Facing asignificantlyalteredfunding landscape,Membersof the NAM’s Climate Communities Networkand philanthropiesarepursuing new strategies—and learning from one anotheraboutinnovative ways to sustain their work.
By Jamie Durana
When thein Durham lost its grant funding froma federal agencylast year, the team tracking extreme heat exposure in 30communities across theUnited Stateswasleft to figure out how they could continue their critical work. The team had planned to collect data for3years showing how extreme heat was affecting residents, infrastructure, and economies—data that couldprovideactionable insights oneverything fromsitingnew cooling centers toidentifyingwhere neighborhoods needed more tree cover.
The museum’s experienceisn’tisolated.Across the United States, community-based organizations(CBOs)addressing the health impacts of climate change are navigating a funding landscape that hassignificantlyshifted. In the wake of federal fundingchangesandgaps ingrants,Members of the National Academy of Medicine’sClimate Communities Network(CCN)now face difficult choices about how to fund deeply urgent work.
Rather than retreat, CCN Members areestablishingnew partnerships, sharing strategies, andleveragingnetwork connections to sustaincriticalefforts.In December 2025, theNAMhostedaworkshopfor CCN Memberson reimaginingfunding forcommunity-basedclimate and healthinitiatives.Members and Strategic Partnersgatheredwith representatives fromthephilanthropicsectortodiscuss fundingchallenges head-on and chart a path forward, together.
Recognizing the Stakes
Reducedfederal fundingcreatescascading effects throughout thebroaderecosystem, also affecting the availability offunds fromstate governments, universities, and other organizations. Asresourcesbecomescarcer,allofthese entitiesface constraints and budget pressures.Consequently, private philanthropic organizations are stretched thin as the pool of applicants grows foralimited number of grants.
The grantmaking process has only become more competitive, especially forCBOs, asmore organizationscompetefor fewer resources.Yet the urgency oftheirworkhasn’tdiminished. For CCN Members working in underserved and under-resourced communities, the populations they servecontinue toface urgent health challenges.Cindy Robertson, executive director ofinSulphur,Louisiana, says that urgency wascrystal clearat a recent community event. Robertson askedthe50 or so residentspresentto raise their hands and thentolower them if they or anyone close to them in the communityhad been affected byconditions likechronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or heart disease—illnesses worsened byfactors like air pollutionand extreme heat. “Not a single hand was left up,” she said. Robertson added that the average lifespan in her neighborhood is69years,whereasthe national average is79.
For CCN Members, theNetworkhas becomea critical resource for navigating uncertainty—offering connections,resources, and platformsto share strategiesand troubleshoot challengesprecisely whenMembersneed them most. TheNetwork’s support system isyieldingconcrete action. Faced withconstraints ontraditional funding,Members are creatingnew approachesand usingCCNconnections to make these pivots possible, several of which were highlighted during the December event.
Building Connections, Creating Solutions
, an Oakland, California-based organization, is hoping a new social enterprise project can help bring in revenue to fund their work. CCN MemberLil MilagroHenriquez,Founder andExecutiveDirectorof Mycelium, explained that the organization is developing acozy video game withbuilt insocial-emotional wellness tools.Mycelial Realmsis designed to foster environmental literacybased onNext Generation Science Standards (NGSS), reduce climate anxietythroughsocial andemotionallearning(SEL), andpromote collective action among young people.Thegame isrooted in Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)andfosters opportunities for youth to use game playto connect with their lived environment,meetingyouthwhere they are–indigital spaces.Henriquezemphasized the need to develop new sources of income that can sustain the organization’s work: “It’sbecomingharder and harderto get funding from foundation partners.We need to create solutions and revenue that works for us to build the world that we want to see.”
Other CCN Members are pursuing similarly bold strategies.Armen Henderson, medical director ofin Miami, Florida, described how the organization has begun work building an apartment complex. Henderson explained that therentalmoney generated will go toward funding the organization’s work offering disaster relief and medical services, including building infrastructure for a hospital.
