SSDN‘s Green Minds

Green Minds Ep. 20: SSDN’s IRA Assistance Programs

Is your organization struggling to access federal funding? Michael Dexter and Nick Deffley with the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network present the Inflation Reduction Act and the assistance services provided by the Local Infrastructure Hub. 

 

Links mentioned in this episode

SSDN's Grant Opportunity Database: https://www.southeastsdn.org/programs/ssdns-federal-programs/southeast-sustainable-recovery-center-ssrc/

SSDN's Local Infrastructure Hub: https://www.southeastsdn.org/programs/ssdns-federal-programs/local-infrastructure-hub-cohorts/ 

LIH Factsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wqpwul1xK-7Uo9LI1KYQbCdiRR-wY9H-/view?usp=sharing 

Green Minds Ep. 19: Richmond’s Climate Equity Action Plan

SSDN's Green Minds rebooted! We welcome a new co-host, Dr. Robyn Byers (Sustainability and Resilience Manager, Charlotte, NC), and we are slightly changing the format of the podcast to be more engaging.

In this conversation, we speak with Laura Thomas, Director of the Office of Sustainability for Richmond, VA, about the recently adopted Climate Equity Action Plan 2030.

Also mentioned in this episode: Charlotte's Strategic Energy Action Plan

Green Minds Ep. 18: Kendeda Fund Part 3 of 3 on Regenerative Design

The third and last episode of this special series on regenerative design includes three interviews featuring The Sustainability Institute (Charleston, SC), Green Spaces (Chattanooga, TN), and our very own Southeast Sustainability Directors Network. 

 

These organizations are supported by the Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation that invests in transformative leadership and ideas, and creating a more just and equitable world. Learn more about their work at kendedafund.org.

Green Minds Ep. 17: Kendeda Fund Part 2 of 3 on Regenerative Design

This is the second episode of three-part series focusing on pioneer practitioners in regenerative design. Co-hosts Catherine Mercier-Baggett and Laurel Creech speak to different organizations across the southeast region about regenerative design. These organizations are supported by the Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation that invests in transformative leadership and ideas, and creating a more just and equitable world. Learn more about their work at kendedafund.org.

Part two features the Southface Institute and the Greenbuilt Alliance. 

Green Minds Ep. 16: Kendeda Fund Part 1 on Regenerative Design

This episode is a three-part series focusing on pioneer practitioners in regenerative design as co-host Catherine Mercier-Baggett and Laurel Creech speak to seven different organizations across the southeast region about regenerative design. These organizations are supported by the Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation that invests in transformative leadership and ideas, and creating a more just and equitable world. Learn more about their work at kendedafund.org.

Part One of this three-part series features Dennis Creech, Fund Adviser for Sustainability with the Kendeda Fund, and Shan Arora, Director of the Kendeda Building at Georgia Tech University.

Green Minds Ep. 15: Justice40 Initiative

Michael Dexter and Chris Barber, both with SSDN's Southeast Sustainable Recovery Center, explain the basics of the Justice40 Initiative, aimed at distributing at least 40% of federal investments to disadvantaged communities. They also present an interactive mapping tool developed for SSDN's members that compares the various set of criteria that can define disadvantaged communities. 

 

SSDN's Justice40 Web App: https://uvalibrary.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9973040fb53f4d0faa91e42f4aca364d note this map will be moved to a different address soon - do not bookmark!

White House: Justice40 Initiative | The White House

Columbia University Capstone Report:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DXhzk3Ys54pifVr_PyxulgQHktGseTJQ/view?usp=sharing 

Green Minds Ep. 14: Integrated Resource Plans & Why They’re Important

This episode of Green Minds Podcast features the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) - why they are important and how municipalities can engage. First podcast co-host Laurel Creech speaks with Anne Livingston, SSDN Director of Policy Programs, about her knowledge of IRPs. Then we focus on GA and Georgia Power's IRP process that concluded in July 2022 with guests Alicia Brown, City of Savannah's Clearn Energy Program Manager, and John R. Seydel, City of Atlanta Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer.

Green Minds Ep.13 : Food Production and Distribution

The availability of food, fresh and nutritious food in particular, is naturally a primordial preoccupation for communities. Some local governments are taking initiatives to facilitate the production and distribution of food, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable areas.

This episode hosted by Catherine Mercier-Baggett looks at the work conducted in the cities of Atlanta (GA) and Winston-Salem (NC). J. Olu Baiyewu and Moriah Gendy, both municipal employees dedicated to increasing food resilience and security in their respective cities, graciously share their experience. 

Atlanta's AgLanta: https://www.aglanta.org/

Winston-Salem's Think Orange Program: https://www.cityofws.org/3050/Think-Orange-Food-Resilience-Campaign 

SSDN Community Collaboration Catalyst MicroGrant Award Winning Cities

On this episode of Green Minds, co-host Laurel Creech talks with two cities who received SSDN's Community Collaboration Catalyst Micro Grants aimed at providing small pots of funding to local governments to overcome barriers to systemic inequities alongside dedicated community partner organizations. Learn how the cities of Richmond, VA & Nashville, TN leveraged collaborative partnerships to work innovatively impact community-led and equitable approaches to sustainability. This SSDN grant was made possible with support from The Kresge Foundation,

Green Minds Ep. 11: Highlights from SSDN’s Annual Meeting - Heat Mapping and Mitigation

MaryPat Baldauf (Columbia, SC) nominated the session hosted by Tobin Freid (Durham County, NC) and KatieRose Levin (Cary, NC) as her favorite highlight of SSDN's 2022 annual meeting. The peer learning session was on Addressing Urban Heat Islands and Heat Mitigation Strategies - an appropriate topic with summer unofficially starting with Memorial Day in the Southeast.

 

Resource mentioned in this episode: 

• UHI Mapping Initiative (Columbia): https://cpac.columbiasc.gov/urban-heat-island-mapping-initiative/
• Extreme Heat and UHI (Durham County): https://www.dconc.gov/county-departments/departments-a-e/engineering-and-environmental-services/sustainability-office/climate-resilience/extreme-heat/-fsiteid-1#!/
• Cool Roadways Partnership: https://globalcoolcities.org/cool-roadways-partnership/
• Tree Equity Score (American Forests): https://treeequityscore.org/