Climate Justice Microgrants: Insights & Reflections from the Program’s First Five Years

Since 2018, the Climate Advocacy Lab has distributed Climate Justice Microgrants to 25 environmental justice and climate justice organizations around the United States who are doing powerful work to protect and improve their communities. These microgrants are meant to support these organizations in documenting the creation and execution of past campaigns, yielding lessons and insights that might otherwise be lost to the ether as the pace of advocacy work outstrips our ability to celebrate our wins and learn from our losses. This report synthesizes lessons from these 25 climate justice microgrants — a mixture of case study reports, documentaries, podcast series, and multimedia projects — and provides direction for further cross-movement learning and collaboration. Concepts covered include the importance of relational organizing structures, pathways for internal leadership development, the power of cultural strategies, and the collaborative opportunities for movement allies. The report closes with our intentions for the future of the Climate Justice Microgrants program, including a recommitment to learning, evaluation, and moving resources to frontline organizations.