Local Champions

Training and support for Climate Smart Communities Task Force Coordinators

Partners for Climate Action ran two cycles of this cohort program in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Stay tuned for future cycles of the Local Champions program. In the meantime, please check out Partner for Climate Action’s other programs, such as the Building Decarbonization Grant.

In our research, we found many funding sources, but no single clearing house or resource that gathers them all. We assembled as many grants as we could find, relevant to Hudson Valley climate change work, in a list that our partners at the Capital District Regional Planning Commission keep up to date. A huge thank you for helping us develop this resource goes out to: Haley Balcanoff and Jill Henck of the Capital District Regional Planning Commission, Dazzle Ekblad of the DEC’s Office of Climate Change, and our intern from Bard’s Center for Environmental Policy, Iris Burbank!

We also gathered a directory of grant writers and coaches.

Coming Soon: Climate Policy Compendium: When working with our local champions, again and again we emphasized the utility of being in a community of practice. None of us need to toil away in isolation—we can build on each other’s work. To help facilitate this, we are creating a shared collection of gathered model resolutions, examples of policy documents and other helpful tools, all organized by Climate Smart Communities pledge elements with a cross reference to the Clean Energy Communities actions.

A huge thank you for helping us as we develop this resource: Cate Byrne, Subash Pandey and Frances Duncan our interns from Bard’s Center for Environmental Policy!

About the Local Champions Program

NY State has some of the most progressive climate programs and legislation in the country, which is a great achievement...However, success depends on our cities, towns, and villages pursuing the training and organization needed to put this legislation to work.

NY State’s Climate Smart Communities program (CSC) brings together local residents and municipal leaders to take real steps through a framework of over 100 actions. The first goal of the Climate Smart Communities program is bronze certification—achieving and documenting steps in reducing carbon and enhancing resiliency. NYSERDA’s Clean Energy Communities (CEC) program puts local governments on track to earn designation as a CEC through high impact actions to reduce emissions.

The Local Champions Program jump-starts municipalities that are new to the CSC and CEC program and helps them identify their path forward. We get them there by showering them with inspiring guest speakers, peer-to-peer learning, expert technical assistance from partners such as CDRPC, Cornell Cooperative Extensions, and HVRC, and some fun too—like dinners and field trips.

Cycle 1

Our pilot cohort drew together 6 volunteers:

Madeline Russo, Town of Rochester
Kathy Chow, Town of North East
Kristen Schara, Town of Hurley
Jennifer Rubbo, Town of Union Vale
Dan Haas, Town of Copake
Christina Bohnsack, Town of Germantown
(also pictured: program co-directors, Paige Ruane at center-top and Vanessa Bertozzi at center-bottom)

Cycle 1 Final Presentations

  • Rochester, Madeline Russo 10:29

  • Hurley, Kristen Schara 31:00

  • Germantown, Christina Bohnsack 47:40

  • North East, Chow 1:05:17

  • Union Vale, Jennifer Rubbo 1:25:21

  • Copake, Dan Haas 1:40:20

Cycle 2

Our second cycle drew together 10 volunteers:

Deborah Conrad, Town of Chatham
JoAnne Warren, Town of Shawangunk
Bill Mancini, Village of Kinderhook
Melissa Miller, Town of Kinderhook
Teddy Secor, Town of Stanford
Meg Todisco, Village of Valatie
Margaret Tomlinson, Village of Catskill
Stacy Mantel, Town of Amenia
Genevieve Glasson, Village of Millbrook
Tom Paino, Village of Philmont

Cycle 2 Final Presentations, 1st Set

  • Shawangunk, JoAnne Warren 3:40

  • Town of Kinderhook, Melissa Miller 19:28

  • Village of Kinderhook, Bill Mancini 38:33

  • Valatie, Meg Todisco 1:09:58

  • Millbrook, Genevieve Glasson 1:31:05

Cycle 2 Final Presentations, 2nd Set

  • Amenia, Stacy Mantel 3:56

  • Village of Catskill, Margaret Tomlinson 20:52

  • Philmont, Tom Paino 40:58

  • Town of Chatham, Deborah Conrad 1:05:57

  • Stanford, Teddy Secor 1:25:47

Visit the Local Champions website for recorded videos of guest speakers and the champs’ final presentations as well as other resources.

Support this important program so that PCA can launch a cycle 3 and help more communities in the Hudson River Valley bioregion.