June 2026 – At the Build Healthy Places Network Virtual Summit, leaders from community development, health, philanthropy, and government explored how multisector, community-led climate resilience can take shape. Speaking at the event, Monica Valdes Lupi, Managing Director of the Kresge Health Program, emphasized that philanthropy must rethink its role in tackling climate-driven disasters and supporting community resilience.
For many communities, climate change manifests in daily struggles: asthma attacks from wildfire smoke in Fresno, heat stress at unshaded bus stops in Miami, or repeated flooding in New Orleans homes. These realities disproportionately affect low-wealth communities and communities of color, highlighting the need for integrated approaches that connect climate, health, and equity.
Through the Climate Change, Health and Equity (CCHE) initiative, The Kresge Foundation is entering a second five-year phase, working with 25 community-based partners and seven national partners. The initiative focuses on empowering communities closest to climate harm, recognizing their expertise and relationships as essential to driving lasting change.
Examples of place-based strategies include Fresno youth using citizen science to influence environmental justice decisions, San Diego coalitions advocating for safer and more accessible transit, and Springfield residents aligning with city leaders to adopt Community Choice Energy. These successes demonstrate that local leadership is the foundation for systems change.
Valdes Lupi outlined three shifts philanthropy must embrace: sharing power by letting communities set priorities, funding the way communities work through flexible and responsive support, and investing in community-led initiatives that shape national policy and systems.
She stressed that the climate crisis is already here, impacting neighborhoods across the country. The good news is that communities are building solutions — and philanthropy’s role is to ensure they are not building them alone.
By centering power, trust, and accountability, philanthropy can help create healthier, more resilient communities while advancing equity and sustainability.
