Low-income renters in San Diego should also get to benefit from solar savings

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Low-income households spend disproportionately more on energy than other householdsGRID Alternatives is seeking to draw down new state funding for solar on affordable, multifamily housing.  GRID is a leader in low-income solar, installing free solar systems on homes while providing job training in solar installation, among many other programs focused on bringing the benefits of renewable energy technology to lower income communities.  These communities stand to benefit the most from energy savings, but the cost… Read More »Low-income renters in San Diego should also get to benefit from solar savings

San Diego’s Women’s Empowerment Loan Fund crowdfunds business coaching for women

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Only 1 in 23 loaned dollars go to womenThe Women’s Empowerment Loan Fund (WELF) is an impact investment opportunity to provide small business loans and financing to women-owned businesses in San Diego.  Systemic bias in our financial systems causes credit-worthy women-owned businesses to be overlooked by reputable banks or overcharged by predatory lenders, and women of color are affected most. WELF combines financing with expert business coaching to ensure recipients have… Read More »San Diego’s Women’s Empowerment Loan Fund crowdfunds business coaching for women

Climate Action Campaign keeps moving the region forward

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Even more area communities pass climate action plansSan Diego’s Climate Action Campaign is busy as usual with all things local climate policy! CAC was integral to recently helping Orange County activists push the city of Irvine to unanimously vote for the creation of a Climate Action Plan (CAP).  Imperial Beach followed just a few weeks later, passing their own CAP that includes a commitment to 100% clean energy.   CAC has also… Read More »Climate Action Campaign keeps moving the region forward

YIGBY (Yes in God’s Backyard) seeks to rapidly activate church land to build affordable housing

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A solution for the urgent need for affordable housing in San Diego aligns the mission, physical plant, and revenue needs of communities of faithYIGBY seeks to address the disastrous housing shortage in San Diego with an innovative plan of building elevated modular housing over parking lots owned by communities of faith.  Communities of faith have space that is often underutilized, assisting families and individuals in need is mission-aligned, and the modular… Read More »YIGBY (Yes in God’s Backyard) seeks to rapidly activate church land to build affordable housing

SunForAll Solar Fund aims to raise $10M to save nonprofits $25M in energy costs (oh, and mitigate 125,000 tons of CO2)

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It’s a triple bottom line win for renewable energy, nonprofit sustainability, and impact investmentBQuest is partnering with Collective Sun to create a solar fund for installing discounted rooftop solar on San Diego-area nonprofits.   Because of their tax status, nonprofits are not able to take advantage of tax breaks offered to for-profit organizations for installing solar panels on their buildings.  Through a creative financing approach that helps the non-profit take advantage of… Read More »SunForAll Solar Fund aims to raise $10M to save nonprofits $25M in energy costs (oh, and mitigate 125,000 tons of CO2)

Place-Based Granting and Investing

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We practice place-based granting and investing in San Diego and the broader southern California region for three reasons: Collaboration, Community, and Leadership Collaboration– we often create deep partnerships and support them in more ways than just financially by practicing the philanthropic idea of giving time, treasure, and talent. We work with our partners to build programs, we offer our own time and skillsets, and we try to foster increased communication… Read More »Place-Based Granting and Investing

Climate Advocacy

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In addition to helping build and finance equitable clean energy projects and initiatives, BQuest also contributes to climate advocacy groups that are fighting for the policy and societal changes we need for a zero carbon future. We fund a variety of advocacy, watchdog, and policy-related climate organizations at both the local and national level, small and large. Some of the issues that organizations that we grant to are focused on… Read More »Climate Advocacy

EV Access Program

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BQuest has teamed up with MAAC, a community-based organization in San Diego, to launch a new Electric Vehicle (EV) pilot program to help interested low-income families and individuals purchase EVs and be able to access the financial and environmental benefits of EV ownership. Electric vehicles, on average, cost less than half as much to operate as gasoline-powered vehicles. Not only do EVs save on fuel costs, but they are less… Read More »EV Access Program

Parallel Grantmaking

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We practice a parallel grantmaking strategy, directly building projects that increase renewable energy and decrease emissions while also funding advocacy groups fighting for bigger, systemic changes. We have two parallel strategies for climate grantmaking: project-based and what we call “move the needle” funding. The world is facing an existential climate crisis and we need massive changes at all levels. This calls for investment in the people, policies, organizations, researchers, companies,… Read More »Parallel Grantmaking

Multiple Layers of Impact

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We focus on multiple layers of impact, particularly with an emphasis on environmental equity, in order to make a bigger impact per dollar granted or invested. Environmental equity has been a particular focus for us as we seek projects and investments with multiple layers of impact. Low-income and marginalized communities have historically been exposed to more pollution and environmental degradation while also not often having the resources to benefit from… Read More »Multiple Layers of Impact