May 30, 2024 | From City of New Orleans
City of New Orleans Reminds Youth Serving Organizations of the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action Fund Applications Opening June 1
NEW ORLEANS — On May 15, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced that the City of New Orleans was selected to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ new Youth Climate Action Fund, which will provide technical assistance and funding to activate tens of thousands of young people ages 15 – 24 to design, produce and govern urgent climate solutions in cities across the globe. New Orleans joined the Fund alongside cities from around the world, which together spans 38 countries across six continents, representing over 62 million residents.
"The City of New Orleans being selected to participate in Bloomberg's Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund is such an exciting opportunity for our young people to get directly involved in our fight against our already changing climate,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “Last December, Bloomberg sponsored Mayors, including myself, to participate in COP28 in Dubai. This initiative was kickstarted there as a part of the Local Climate Action Summit in order to get youth more involved in addressing environmental issues and climate adaptation. We have so many bright and talented young minds in our city, and I have heard directly from you how you are concerned about our climate and its effects on our great, but vulnerable, city. The City cannot wait to hear all your innovative ideas and projects to ensure our communities' resilience and perseverance for many more years to come."
As part of this program, New Orleans has received $50,000 that will be dispersed by the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) as microgrants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to fund various youth-led climate initiatives that align with the City’s Climate Action Plan priority areas. The number of grants dispersed will vary depending on the amount asked per grant.
New Orleans’ participation is being managed by the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Families (OYF) and the Office of Resilience and Sustainability (ORS), along with community partner GNOF.
Young residents ages 15 - 24 that are supported by youth-serving organizations are encouraged to visit nola.gov/youthclimatefund to learn more about the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action Fund and how to submit ideas for the opportunity to receive funding. Applications will open this Saturday, June 1 and will be available on the above website. The application deadline is July 1, and the winners will be announced at the beginning of August. Cities that respond to the urgency of the moment and commit the initial $50,000 by the end of December 2024 will receive an additional $100,000 to support more youth-driven projects over the course of one year.
Proposed project applications must be submitted by a youth-serving organization that can accept grant funds. If the youth-led group is not an incorporated entity, they may partner with a fiscal agent that can accept and administer funds.
Project ideas may include:
- Youth-led awareness, education, research and development initiatives, including: youth-led climate education programs, climate hackathons, climate surveys and research, as well as youth-informed clubs or curriculum, public art and awareness campaigns
- Youth-driven climate mitigation and adaptation projects, including: youth-led community gardening, tree planting, reforestation and urban farming campaigns; youth-managed recycling and waste reduction programs and youth-produced climate resilience workshops and disaster preparedness programs
- Co-governed youth climate action plans, including: partnerships between City leaders and youth groups to inform climate-related policy ideas, decisions or actions or the formation of youth climate ambassadors or advisory boards
For more information about the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Youth Climate Action Fund, please visit their website.
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