These pivots from traditional nonprofit grant models to revenue-generating venturesrepresentsignificant shifts that come with steep learning curves. For leaders whobuilttheir organizations around community service, not business development, the transitioncanfeel daunting. For CCN Members, working and learning together helps make navigating these new strategies more manageable.
Participation in CCN hasopened upconcrete opportunities for collaboration, and thecollaborative approach is producing tangible results:Mycelium Youth Networkpartnered with Deloitte, aCCN Strategic Partner, toconduct market research analysisfor their video game project.CCNMembers Chandra Brown, executive director of,andLeevonesFisher, founder and executive director of, joined forces toco-develop a community-led disaster preparedness action planinMobile, Alabama. Working alongside city and county leaders and the local Emergency Management Agency, the effort is focused on strengthening disaster resilience by centering community voices in how the region prepares for and responds to disasters.These connections—facilitatedby theNetwork—are helpingMembers access opportunities theycouldn’treachalone.
CCNMember María del Carmen Zorrilla is director of the‘s OTIA (ObservatoriodeTecnologíaeInvestigaciónAplicada[Observatory of Technology and Applied Research]) RESURGE Project. She saidparticipatingin the CCN has strengthened the university’s capacity when it comes to developing climate and health solutions. “The Network’s institutional prestige has facilitated strategic connections with governmental structures, community leadership, and the academic sector, enabling the development of collaborative and competitive initiatives within the current funding landscape,” Zorrilla noted. “Beyond knowledge exchange, CCN has been an institutional catalyst, positioning our projects within public policy and philanthropic ecosystems and expanding opportunities that would have been difficult to achieve independently.”
As community organizations forge new partnerships and strategies, many philanthropic partners are also reexamining their funding practices.Mosaic Environmental Fund is a national collaborative fund that builds power in the environmental movement through support for networks, coalitions, sharedresources,and other infrastructure that helps groups bridge divides across issues, sectors, demographics, and geographies and align strategies. Describing its approach to strengthening the broader field, Mosaic’s Eva Hernandez said the organization aims to “illustrate what is possible when we invest in that full field infrastructure” and in local leadership, ensuring community-based efforts are connected across state, regional, and national networks. “Equitable resource distribution is really critical,” Hernandez added, to align networks and turn local momentum into lasting impact.The KresgeFoundationis a private foundation focused on advancing equity and opportunity in American cities through grantmaking and social investments nationally and in their focus cities: Detroit, Memphis,New Orleansand Fresno. Through its Climate Change, Health & Equity initiative, Kresge supports organizations working at the intersection of climatechangeand healthequity.Kresge’s Alejandra Hernandez reflected on how grantmaking practices can evolve and emphasized the importance of rethinking funder–grantee dynamics:“Strongfunder partnerships center learning, relationships, and long-term support—not just deliverables.To make lasting impact, we need funding structures that honor communityexpertiseand strengthen the ecosystems where communities can truly lead and thrive.It’simportant tothink about how to become creative around how we do learning together and not just ask for reports for compliance or to check the box.”
Moving Forward
The ways CCN Members are tackling funding challenges head-on reflecta broader shift in howCBOs are approachingorganizationalsustainability. And what they’re learning—through trial, innovation, and mutual support—holds lessons for climate and health work across the country:while local innovation can’t fully solve thecompounding challenges in the funding landscape, for organizations operating as lifelines in the communities they serve,the path forward requiresresourcefulness,realism, andrelentlessresolve.
CCN Membersremaincommitted to tackling urgent climate and healthchallengesandwon’twait for traditional funding to be restored.“Our commitment to this work doesn’t dry up with the funding, and nor do the challenges posed to communities,” saidCCN MemberMaxCawley,director of climate research and engagementattheNorth CarolinaMuseum of Life and Science.He emphasized the need to focus on creative strategiesin order tocarry through that commitment. “I’ve been buoyed by the sustained enthusiasm and courage of our partners and team in pushing forward with this work—the stakes are too high, and the young people in our lives are relying on us to not give in to despair.”The work continues—sustained by community need, organizational resilience, and the power of collectiveaction.
