Transition Planning Services
OUR APPROACH
Supporting and accelerating community transition planning is at the heart of what we do. Our Technical Assistance team not only offers on-the-ground technical assistance in the Fund’s priority states, but also develops resources to share best practices and emerging models that can inform transition planning. Our technical assistance work complements and enhances our direct investments in communities, continually responding to the needs of the field.
Targeted Technical Assistance
In our role as catalysts, we accelerate community transition planning efforts in partnership with local leaders who are committed to taking action. We work with grassroots organizations, government, workforce and community development agencies, community foundations, and a wide range of other motivated groups.
Our Technical Assistance team collaborates with local partners to:
- Start the transition planning process;
- Connect with other communities facing similar challenges;
- Identify public and private funding sources;
- Offer grant writing assistance;
- Conduct outreach to and facilitate meetings with affected stakeholders; and
- Share information and resources.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PARTNERS
Among our team’s partnerships:
- New York. In response to the pending Huntley Generating Station closure in Tonawanda, three community organizations (the Clean Air Coalition, Western New York Area Labor Federation, and Kenmore Teachers Association) came together to launch a transition campaign. We served on their Tonawanda Tomorrow transition advisory committee and helped frame concrete action steps for implementing the new state transition plan.
- Montana. At the request of Gov. Steve Bullock, the Fund provided technical assistance and facilitated meetings of the 15-member Colstrip Community Impact Group. Our presence helped diffuse tension among opposing opinions (labor, environmental, and tribal) by finding middle ground. The result was a unanimously approved plan, issued in December 2018, that detailed the use of the settlement funds.
- Minnesota. The Fund is working with a coalition of seven communities to help address transition issues and address coal plant closures. As a first step, the coalition conducted an analysis of both the economic and social impacts of closures based on various transition scenarios. In May 2020, the Minnesota legislature passed a bill that included transition language and an initial assistance fund.
If you represent a community-based organization or local or state government in our priority states and are interested in receiving transition planning and strategy support, please complete this contact form. The Just Transition Fund’s Technical Assistance Team will reach out to you to discuss your goals and opportunities for partnership.
Learn More
In this webinar from August of 2020, the JTF technical assistance team and four of our partners from labor groups, environmental nonprofit, and municipal leadership talk about the work that we are doing together to plan for the transition away from coal including writing grants, assessing impacts of coal plant closures, and facilitating community conversations. This webinar features presentations from Cindy Winland and Emily Rhodes from the Just Transition Fund, Terri Close from Hampton Township, Michigan, Amy McMorrow-Hunter from The Climate Economy, Sabrina Neiman from AFL-CIO of Montana, ad Audrey Partridge from the Center for Energy and Environment.
