Green Umbrella launches one of the nation’s largest climate collaboratives
On Wednesday, Oct. 18, Green Umbrella announced their expansion to become one of the largest Regional Climate Collaboratives in the United States.
The announcement was made at their annual meeting and 25-year anniversary celebration to over 200 attendees.
Formerly a Regional Sustainability Alliance, this transition into a Regional Climate Collaborative will allow Green Umbrella to expand their reach and increase benefits exclusive to members. While their mission will continue to reflect the sustainability and resilience work they have done in the community over the past 25 years, this launch will help Green Umbrella increase the impact of this work across the region.
A Regional Climate Collaborative is a network of businesses, organizations and governments working across jurisdictional boundaries to take decisive action in the face of climate change. Examples include the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative, Southeast Florida Climate Change Compact and Greenest Region Compact.
What this means for Green Umbrella:
• Expanding Reach: Over 300,000 people in Greater Cincinnati are currently covered by a climate plan. Transition to the Climate Collaborative model will allow Green Umbrella to expand that coverage to the 2.2 million people across the region.
• Hiring 6 New Staff Members: To facilitate this expansion, Green Umbrella has hired six new staff members in the last three months, filling roles including Regional Climate Collaborative Manager, Director of Development & Marketing and Greenspace Alliance Manager.
• Expanding Member Benefits: Green Umbrella added considerable new benefits and resources for member organization, including capacity-building workshops and collaboration on significant funding opportunities.
• Launching Updated Membership Portal: Local governments, schools, businesses and nonprofits will benefit from access to an updated membership portal that includes an improved membership directory to increase collaboration opportunities, an easy-to-navigate member events calendar and the ever-popular Green Jobs Board.
Benefits to the region:
• Attract and maximize federal funding opportunities
• Improved cross-sector collaboration and capacity building
• Ongoing funding and technical assistance tracking
• Improved access to climate preparedness resources.
The Annual Meeting and celebration included live music, appetizers, drinks from HighGrain Brewing, locally made apple butter and handmade sourdough bread served by local baker Andrew Fisher and the farmer who grew the grain, John Branstrator.
Speakers at the event included Todd Palmeter, President of the Green Umbrella Board and Great Parks CEO; Green Umbrella Executive Director Ryan Mooney-Bullock; and Savannah Sullivan, Green Umbrella’s Senior Director of Programs & Climate Strategy.
The event was held Wednesday, Oct. 18 at the Digital Futures Building, part of the University of Cincinnati’s Innovation District.