Building a coalition

A successful state climate corps program relies on the collective efforts of various stakeholders. For the purposes of this article, a coalition is a group of service programs, service allied organizations, and climate stakeholders — most likely outside of state government — who see value in a statewide initiative and are willing to help shape the direction and build support.

Building a coalition can strengthen your climate corps initiative in a number of ways. Firstly, it can really help define your focus in ways that reflect the capacities, interests, and experience of your state. By working with a coalition of interested parties early, you are more likely to know what works and where the gaps are so the resulting vision for a climate corps aligns with existing momentum, resources, and networks. Second, with a coalition you can leverage the unique skills, resources, and perspectives of each partner in the implementation of the climate corps. For example, a strong conservation corps program in one part of the state can provide a base for specific service activities in that geography. Further, by connecting with local community climate organizations, you may identify opportunities that you can build or expand programming around that help cement their engagement in climate service as a resource. Thirdly, a robust coalition can enhance the credibility of your program. Most individuals working in the climate space recognize that it is not a unitary issue. Rather, climate change mitigation and adaptation requires complex action at a variety of levels (local, regional, statewide, national) and in a variety of ways (i.e., greening, clean energy, water conservation, etc.). Having a coalition that reflects the diversity of your state and focus areas under a general climate corps heading will make it easier to demonstrate that you are addressing the full spectrum of activities in the state. This can facilitate access to more diverse support, including funding and political support.

Building a Coalition Elements Source: SlideTeam

A challenge to facilitating diverse participation in a coalition is being able to demonstrate a collective voice and scale. This is important because support for a climate corps will likely hinge on its perceived impact in the state. If each interested program advocates for support for their specific approach, it is going to seem much more fragmented than if there is common messaging and combined asks for support.

With any coalition, it takes time to build trust, establish relationships, and define a common vision. The initial steps in building a coalition involve identifying relevant partners and stakeholders that likely share climate and service goals and objectives. For service programs and commissions, this likely starts with the existing program portfolio in a state, especially the environmental stewardship programs. As a second tier of possible coalition partners, consider organizations that have networks of supporters and allies. Finally, a state service commission is likely part of networks related to service and community engagement that might provide relevant support.

Depending on the current level of involvement of your service community in broader climate efforts, some bridge building may be needed to bring together climate-focused organizations who are less familiar with service programming. As you build your coalition, diversify participation beyond the service world to ensure you have a range of perspectives on needs, skills, and resources. Consider community-based organizations, philanthropic foundations, local businesses, and nonprofits with a focus on environmental or climate-related issues. This bridge building may take more time and require more care than early outreach and engagement efforts but is essential to establishing a solid platform for a statewide effort.

Some of the hardest work of coalition building involves defining vision and common purpose and maintaining focus over time. If an early group of stakeholders can collaborate on a clear value proposition that highlights benefits for a variety of stakeholders, it is more likely that your coalition members come together with a solid understanding of expectations, intent, and desired outcomes. Prior collective action case studies have documented the importance of regular engagement and tracking of activities as critical elements for sustaining engagement and meeting coalition goals. A particularly important task is defining a backbone organization who can coordinate regular meetings, gather feedback, and communicate progress. An important characteristic of a coalition backbone is that they should not have overriding authority over the coalition (i.e., as a funder) so they can remain a trusted and balanced part of the coalition versus dominating it or simply setting an agenda for others to follow.

A successful coalition can be an extremely powerful way to launch and sustain a statewide climate corps program. It is important for your coalition to have a clear vision for what a state climate corps can and should be, be built on robust partnerships, and support shared ownership.