California faces growing risks to its natural environment and unique biodiversity. Today, about 30% of California’s species are threatened with extinction―more than any other state. Climate change is further threatening California’s natural environment―through direct impacts to habitats and species and indirect impacts through climate-induced changes in resources such as food, water, and habitat quality and availability.

 

As one of the largest landowners in California, PG&E has a long history of responsible stewardship of the natural environment. We are renewing our focus on environmental stewardship and are pursuing opportunities to invest in partnerships that will promote protecting and restoring land, water, and air in habitats and communities across our service area.

 

The Better Together Nature Positive Innovation grant program, funded by The PG&E Corporation Foundation (Foundation), is requesting proposals of $100,000 to fund five projects (one in each region of PG&E’s service area) in 2023 that address a specific environmental stewardship focus area:

 

  • Land Stewardship
  • Air Quality
  • Water Stewardship

 

Applying

 

The deadline for applications is June 30, 2023. Applications should be submitted to NaturePositiveInnovationGrant@pge.com. For your application, please submit a single Word or PDF document with all of the requested information.


DOWNLOAD RFP (PDF, 381 KB)



PG&E Regions

 

PGE Regions

 

Eligibility

 

Eligible applicants will be governmental organizations (including tribal governments), educational institutions, or certified 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations/public charities. Applicants must be prepared to provide documentation to demonstrate they meet the Foundation’s criteria for charitable giving. Applicants must be the grantee and not a fiscal sponsor for another organization.

 

Priority will be given to projects that address the needs of disadvantaged and/or vulnerable communities.

 

Organizations are invited to submit one application that addresses any of the three focus areas (Land Stewardship, Air Quality, or Water Stewardship) in any of the five regions. One grantee will be selected from each region. Grants can cover any stage of a project, including but not limited to planning, construction, design, education, and coordination.

 

Organizations that have been awarded a Better Together Resilient Communities grant in 2021 or a Nature Positive Innovation Grant in 2022 are ineligible for this grant program.

 

Evaluation Criteria

 

Proposals must comply with all submission instructions and guidelines to be considered for funding. To inform your proposal, applicants may refer to the glossary of terms and the list of sample resources that are included in the RFP. The Foundation will evaluate all proposals according to the application questions.

 

Additional Grant Opportunities

 

You may also be interested in the Resilience Hubs grant program, sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). This grant supports the development of local “resilience hubs” aimed at providing a physical space or set of resources that supports community resilience—such as access to power, shelter, and information—to climate-driven extreme weather events, including wildfires, as well as future Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events. Once developed, the hubs can also be accessed year-round to build and sustain community adaptive capacity in a trusted location.

 

PG&E’s Resilience Hubs grant program is independent from the Foundation’s Better Together Nature Positive Innovation grant program. You can apply for a Resilience Hub grant and a Nature Positive Innovation grant in the same grant cycle/year.


Learn more about the Resilience Hubs grant program



2022 Grantees

 

 

Profiles of Grant Recipients

4th Second will seed a mosaic of habitats in vacant lots throughout South Vallejo to create spaces that provide ecosystem services and healthy food access. The project also aims to develop pathways for economic opportunity.

 

“4th Second's Mosaic Project aims to create socio-ecological resilience in Vallejo through stewardship that supports thriving habitats, and pathways for economic opportunity and healthy food access. Led by marginalized community members, the project will transform 3.5 acres of vacant and blighted lots into a mosaic of community gardens and green spaces that will serve generations to come. We are grateful for PG&E’s support to our community as we work to cultivate a more resilient and just future.” - Richard Fisher, Executive Director, 4th Second

 

Central Coast State Parks Association will increase exposure to coastal habitats to disadvantaged and underserved K-12 students by funding transportation costs for field trips.

 

“The grant will be monumental in providing free transportation for low-income school groups to visit three Central Coast State Park locations, where they will participate in guided educational programs led by State Park staff. The field trips cover topics like monarch butterflies, Northern Chumash education, the Morro Bay estuary, marine mammals, watersheds, and more, and provide hands-on experiences students will remember for the rest of their lives. Our goal, in collaboration with California State Parks, is to inspire our next generation of environmental stewards. PG&E's grant gives us the opportunity to bring those future environmental stewards into our beautiful parks and deepen their connections with our precious land and water resources.” - Kristin Howland, Executive Director, Central Coast State Parks Association

 

City of Fresno, Department of Transportation will provide free bus rides to community college students, with the goal of reducing single occupant vehicle (SOV)-related air emissions.

 

“With PG&E’s commitment to a cleaner environment, we thank them for supporting State Center Community College. We are so grateful that students at Fresno City and Clovis Community Colleges will have the opportunity to have free rides on FAX buses with their student ID cards.” - Gregory Barfield, Interim Assistant City Manager and FAX Director.

 

Family Harvest Farm will develop a regenerative urban farm in a food desert that will employ and train foster youth and provide youth workshops on outdoor education and farming. Results include leadership and skills training for youth, land cultivation, and produce for the local community.

 

“John Muir Land Trust protects and cares for open space, ranches, farms, parkland, and shoreline in the East Bay. Family Harvest Farm is a thriving 3.5 acre regenerative, biodiverse, climate-friendly urban farming program of John Muir Land Trust located in a U.S. Department of Agriculture-defined food desert neighborhood in Pittsburg, California. This grant will help Family Harvest Farm increase leadership skills and self-sufficiency for transition age foster youth by offering employment and training on natural resources within a local food system that encourages healthy living, reduces fire risk, and feeds communities in need.” - Hannah Hodgson Katzman, Associate Director, Family Harvest Farm

 

Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association will host hands-on workshops to train local property owners in watershed resource management, including traditional ecological knowledge.

 

“We appreciate The PG&E Corporation Foundation for recognizing our proposal to engage and work with property owners along the Cobb Area Watershed, which feeds directly into Clear Lake. This stewardship project targets watershed management practices in the Cobb Mountain community by recruiting local property owners to participate in “hands-on” workshops interweaving resource management training with direct actions to match site conditions and landowner concerns. In partnership with local tribal authorities, our project also acknowledges a history of limited access to traditional gathering areas that has undermined food sovereignty and cultural practices. Every workshop we hold, and every direct action we take during this project [and beyond] involves tribal knowledge holders and teachers, who will combine their expertise with that of other topical specialists.” - Eliot Hurwitz, Executive Director, Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association