REAP Strategy and Fundraising Webinar
Executive director Jonathan DeLong gives an overview of REAP’s strategy for impact, and what we need to make that happen. See how REAP continues to provide service in the face of current challenges!
In the News:
REAP & Partners Granted $530K Workforce Grant
While we talk about our goals, it’s important to talk about our progress towards them!
REAP, in partnership with Greenbelt Alliance and Pacific Coast Community Services, has secured a $530K grant to expand our Regenerative Job Pathways. Learn from the Alameda Post how this funding supports training in sustainable fields!
The Big Picture
At the highest level, REAP Climate Center envisions a world where all human-built systems align with nature.
We aim to increase access to climate change mitigation by providing ecological experiences and climate job pathways.
Premise & Problems
Climate Risk is Business Risk; Climate Mitigation is Opportunity
Workforce and Industry Gaps Threaten Community Resilience
Green Infrastructure & Innovation Provide Jobs
Tags & Quick Takeaways
Embracing Natural Systems
A Healthy Climate Starts with Good Jobs
Tools & Trades to Solve the Most Pressing Problems
Empowering Communities to Grow Earth-conscious Industries
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REAP By the Numbers
4 Years Operational
$2.5M Raised
6 Employees
32 Work Experience Staff
4.2 Acre Campus 40% Developed
Engagement
5,500 People Campus Visitors Engaged
6 Community Lead Projects Completed
500 People Served in Curated Experiences
50 Events Held
19 More Currently Scheduled
Workforce Development
125 Clients Certified
7 Classes Filled
4 Labs funded
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Total Goal: $12,500,000 (over 2-years)
Breakdown
1. Operations & Capacity: $1.5M
Critical basics
Community presence
2. Programming & Engagement: $5.5M
800 workforce certificate clients
48 workshops & events
1000 volunteers & team building participants
8 new curriculum developed
4 new organizations incubated
Municipal & regional initiative support
3. Capital Needs: $11M (Over 24 months)
Purchase 4.26 acres of existing campus
Purchase adjacent 11,000 sq/ft administration building
General infrastructure
Professional services
Reserves
Current Q1 2025 Status
$700K grant funding awards
$500K services revenue
$20M submitted in grant pipeline (includes uncertain Federal funding)
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Jonathan DeLong (Executive Director)
Serves on the Alameda County Workforce Development Board
Member of EPA & US Navy Restoration Advisory Board for the former Naval Air Station at Alameda Point
Active contributor to the Alameda Urban Forestry Planning Group
Member of Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Group for the Oakland/Alameda Estuary and San Leandro Bay
Impact & Workforce Advisor to the Alameda Chamber of Commerce
Biodiversity facilitator at the 2024 MIT Sustainability Summit
Gave a 2023 TED Talk about "The Power of Soil for Climate, Community, and Course Correction"
Certification - UC Berkeley School of Law: Sustainable Capitalism for Directors
Certification - Harvard Business School: Sustainable Business Strategies
Certification - Wharton: M&A and Corporate Development Strategies
Experience in Design Science and Systems Thinking from the Buckminster Fuller Institute
Soil Advocacy Training from the Kiss the Ground organization
30 years of experience ranging from startups to Fortune 50s
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Alameda County Workforce Development Board for Green Jobs (Supervisor Appointed)
EPA & US Navy Restoration Advisory Board for the former Naval Air Station at Alameda Point
Alameda Urban Forestry Planning Group
Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Group for the Oakland/Alameda Estuary and San Leandro Bay
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During a casual interview recently, our executive director was asked: What do you see for REAP and our species over the next 20 years?
“At a super high level for our species, I see the dispelling of the myths of externalities in both capital markets and regenerative systems.
I am wildly curious about what quantum computing and AI will reveal about the interconnectedness of all things. I’m even more curious about what we will choose to do with that knowledge.
The planet is always working towards optimization, independent of if we are to persist as a species.
The resilience that regenerative work can provide at a community level rolls up into the optimization of earth systems in our favor. It is truly a wild time to be alive.
I can fairly confidently say that most of the people we serve through our job programs are not focused on such things. And that is OK. System alignment is part of systems change. The way I look at it is we are helping steer people into a new framework while helping them realize value in the existing one.
At the low end, we’ve taught people how to grow a thing, build a thing, fix a thing. At the high end, we are creating closed loops with co-benefits that can regenerate across adjacent industries.
This is what I see for the next 20 years. Some of it will be incredibly painful. Much of it will be beautiful. Time will tell.
Just some food for thought while on top of a tractor.
Last year, I had the honor of being a biodiversity facilitator for the MIT sustainability summit, working with some global leaders and modeling scenarios for the Amazon. It was a lot of fun. My constant realization in this work is that we have so many levers yet to pull.”
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Short-term Goals
Buy land
Expand all programs
Engage next round of 5,000 people
Regenerate as much land as possible under the premise that "Nature is Infrastructure"
Long-term Goals
Open or support 400 similar bioregional centers
Cultivate and incubate businesses and communities that align with this mission
Tip the scale in favor of biodiversity and global resilience
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