Office of Sustainability & Environment outlines Environmental Justice Fund grants and demand; $740,000 available in 2025 RFP

The Office of Sustainability & Environment briefed the Seattle City Council Sustainability, City Light, and Arts and Culture Committee on May 2 about the Environmental Justice Fund, its origin, grantmaking approach and measurable impacts since 2018.

Jimena Fonseca Morales, Environmental Justice Fund strategic advisor, said the fund stems from the city’s 2015 Equity and Environment Initiative and was launched in 2018 to invest directly in community-led climate- and environmental-justice projects. She said the fund centers priority communities — including Black, Indigenous and people of color, immigrants and refugees, people with low incomes, youth and elders — and that grants are designed to reduce barriers by offering technical assistance and community review by a six-member community review team.

Fonseca Morales said the fund has awarded more than $3.8 million to 64 community groups and 82 projects since 2018. She cited examples that included youth programming to connect indigenous youth with traditional ecological knowledge, indoor-air-quality education workshops, soil remediation projects, green-jobs exposure for youth, and community-built green spaces.

Councilmembers asked how the fund is financed and how it coordinates with state efforts. Fonseca Morales said the fund is fully supported by payroll expense tax revenue (directed under the city’s Green New Deal commitments) and that $740,000 will be available through the 2025 RFP, which closes June 3. She described ongoing coordination with state-level environmental justice efforts, including participation by grantees and board members in state task forces and legislative processes such as the HEAL Act, and said some state programs have been shaped in part by the city’s local grant structure.

Councilmembers also asked about youth engagement and coordination with the climate action plan update. Staff said they plan to connect grantee input to the climate action plan update and highlighted grantees such as Young Women Empowered, Wa Na Wari, Via Comunitaria and Lake City Collective for their youth and community work.

OSC staff said they will release an Environmental Justice Fund impact report covering the first five years and a short video describing grantee work. The committee did not take formal action; the briefing was informational and staff said they will follow up as the RFP process unfolds.