Meet the 2026 Climate Justice Micrograntees

The Lab team was blown away by all the applicants to this year’s microgrant program. Our community is doing incredible work and winning on so many fronts! We’re so excited to share this year’s groups who are tackling topics from solar energy farms to data centers and feminist approaches to disaster relief.

The Center for Environmental Health Equity (CEHE)

Frontline communities, indigenous communities, and tribal nations are historical protectors and innovators of land protection and climate solutions. They also face disproportional impacts of systemic environmental racism leading to funding gaps, less administrative capacity, and lack of access to technical resources.

CEHE is based out of the University of Washington. They provide technical assistance to tribal and community organizations across the Pacific Northwest managing environmental and energy justice grants and programs. Their newest report, analyzes and synthesizes key lessons, victories, and challenges from years of providing community-governed technical assistance to Tribal nations, Tribal citizens, frontline organizations, and overburdened communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Comité Diàlogo Ambiental Inc. (Diàlogo)

The Comité Diálogo Ambiental, Inc. (or Diálogo, for short) is a nonprofit, grassroots organization, based in southeastern Puerto Rico. Organization members dedicate themselves to deliberative, participatory dialogue to protect the environment and to advance sustainable, community-centered projects. Diálogo was founded in 1996 and celebrated its 30-year anniversary in the spring of 2026. The organization’s mission is to build a self-determined and group-managed organizational structure that is participatory and promotes harmony in surrounding environments for current and future generations.

Diálogo’s project will culminate in a zine available in English and Spanish, an in-person event in Puerto Rico, and a radio show showcasing their findings. They will spotlight lessons learned from rooftop solar communities in Puerto Rico, one of the most vulnerable places for climate disruption and climate injustices. This includes documenting and communicating the history of solar farm installations on the island and the current functions of the including maintenance, inspection, and efforts to support energy literacy and climate justice.

Environmental Justice Committee of the Border/ Comité de Justicia Ambiental de la Frontera (CJAF)

Cleanview reports that the continental U.S. has 1,300 currently operating data centers, with over 2,000 in various stages of construction and planning. Groups from all justice movements are working to address data centers, water use, and AI expansion.

The Environmental Justice Committee of the Border (Comité de Justicia Ambiental de la Frontera (CJAF)) is a grassroots organization that fights for environmental justice in the border region of Mexicali (MX) and Imperial County (US). They’re developing a report in English and Spanish on the success of community-led resistance to data centers. The report will highlight cross-border organizing in Mexicali along the U.S. and Mexico border. This includes language justice wins, binational organizing principles, and moratoriums achieved at the county and city level.

Michigan Climate Action Network (MiCAN)

In 1953, Enbridge Energy, the largest oil and gas transportation community in North America, built the fossil fuel pipeline, Line 5. Communities have fought against the pipeline since its announcement because it impedes tribal sovereignty, threatens water ways, and is operated by a company with a history of spills (most recently Line 5 spilled 1.3 million gallons of gas in August 2026).

The Michigan Climate Action Network amplifies, connects, and supports the communities demanding urgent, bold, and equitable solutions for a just transition to a resilient future. In a 6–1 decision on July 31, 2026, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a precedent-setting decision in favor of their lawsuit challenging the oil pipeline and against Michigan’s decision to permit an oil tunnel without properly reviewing the environmental and climate risks.

MiCAN’s been a part of the Shut Down Line 5 campaign for years and are excited to debut a communications playbook to document the successes and failures of communication strategies in driving engagement, public comment, and shaping mass discourse around the campaign for over a decade.

Tagnawa Hawaii

Hawaii has a high cost of living and unique risk of climate catastrophe and environmental racism. It also has a long history of military and tourism exploitation that makes it even harder for Native Hawaiians and immigrant communities to build resilience and respond to natural disasters.

Tagnawa Hawaiʻi is a mom-led, on the ground organization that exists to advance gender, immigrant, and environmental justice through community-led research, intersectional advocacy, and culturally-rooted disaster recovery. They serve vulnerable communities long excluded from mainstream relief and policymaking, including Filipinos, immigrants, women and girls, and gender nonconforming individuals to provide trauma-informed support, educational tools and workshops, and a platform for collective action. They do not treat crises as isolated events. They aim to dismantle systemic inequities by addressing underlying conditions such as poverty, discrimination, and dispossession so that recovery becomes a pathway to lasting structural transformation.

Their project uses a feminist grounding to highlight gender inequality in climate disaster relief. The resource will equip those interested in responsive, collective power with the skills needed to prepare for and recover from climate catastrophes. They synthesize local disaster responses from the 2023 Lahaina Fires, the 2026 Kona Low Floods, Hurricane Lala, and incoming storms to share recommendations for gender-sensitive, multi-ethnic, cross-class, rural organizing and direct aid.

We hope these lessons inspire you and we can’t wait to share the final projects early next year. Stay tuned!

All the best,

Kerrina

Partnerships Manager

The Climate Advocacy Lab