The Biden Administration has made history with the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), together providing hundreds of billions of dollars in climate investments.
Being responsive to environmental justice leaders, the Biden administration recognized the historic inequities in federal spending and made these funds subject to Executive Order 14008, otherwise known as Justice40, which set the goal that at least 40% of federal climate investments would benefit frontline communities most affected by poverty and pollution.
Justice40 holds great potential to address environmental racism and the climate crisis, but the existing federal spending processes overwhelmingly favor large, well-resourced entities over grassroots organizations that lack the capacity and back-office infrastructure needed to access and manage cumbersome federal grant requirements.
The only way these federal dollars will make significant climate and environmental justice gains in BIPOC communities will be if frontline organizations are equipped to draw down the federal funds and work together to promote a common agenda that centers community solutions.
Recognizing this enormous opportunity and need, the Liberty Hill Foundation and Resources Legacy Fund teamed up to create EJ Ready, a program with the goal of ensuring that those closest to the pain of environmental injustice are prepared and resourced to influence and draw down historic public investments.