September 18, 2024
Attendance: Ivan Fernandez, Stacie Haines, Kate Klibansky, Kristen Grant, Kirsten Brewer
De-brief American Climate Corps Visit
The American Climate Corps team visited Maine Sep 9 and 10. Here is a blog post about their visit:
https://www.acc.gov/posts/2024-09-12-fall-tour/
Q: Is there anything you would have done differently?
If more time, always prefer to visit more sites in rural Maine, however this was about a 36 hour visit.
Q: Was there any press?
No press specific to the Maine visit. There was a politico article about the overall tour:
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2024/09/12/biden-team-launches-climate-tour-as-term-ticks-down-00178875
Q: What were the goals of this visit?
Shared goals were: externally, to create more awareness about the American Climate Corps. Internally, to hear from members and staff on the ground about what is going well.
Q: Reminder about context, is there Federal funding nationally for Climate Corps? No, there is no specific budget item for Climate Corps. However, Federal agencies are using existing funding such as IRA funding to support programming. Also, State agencies have the ability to re-direct their block grants.
Some of the needs that came up over the course of the visit:
Local funding is a challenge in Maine, including raising match. Federal investment is needed to support the Climate Corps
No funding for staff support in AmeriCorps grants, financial sustainability is a challenge for programs.
Managing Federal funds is a heavy lift and an organization needs an experienced grants administrator, which many Maine organizations do not have (including municipalities). An intermediary is necessary so small organizations can benefit.
Housing for members is a challenge, they need additional housing support.
There are some barriers for existing programs to join the American Climate Corps, such as the 300 hour minimum requirement. Is it possible for sequential terms to count as an American Climate Corps term?
Be sure to keep service in the programs, otherwise this may be a duplicative workforce development program.
Prioritize Climate Corps in AmeriCorps grant competitions.
Government agencies (both at the Federal and State levels) need to better coordinate with each other to support programming.
Follow-up Climate Corps Summit-July 19, 2024
Re-cap on key themes/highlights from meeting.
A lot of brainstorming about potential program ideas. Groups were able to hone-in on potential for on the ground service. What exactly could a Corps program do in a given sector?
It would be helpful if staff could send some follow up to the participants to synthesize the conversations and keep the participants engaged and aware of how their feedback will be used moving forward. Kirsten will send a follow up to participants.
Anticipated Changes to Task Force Structure
At this week’s retreat the Commission will discuss merging the three task forces, Climate Corps, Service Fellows, and E&E into 1 Program Task Force.
Q: how many members on each task force currently? Unsure, about 15+ collectively.
Q: What are the pros and cons of this merger for Climate Corps.
Pro: better engage the Commissioners in the Climate Corps. Make sure there is alignment between Maine Service Fellows and Climate Corps and E&E portfolio which includes training and professional development programming.
Potential con: will the multi-faceted Task Force mean the focus on Climate Corps is diluted? Also, though Climate action is very broad, would a transition to the 3 tracks mean the definition of Climate Corps expands and the boundaries vanish? Currently the Task Force routinely uses their full hour. Important that the Task Force is able to stay sharply focused on climate. Really important that there is a clean description of the Climate Corps.
This is accurate, and it’s important that the Maine Climate Corps stays laser focused on its role to implement the State’s Climate Action Plan.
Q: What are the logistics of the new Task Force going to look like?
Unknown at this time, likely will be discussed at the retreat.
The Task Force members currently want to be able to help the Climate Corps—feel strongly and want to see it succeed, whatever the governance structure looks like. Happy to participate if there is a different structure that supports Volunteer Maine, such as helping to host Summits. Ideally there is another way for supporters and stakeholders to stay engaged.
Climate Corps is not just in implementation, still needs funding support and needs to stay engaged if/when there is a bigger Federal investment.
That way less effective. Not enough to dig into the items. Unless a proposed model to focus.
Welcome something structured, so there is a continuation of the monthly meetings. Maybe there is more of an online presence—discuss topics more regularly online?
Notable that the challenges of the Climate Corps are really different than other Programs because of the national presence and federal engagement.
Questions about Updates Below:
Report to GOPIF, draft was submitted to GOPIF and can be found here: Climate Corps progress report
America's Service Commissions anticipates announcing an agreement between the States and the Federal government to formalize the partnership for the American Climate Corps. This will be announced during NY Climate Week. White House Briefing on Climate Corps
Green Employer Cohort
We were selected by the Service Year Alliance to participate in a national “green employer learning cohort” which brings together employers and service programs to develop stronger pathways to careers. Our anticipated partner will be the Maine Municipal Association and the goal will be to provide specific training/career development to current Climate Corps members that would prepare them for municipal jobs in Maine.
New Maine Service Fellows
Recruiting for new host sites for NOAA-funded Fellows.