Upcoming Events.
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Upcoming Events. *
MIDWEST DATA CENTER COHORT
Our Advocacy Working Group has evolved into a Data Center Cohort,
reflecting the urgent, on‑the‑ground needs of our members who are navigating fast‑moving data center proposals across the Midwest.
This cohort now blends campaign strategy, legislative strategy, and hands‑on advocacy coaching to support members in real time on the 3rd Tuesday at 12 pm EST.
Midwest BDC Health Working Group | October
📢 You're Invited! Midwest BDC Health Working Group
🗓 Wednesday, October 21st, 2026
🕐 1:00 p.m. ET
Healthy buildings create healthy communities.
Join the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition's monthly Health Working Group as we bring together public health professionals, healthcare leaders, researchers, community advocates, and policy experts to address the health impacts of fossil fuel combustion in buildings and advance healthier, more equitable indoor environments.
Together, we:
🏡 Advance healthy homes and buildings through policy and advocacy.
🌎 Explore the connections between indoor air quality, climate, and public health.
🤝 Build capacity through collaboration, education, and shared learning.
📢 Develop strategies that center health equity in building decarbonization.
Our recent work includes:
• A Health & Building Decarbonization Fact Sheet
• A presentation and Q&A with Stanford researcher Yannai Kashtan
• Public comments to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on the health impacts of gas stoves
• Additional resources supporting healthy building policies across the Midwest
Interested in joining the conversation?
📧 Contact Marnese Jackson at jackson@midwestdecarb.org to get involved.
Together, we can build healthier homes, cleaner air, and more resilient communities across the Midwest.
Bootcamp to Action: Legal Levers to Pause or Slow Data‑Center Projects — Ordinances, Agreements & Moratorium Holds
Bootcamp to Action: Legal Levers to Pause or Slow Data‑Center Projects Members left the Equity Bootcamp wanting more clarity, more language, and more power — and this session delivers. Join attorneys and legal experts to explore the legal levers communities can use to pause or slow data‑center development: ordinances, community benefit agreements, and moratorium holds. Learn how these tools protect air, water, grid stability, and neighborhood health while giving communities time and leverage in local decision‑making.
Midwest BDC Affordable Housing October Working Group
You're Invited! Midwest BDC Affordable Housing Working Group
🗓 Tuesday, October 25, 2026 🕐 1:00 p.m. ET
Join the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition's monthly Affordable Housing Working Group as we continue advancing energy efficiency, building decarbonization, and electrification in affordable housing—ensuring low‑income renters can equitably benefit from the clean energy transition.
This October, we’ll focus on reducing energy burdens, strengthening decarbonization strategies, and beginning coordinated planning for our upcoming tenant‑rights campaign.
Lunch & Learn: Midwest Climate Justice Deserves Our Vote — Follow the Money
The October 29 Lunch & Learn examines how city councils, state legislatures, governors, Public Utility Commissions, and Congress each shape climate justice and decarbonization across the Midwest. This session uses a climate justice scorecard and Money Mapping to reveal how decisions about data‑center siting, rate caps, energy regulations, federal incentives, and public investment determine who pays for decarbonization. Participants will learn how utilities, commissions, legislators, developers, and investors influence clean air, community health, and long‑term affordability — and how these systems impact frontline communities.
EXPOSE THE DESIGN – Building Justice 201: Who Owns the Buildings?
Behind every building is a story about power. Building Justice 201: Who Owns the Buildings? exposes the ownership structures that shape our housing system — from private landlords and corporate investors to public housing authorities and community‑driven models. This session breaks down how ownership determines rent, maintenance, tenant rights, displacement pressures, and neighborhood stability. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how housing systems are designed — and how they can be redesigned for justice.
Healthy Homes for renters: Electrification for everyone
Building decarbonization can sound highly technical, but the decisions being made about our buildings affect everyday life: how much families pay for energy, the air they breathe, the safety and comfort of their homes, and whether they can benefit from the clean-energy transition.
This conversation will demystify heat pump water heaters and connect the technology to healthy homes, indoor air quality, electrification, affordability, renters, affordable housing, and environmental justice.
The central question guiding the conversation is:
How do we make healthy, efficient, all-electric homes accessible to everyone—not just households that can afford to transition first?
Beyond Equity Podcast ! | Data Centers & Accountability in Michigan and the Great Lakes
DATA CENTERS & ACCOUNTABILITY: Michigan and the Great Lakes
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2026
Prep Time: 10:50 AM EST
Live Conversation: 1:15a.m.-130a.m.
