While there are many approaches to designing a statewide climate corps, there are some common elements to the design process. To help guide you through the development phases, this toolkit is broken down into three major areas of exploration: 1) Getting Started, 2) Making the Case, and 3) Implementation Ideas.

Navigating the toolkit

Within each of the three areas, we provide a series of articles on different topics designed to help you utilize the content effectively. Each article includes four parts.

A goal for the article to give you a snapshot of what it might be most useful for.
A brief narrative outlining the topic and some considerations.
One or more explore further examples from the field.
A series of action steps to consider with links to concrete resources where applicable.

This toolkit is designed to provide guidance and resources to help you develop a unique strategy suitable for your state needs, resources, and capacities.

Much of the content was written by Farallon Strategies, a Certified B Corporation focused on climate resilience and adaptation with a division focused on national service programs. The team solicited input and review from colleagues in the field, and some of the articles were provided by peers currently working in this space (see Acknowledgements).

We hope this toolkit will be a living document to which new articles can be added as additional insights, lessons, and examples emerge from the work happening in this space around the country.

Choosing your toolkit journey

While the toolkit may initially seem overwhelming, it has been observed that users best digest information when selecting material that is most appropriate to their current stage in the process. Therefore, it is recommended that this toolkit is reviewed based on your interest and stage of climate corps development. Some considerations to keep in mind as you choose where to spend your time with this toolkit:

Review the headings and goals of the sections to find those that are of most use to you now.
Pull from the provided action steps that are most suitable to your capacity, resources, and stage in development.
Scan the related resources to develop a deeper understanding or to compile applicable examples for use now or at a later time.
Use linked templates, memos, agendas, and other specific resources as you embark on more concrete development steps of your own.
Share elements of the toolkit with your colleagues to build common understanding of climate corps initiatives.

Level of effort required

An initial question anyone approaching this work will be asking is “how much time and effort will this take?” Unfortunately, this is not a straightforward question to answer as there is no one approach to developing a climate corps. Depending on how you approach the development and design of your initiative, there’s a significant range to the level of effort required. For example, if you only have resources and capacity to make changes to your existing formula grant making process, this will take less time than if you want to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the landscape, engage stakeholders and funders in scoping your design, and offer a robust package of funding and programming statewide.

To help with this question, we offer a set of timing and activities for each stage of activities in the toolkit in the figure below. We provide three versions that reflect three different program design scenarios (limited, medium, and comprehensive). The timing and activities here are simple estimates and highly simplified. Our intent is to help you appreciate the range as much as see any specific possible scope.

It’s also important to note that we do not assume people will follow one of these scenarios linearly. Some organizations might be ready to move quickly through getting started, but want to invest more time and effort in making the case or implementation. There’s no reason that a limited effort on getting started should preclude a more comprehensive effort in another area.

We also don’t assume each section flows chronologically. Rather, the process is likely iterative, as you may need to return to some of the getting started steps as you begin to get a better sense of your climate corps description or potential design.

Untitled drawing.jpg