Atma Connect, in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), will establish infrastructure and support for locally led change across the United States in underserved populations.
The work to remove barriers and improve accessibility for communities is part of the EPA’s recently announced program, Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, has selected 17 centers that will receive $177 million to help underserved communities across the country. ISC, Atma Connect, and the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) are one of three national EJ TCTAC centers that were selected to build capacity and enhance technical assistance to regional centers, local leaders, communities, and technical assistance providers.
“The Institute for Sustainable Communities is excited to partner with Atma Connect, which has a strong track record in Puerto Rico, Indonesia, and Ukraine, in creating equity-centered, web-based platforms that reach last-mile communities, enable localization, and drive support and funding to smaller organizations,” said ISC’s US Programs Director Sonia Joshi.
“We’re excited to create the infrastructure that enables more locally led change. People living in communities on the front lines of climate impact and in EJ communities are the ones that need to lead the change that is needed, and we are excited to help them get the resources they need to create safer and climate resilient communities,” said Atma Connect CEO Meena Palaniappan. Atma will develop the online platform to create access to greater federal funding investments for frontline communities. ASAP has significant experience with rural and remote communities, connecting and supporting climate practitioners.
The EJ TCTAC Program is part of the Department of Transportation’s Thriving Communities Initiative that is working to provide technical assistance and capacity building resources to those most in need to improve and foster thriving communities throughout the United States.
Atma Connect is an award-winning global nonprofit technology organization that creates platforms to connect people so they can report problems, share solutions, and improve their communities from the ground up. Atma’s theory of change is that people who live in low-income communities are resourceful and ingenious, and connecting them with one another will multiply their strengths. Atma and our mobile app, AtmaGo, have won international recognition of the importance of our work. Numerous awards including Tech for Good’s Startup Weekend, the IDEO.org/Amplify Urban Resilience Challenge, and the Global Resilience Partnership Innovation Challenge, and Atma is a Vanguard member of the Million Lives Collective, recognizing innovations that have improved the lives of over 1 million people living on less than $5 per day. For more information, visit atmaconnect.org.
ISC is a non-profit organization with a mission to create equitable, climate change solutions around the world. We do this by forming collaborative, people-focused partnerships that support communities disproportionately impacted by the global climate crisis. Since its founding in 1991, ISC has utilized a unique, bottom-up approach to ensure solutions emerge from within communities, rather than being imposed from the outside. Our projects focus on divested communities throughout the world, with specific attention paid to the impact systemic racism and gender inequity has had in communities, workforces, and industrial sectors as they move toward a just transition. For more information, please visit sustain.org.