Click here for "All About Our Guidelines and Criteria" page,
which has information on eligibility and a "How to Apply"section.

ESC provides capacity-building services to environmental justice groups and their allies nationwide, working with them to develop customized assistance plans that will benefit them over the longer term. ESC works with groups to assess their needs, set evaluation benchmarks, and develop a customized assistance plan. This may include small grants for technical assistance from culturally competent local consultants or for training opportunities.

Services we provide are:

• Short-term intensive training and organizational assistance to help groups individually or in coalition;
• Longer-term assistance over an eight-month to two-year period to groups ready for major organizational breakthroughs.

This support offers maximum flexibility, addressing a wide variety of organizational issues with assistance from ESC-approved consultants and management support providers. Organizations requesting support for technology or fund-raising support should see the information for the Technology Resources or Fundraising for Sustainable Organizations programs.

We can help individual groups, coalitions and networks by covering up to 80 percent of the costs associated with capacity-building. Grants generally range from $3,500-$5,000 for short-term support and up to $10,000 for longer-term assistance.

Click here to find out more about capacity building.

Through 2009 and beyond, we are assisting organizations that are doing internal work around planning, financial sustainability and strengthening their ability to work with a broader range of constituents and allies.

At the moment, we have capacity-building resources for:

• Groups engaging in freshwater work east of the Mississippi, or watershed groups working to improve the Mississippi River, and
• Environmental justice organizing in California and the greater Houston area.

Organizations in other regions of the country, or that don't fit our eligibility guidelines, are discouraged from applying at this time.

Click here for "All About Our Guidelines and Criteria" page, which has information on eligibility and a "How to Apply"section.

Groups with current grant awards can click here for reimbursement material.