The Boulder County commissioners this week signed off on a contract with an outside company to manage a new $3 million climate equity fund created to administer grants to individuals and community groups.

The fund, which will be managed by JSI Research and Training, will be part of the county’s Office of Sustainability, Climate Action and Resilience.

The county is asking the consultants to build awareness, develop a community selection committee to make funding recommendations, and ensure transparent reporting on project metrics. The initial consultant contract goes through May 2026, with the fund set up to continue through at least 2030.

“There’s a mandate to address climate change and also change outcomes for people,” Boulder County Commissioner Marta Loachamin said. “This feels like a really great step.”

According to the county, the past work of the sustainability office has mainly benefited well-resourced community members while failing to reach the marginalized people more impacted by climate change.

The Office of Sustainability, Climate Action and Resilience currently has official funding streams dedicated to specific areas of need. Sustainability tax revenues are annually distributed to Boulder County municipalities, organizations, nonprofits and businesses through formal funding opportunities, including The Healthy Soils Program, The Climate Innovation Fund and the Municipal Sustainability Matching Grant.But there’s no local government funding mechanism to support smaller-scale climate justice work, mainly because Boulder County generally only has the authority to give grants or funding to legal entities, such as tax-exempt nonprofit organizations.

The Climate Equity Fund can provide access to funding for smaller groups and individuals working on a neighborhood scale, Loachamin said. County officials spent about a year talking to community members and groups about what they could do differently.

“Typically, funding comes with a lot of restrictions and requirements,” Loachamin said. “There are potential partners and community groups that told us they don’t even want to apply. It’s very hard for communities of color to get the same funding opportunities for climate work. I’m really proud of the work our team did to really understand racial equity and translate that into a very positive opportunity for us to address climate change.”

She said the sustainability office is working this week to invite community members from past panels and discussions to serve on a steering committee. The goal is to have the fund ready to start granting money by the end of summer. Potential examples of projects include high school climate summits and Native American regenerative agriculture.

“We’re really interested in innovation,” she said. “It’s really critical that we continue to support locally our climate action work.”