Platform: Restream- Your link allows you to invite up to 8 guests to attend. https://studio.restream.io/enz-ucjm-fuc
Invite your guest: https://studio.restream.io/enz-ucjm-fuc
As the rapid expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure reshapes communities across Michigan and the Great Lakes, important questions are emerging about who benefits, who pays, who decides, and who is protected. We would value your voice and expertise as part of this timely conversation.
The Equity First Podcast centers the voices, experiences, and solutions of frontline communities, advocates, organizers, policymakers, and movement leaders working toward environmental, climate, economic, and racial justice.
Our discussion will explore data center development, energy demand and utility rates, air and water quality, public health, environmental justice, community decision-making, and accountability across Michigan and the Great Lakes.
Policy Power Hour | Why is Clean Air Political?
This month, Policy Power Hour centers on Clean Air—why it’s political, who has the power to protect it, and how data‑center expansion is reshaping energy demand across the Midwest. We’ll break down how rapid growth in AI and cloud computing affects grid stress, air quality, utility rates, infrastructure decisions, and long‑term community planning. Participants will leave with clear tools to understand trade‑offs, ask informed questions, and advocate for state legislation, community‑centered protections for frontline communities, and health‑impact reparations.
Beyond Equity Podcast! DATA CENTERS & Rising Utility Rates and Community Health Who Pays for the AI Energy Boom?
Beyond Equity Podcast! DATA CENTERS & Rising Utility Rates and Community Health
Who Pays for the AI Energy Boom?
Featured Guest- Gary Ringer
About: Who pays for the AI energy boom? Join this podcast conversation exploring how rapid data center growth can affect electricity demand, utility rates, air and water quality, community health, and environmental justice—and what accountability should look like as communities face the costs and impacts.
Beyond Equity Podcast! Building Decarbonization, Healthy Homes & Heat Pump Water Heaters
Beyond Equity Podcast! Building Decarbonization, Healthy Homes & Heat Pump Water Heaters
Join Midwest BDC to explore how heat pump water heaters can create healthier, energy-efficient homes. We'll discuss affordability, incentives, renter protections, building upgrades, workforce opportunities, and environmental justice. Discover how equitable electrification can lower energy costs, improve indoor air quality, and benefit frontline communities. Join the conversation!
Building Decarbonization, Healthy Homes & Heat Pump Water Heaters Webinar
Building Decarbonization, Healthy Homes & Heat Pump Water Heaters
Join Midwest BDC to explore heat pump water heaters, healthier homes, and equitable electrification! Learn about energy affordability, incentives, renter protections, workforce development, and consumer education through direct-install programs. Discover how building decarbonization can improve indoor air quality while ensuring frontline communities benefit from a just clean-energy transition. Join the conversation!
Beyond Equity Podcast ! | Data Centers & Accountability in Michigan and the Great Lakes
Beyond Equity Podcast ! | Data Centers & Accountability in Michigan and the Great Lakes
Featured Guest: Ericka Lozano-Buhl (Mixto Communications) and Host: Marnese Jackson, Midwest BDC President and CEO
Time: Prep Time: 4p.m. EST start time
Broadcasting: Restream
About: DATA CENTERS & ACCOUNTABILITY: Michigan and the Great Lakes
As the rapid expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure reshapes communities across Michigan and the Great Lakes, important questions are emerging about who benefits, who pays, who decides, and who is protected.
Beyond Equity Podcast! DATA CENTERS & Rising Utility Rates and Community Health Who Pays for the AI Energy Boom?
Featured Guest- Huda Alkaff, CEO of Michigan and WIsconsin Green Muslims
Host: Stephanie Bowman, Midwest BDC Campaigns and Training Manager
Time: Prep time 11:20a.m. EST start time: 11:30a.m.-12p.m. EST
About: Who pays for the AI energy boom? Join this podcast conversation exploring how rapid data center growth can affect electricity demand, utility rates, air and water quality, community health, and environmental justice—and what accountability should look like as communities face the costs and impacts.
