston residents are getting ready to build the city's cleaner energy economy! This is the first group of graduates (and their families) from an apprenticeship readiness program launched by Hive Fund grantee partner Texas Climate Jobs Project to make sure community members can access jobs created by the #inflationreductionact. All 14 graduates were placed in union registered apprenticeship programs where they will get fair wages, health care, and a pension as they transition into new careers. https://lnkd.in/g-Q8y_uZ

The #inflationreductionact was passed two years ago today, with the promise of addressing historic economic inequities while accelerating a cleaner energy transition. Since then, the Hive Fund has moved over $22 million to more than 50 groups in the US South working to implement clean energy, transit, and resilience programs in ways that foster collaboration, innovation, equity, and community engagement — things we know are speeding up progress and making systemic changes more durable. We are incredibly excited by the progress these groups have made in drawing down IRA funding and starting to get their projects up and running, from solar hub homes in Houston to electric school buses in North Carolina, to job training programs preparing local residents to work in clean energy. Learn more about our IRA grantmaking here: https://lnkd.in/gBYtvKAx

The Hive Fund team was out celebrating with our grantee partners in North Carolina last week as officials from Bertie County schools and Roanoke Cooperative, the local rural electric cooperative, unveiled the district’s first electric school bus and charging station. The buses, which will be rolling out in other districts across this largely Black and low wealth corner of the state, don’t just mean cleaner air for kids. They also mean lower energy costs for the school and a more efficient and cost-effective power grid for Roanoke Cooperative, whose nonprofit arm helped facilitate the project. Read more about the region’s efforts to transition to cleaner energy in this story we wrote about it last year: https://lnkd.in/gx4Wppah

Persistence is very hard to maintain in the face of daunting odds. It’s easy to lose hope and hard to find funding when the chances of winning are slim. But persistence is everything when it comes to social change, and it paid off stunningly in two huge victories in Texas and Louisiana last week. 1)     The Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and other local activists including Rebekah Hinojosa with the South Texas Environmental Justice Network have been working for many years to stop proposed oil and gas export terminals near Brownsville, Texas. Polluters hope to build massive industrial facilities on what is now pristine wetlands to ship oil and gas to be burned elsewhere in the world, releasing the annual equivalent pollution of more than 50 coal power plants. One of those facilities, Rio Grande LNG, had advanced to the point of only needing one last permit. Last week, the group's legal effort to stop that final permit succeeded: a DC court vacated the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s “severely flawed” approval of Rio Grande LNG and two other contested projects. And--the international insurance giant Chubb dropped coverage of Rio Grande LNG, following the lead of at least five banks that have pledged not to finance the project after being educated on the potential harms by local residents. “We tell companies the truth about these projects that would be an environmental disaster for our South Texas community. It feels good to be heard,” said Bekah Hinojosa. (https://lnkd.in/geh947Yw 2)     On a stretch of the Mississippi River that was once dominated by sugarcane plantations and chattel slavery and is now so contaminated by petrochemical pollution that it’s known as Cancer Alley—grassroots activists, including sisters Joy Banner, Ph.D. and Jo Banner, M.A. who lead The Descendants Project, spent many years advocating against a massive industrial grain export terminal slated to dwarf nearby homes, burial grounds, and other historic sites and erase a rich cultural heritage in St. John’s Parish. Last week, they learned that the developer had officially cancelled the project. As Joy said. “As we continue to fight against the legacies of slavery, we are focused on uplifting our community and creating a future where everyone has a seat at the table. Together, we will forge a path forward that honors our past and embraces a brighter tomorrow.” I’m thrilled that many local groups can now focus full force on drawing down IRA and other funding to bring their visions of a just, sustainable, and regenerative local economy to life, and honored to be able to support these continued efforts through the The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice. (https://lnkd.in/gPHGEN5k) https://lnkd.in/gGe-5FzC

Congratulations to Jo Banner, M.A. and Joy Banner, Ph.D. of the Descendants Project and their allies who celebrated a massive victory Tuesday when developers cancelled plans for a massive grain terminal slated for construction in their community of Wallace in Louisiana's Cancer Alley. Their efforts to fight the project elevated the rich history and culture of the region, including several unmarked gravesites of people enslaved on nearby plantations, and opens new opportunities to build a local economy around that history that celebrates and benefits local residents. It also sends a powerful message to industrial developers in the already overburdened area that communities are ready, willing, and able to fight. https://lnkd.in/gFKJsxQU

We join our friends, partners, and allies in mourning the loss of Eduardo ‘Eddie’ Canales, who passed away last week. As Executive Director of the South Texas Human Rights Center, Eddie was a tireless advocate for migrants, personally driving around South Texas to place water stations for people making the perilous journey north. He was also part of a tight-knit community of environmental activists in Corpus Christi, serving as a friend and mentor to the next generation of frontline leaders. Our staff will remember Eddie’s warm phone calls, full of energy and jokes. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him. https://lnkd.in/gwKGqpHt

This is fantastic news out of North Carolina, and testament to the hard work and strategic vision of a powerful and growing environmental justice network in the state. 💓

Flooding, downed power lines, collapsed roofs, and other devastating impacts of this summer’s two early storms on Northeast Houston’s largely Black and Brown communities were exacerbated by decades of disinvestment in energy transmission, drainage, and other basic infrastructure. The Northeast Houston Collaborative, a multi-racial, multi-sector coalition of 15+ organizations, has mobilized its network to meet urgent needs, but is also advocating for and implementing long-term resilience and pollution reduction projects to protect communities as climate impacts accelerate. Reach out to learn more about their work and how funders can support this effort, or make a donation via anchor organization Houston in Action. https://lnkd.in/g__Xyzaa