The CO2 Foundation recognizes the particular vulnerability of the city of Phoenix to heat extremes, as well as the City’s leadership in developing heat response strategies. It was in part due to this special status among U.S. cities that the Foundation’s trustees chose to fund work in Phoenix.

The Foundation was receptive to Chispa AZ’s proposal to work with Spanish-speaking community members in South Phoenix to do Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) education and engagement. While Phoenix is the poster child for extreme heat in the United States, the city is not homogenous, and climate impacts and resilience opportunities are not shared equally.

The federal government, through the Justice40 initiative, made it a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments, including the IRA, flow to communities that are underserved and overburdened by pollution. As IRA funding is funneled into Arizona, Chispa AZ, a program of the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, sees it as imperative to ensure that regulatory bodies and elected officials capitalize on the opportunity and that IRA funds are distributed in line with these justice goals. The organization builds the capacity of Latinx families to influence policymakers and pressure polluters to protect communities’ rights to clean air and water.

The CO2 Foundation funding supported eight community listening sessions (so far), collection of 600 community surveys, and an IRA summit in August. According to staff, 90-95% of people who came to listening sessions had never heard about the IRA before; now, people not only know what it is – they are looking for opportunities to get involved.

Listening sessions generate ideas, build trust and relationships, and serve as entry points for further engagement by community members. Connections at this community level take time and energy to develop, but Chispa’s work doesn’t stop there. Staff share that they are seeing small informal community groups joining into bigger groups – working together without losing their identity. Also, the government and other organizations are watching Chispa’s work on getting people to digest the IRA and generate solutions.

Community-scale work has not been the focus of CO2 Foundation’s giving, and it is inspiring to see this organization reaching so many people at such a deep and generative level. We look forward to seeing the ripple effects of the investments that Chispa AZ has made, as community members build on what they have learned and Arizona decision-makers take note.