Midwest BDC Training: Cooling the Block, Powering Justice Training | Where Urban Heat, Healthy Buildings, and Climate Justice Meet
Urban heat, aging buildings, and climate inequity collide in the same neighborhoods—often those shaped by decades of disinvestment. This session explores how heat islands form, how buildings contribute to climate and health burdens, and how justice‑centered solutions can cool communities and improve lives. Who This Training Is For Community advocates, organizers, neighborhood leaders, and coalition partners working on housing, energy, public health, or environmental justice. What Participants Will Gain A clear understanding of how urban heat, building emissions, and climate injustice intersect Practical strategies to cool neighborhoods and decarbonize homes Justice‑centered approaches that prioritize community needs and prevent displacement Tools to connect local stories to policy, organizing, and community action
Canva Basics: Digital Design for Climate Justice 101
Beginner‑friendly Canva training for climate justice communicators. Learn layout, color, templates, and presentation tools to create clear, consistent movement visuals.
Midwest BDC Affordable Housing August Working Group
🏘️ You're Invited! Midwest BDC Affordable Housing Working Group
🗓 Tuesday, August 25, 2026
🕐 1:00 p.m. ET
Join the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition's monthly Affordable Housing Working Group as we work to advance energy efficiency, building decarbonization, and electrification in affordable housing—ensuring low-income renters can equitably benefit from the clean energy transition.
This collaborative working group brings together:
🏡 Affordable housing organizations
🌱 Green building and energy efficiency experts
🤝 Community advocates and organizers
📋 Policy leaders from across the Midwest
Together, we explore and advance solutions that improve housing affordability, reduce energy burdens, and create healthier homes through equitable policies and programs.
Current and past topics include:
Affordable housing developer tax credits
Energy benchmarking for multifamily buildings
Building electrification
Energy efficiency programs
State and regional affordable housing policy opportunities
Whether you're an experienced practitioner or new to this work, we welcome your perspective and participation.
📧 Interested in joining?
Email Dana Gibson at gibson@midwestdecarb.org to get involved.
Together, we're building healthier, more affordable, and climate-resilient housing across the Midwest.
Policy Power Hour |
This month, we will ground ourselves in justice frameworks before revisiting what data centers are and why they’re growing so rapidly across the Midwest. We’ll examine how this expansion shapes grid stress, job creation, air quality, infrastructure, and long‑term community planning. Participants will leave equipped with tools to understand trade‑offs, ask informed questions, and advocate for upcoming state legislation, community‑centered protections for frontline communities, and health‑impact reparations.
Midwest BDC Health Working Group
📢 You're Invited! Midwest BDC Health Working Group
🗓 Wednesday, September 16th
🕐 1:00 p.m. ET
Healthy buildings create healthy communities.
Join the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition's monthly Health Working Group as we bring together public health professionals, healthcare leaders, researchers, community advocates, and policy experts to address the health impacts of fossil fuel combustion in buildings and advance healthier, more equitable indoor environments.
Together, we:
🏡 Advance healthy homes and buildings through policy and advocacy.
🌎 Explore the connections between indoor air quality, climate, and public health.
🤝 Build capacity through collaboration, education, and shared learning.
📢 Develop strategies that center health equity in building decarbonization.
Our recent work includes:
• A Health & Building Decarbonization Fact Sheet
• A presentation and Q&A with Stanford researcher Yannai Kashtan
• Public comments to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on the health impacts of gas stoves
• Additional resources supporting healthy building policies across the Midwest
Interested in joining the conversation?
📧 Contact Marnese Jackson at jackson@midwestdecarb.org to get involved.
Together, we can build healthier homes, cleaner air, and more resilient communities across the Midwest.
Advocacy Working Group | September
Join us for our Advocacy Working Group on the 3rd Tuesday and 2 pm EST
Midwest BDC Orientation + Coalition Building Training
Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition
New Member Orientation & Coalition Building Training
📅 Tuesday, August 18, 2026
🕛 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Get grounded in who we are, how we work, and how to get involved with the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition (Midwest BDC). This interactive New Member Orientation & Coalition Building Training introduces our mission, coalition structure, working groups, and the tools and resources available to members while exploring the principles of effective coalition building across the Midwest.
Required: Attendance at the New Member Orientation & Coalition Building Training and completion of the membership application are required before participating in Midwest BDC Working Group meetings.
Open to Everyone: Our Policy Power Hour and Advocacy & Equity trainings are open to the public and do not require membership.
Join us to connect with fellow advocates, organizers, housing leaders, public health professionals, and climate partners as we work together to advance equitable building decarbonization and climate justice across the Midwest.
Midwest BDC Training: Building Regenerative Coalitions: Power, Practice, and Culture
🌱 You're Invited!
Midwest BDC Training
Building Regenerative Coalitions: Power, Practice, and Culture
🗓 Thursday, August 27, 2026
🕛 12:00 p.m. ET (US & Canada)
Coalitions are how movements achieve what no single organization can accomplish alone.
