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The Binational Resilience Initiative, a partnership between San Diego Foundation and the International Community Foundation, has awarded more than $1 million in grants to U.S.- and Mexico-based nonprofit organizations to preserve, study and strengthen the resiliency of the Cali-Baja coastline. Reef Check Foundation and partner ECOCIMATI were one of 12 projects selected and received $64,277 to preserve and protect kelp forests along the California-Baja coastline.
“Now, more than ever, local leaders are recognizing that we need to address coastal resiliency in the Cali-Baja region,” said Mark Stuart, President & CEO of San Diego Foundation. “Through the Binational Resilience Initiative, we can make a lasting impact on our cross-border region’s climate vulnerabilities by empowering collaborations between civil organizations, scientists, community leaders and other stakeholders.”
San Diego Foundation manages the Binational Resilience Initiative in partnership with the International Community Foundation, which will work directly with Mexico-based grantees to administer funding and coordinate projects.
“The Cali-Baja region is home to incredible climate leaders who have long been working to make our shared region more resilient,” said Marisa Aurora Quiroz, President & CEO of the International Community Foundation. “Investing in their research, their ideas, and their creativity strengthens us and helps us prepare for the future. These grants represent an impressive body of work that will benefit us all.”
Projects selected for funding through the Binational Resilience Initiative demonstrate effective cross-border collaboration and contribute to coastal preservation or resilience in two or more of the following areas: climate relevance, economic prosperity, knowledge sharing, organizational resilience and/or research. All funded projects include a U.S.- and a Mexico-based nonprofit partner.
The Cali-Baja region encompasses a diverse region spanning San Diego County in the U.S. to the Pacific side of Northern Baja California, Mexico, between Tijuana and Ensenada. In spite of the U.S.-Mexico border, communities of the Cali-Baja region are uniquely connected through environmental, economic, cultural and other interdependencies. To expand the region’s capacity to adapt to climate change, manage and conserve shared resources, and thrive together, the Binational Resilience Initiative creates a shared regional approach to manage and plan for the best future as a region.
Funders for the Binational Resilience Initiative include The Builders Initiative (BI) and Alumbra Innovations Foundation, which together seeded the initiative with $1,975,000 in combined funding. Other project partners include Resilient Cities Catalyst and the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative housed at the Nonprofit Institute of the University of San Diego.
