REAP Strategy and Fundraising Webinar

Written By Sophia Strena

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 out 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 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

  • 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

  • Total Goal: $12,500,000

    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)

  • 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

    • Biodiversity facilitator at the 2024 MIT Sustainability Summit

    • Gave a 2023 TED Talk about "The Power of Soil for Climate, Community, and Course Correction"

    • 30 years of experience ranging from startups to Fortune 50s

    • Certifications from UC Berkeley School of Law, Harvard Business School, and Wharton

    • Experience in Design Science and Systems Thinking from the Buckminster Fuller Institute

    • Soil Advocacy Training from the Kiss the Ground organization

    • 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

  • "We provide the tools and trades for Communities to grow Earth-conscious-industries"

    "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."

    "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."

  • 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

 
 

Structured Giving, DAFs, and RFPs

Sophia Strena
Next

Announcing Fireside Potlucks!