Several states have already held workshops, convenings, and working group meetings focused on launching a climate corps program or network in their states. Examples are provided below from Washington and Maine.

Example from Washington

In 2023, Serve Washington convened existing service programs in the state to discuss climate corps network legislation and to solicit feedback on the design and implementation if the bill were to pass. A summary memo on the outcomes of the meeting is available.

Washington Climate Service Corps

Program Conversation

Two hours virtual

Overview

Project intent

• The Governor is working with legislators to advance a bill (1176 in house, 5247 in senate) and supportive funding to empower service programs to play a more central role in state climate action. ServeWA, supported by Farallon Strategies, has been working with the Governor’s Office on the scope of this bill and the funding scale. We are inviting existing service programs to join a conversation designed to identify the best ways to work together to respond to the state’s climate crisis and support the governor’s climate action goals.

Conversation purpose

• Bring service programs together to gather input on implementation of the Climate Service Corps

Intent for outcomes

• Identify important opportunities, challenges, and coordination approaches.
• Share feedback with the Governor’s office for further refinement of this initiative.

Agenda

1. Welcome & Introductions (15 minutes)

   Please be prepared to share your name, your role, and what (if anything) your program is doing in the larger climate field.

2. Overview (15 minutes)

   We will provide a brief summary of the proposed climate service corps structure and funding and review our goals for today.

3. Benefits and Challenges (40 minutes)

   As this is a new approach with a variety of elements, we want to be sure we talk as a community about how this will work. For this part of the conversation, we want to digest the proposal in order to lift up both benefits and potential challenges. For potential challenges, we will work to flag solutions that can be applied during implementation.

4. Break (5-minutes)