Join the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition for an interactive training exploring what it takes to build strong, equitable, and lasting coalitions that drive meaningful change.
In this training, you'll:
🤝 Explore the history and purpose of coalition building.
🌿 Learn how White Supremacy Culture can undermine collaboration and collective power.
📊 Apply the Regenerative–Extractive–Performative (REP) Diagnostic Framework to assess and strengthen coalition practices.
💡 Gain practical tools to build trust, accountability, and resilient partnerships.
Whether you're an organizer, advocate, nonprofit leader, policymaker, or community member, this session will provide actionable strategies for creating coalitions rooted in justice, shared leadership, and long-term impact.
Together, we'll build the power, practice, and culture needed to transform our communities.
Midwest BDC Affordable Housing August Working Group
🏘️ You're Invited! Midwest BDC Affordable Housing Working Group
🗓 Tuesday, August 25, 2026
🕐 1:00 p.m. ET
Join the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition's monthly Affordable Housing Working Group as we work to advance energy efficiency, building decarbonization, and electrification in affordable housing—ensuring low-income renters can equitably benefit from the clean energy transition.
This collaborative working group brings together:
🏡 Affordable housing organizations
🌱 Green building and energy efficiency experts
🤝 Community advocates and organizers
📋 Policy leaders from across the Midwest
Together, we explore and advance solutions that improve housing affordability, reduce energy burdens, and create healthier homes through equitable policies and programs.
Current and past topics include:
Affordable housing developer tax credits
Energy benchmarking for multifamily buildings
Building electrification
Energy efficiency programs
State and regional affordable housing policy opportunities
Whether you're an experienced practitioner or new to this work, we welcome your perspective and participation.
📧 Interested in joining?
Email Dana Gibson at gibson@midwestdecarb.org to get involved.
Together, we're building healthier, more affordable, and climate-resilient housing across the Midwest.
Policy Power Hour: Grid Resilience, Energy Infrastructure & Data Center Impacts
Join Midwest BDC’s monthly Policy Power Hour
—a dynamic, one-hour session where coalition members unpack the latest legislative updates, regulatory shifts, and advocacy opportunities across the Midwest.
This Month’s topic:
GRID RESILIENCE & ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE
As electrification accelerates, the Midwest grid is under growing pressure.
This Policy Power Hour is designed to help members feel confident navigating complex energy issues—and to ensure our movement is prepared for the infrastructure challenges ahead.
Communities, utilities, and policymakers are all asking the same questions:
What does grid resilience actually mean in our region? Where are the gaps? And how should we plan for the infrastructure we’ll need?
This month, we’re building on that foundation. Together, we’ll examine how data centers, electric vehicles, and energy conversion technologies contribute to grid stress, and what that means for long‑term community planning. We’ll explore how these trends intersect with state‑level policy, utility decision‑making, and local advocacy efforts.
What Participants Will Gain
By the end of the session, participants will be equipped with tools to:
Understand the core components of grid resilience in the Midwest
Identify where grid vulnerabilities intersect with data center growth and EV adoption
Recognize how infrastructure decisions shape community outcomes
Spot policy windows and regulatory levers that can strengthen resilience
Connect these insights to ongoing campaigns and coalition strategy
Who Should Attend:
Residents, community leaders, local government staff, environmental justice advocates, and anyone interested in how digital infrastructure affects energy systems and community well‑being.
Midwest BDC August Advocacy Working Group
Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition
Advocacy Working Group
📅 Tuesday, August 18, 2026
🕑 2:00 p.m. ET
Join the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition's monthly Advocacy Working Group—a collaborative space where advocates, organizers, and coalition members come together to advance equitable building decarbonization through education, strategy, and collective action.
We believe advocacy should be accessible to everyone—whether you're influencing policy, sharing your lived experience, organizing your community, or building public support for climate justice.
This is more than a meeting—it's a virtual advocacy workshop.
Together, we'll:
Explore different forms of advocacy, including legislative, regulatory, narrative, and coalition-based strategies.
Learn how to engage in advocacy while remaining compliant with nonprofit lobbying guidelines.
Strengthen your advocacy skills through practical exercises, storytelling, and personalized coaching.
Connect with advocates from across the Midwest to build relationships, share resources, and coordinate regional action.
Interested in participating?
Email Edward Davis at davis@midwestdecarb.org to get involved.
Together, we can build the power needed to create healthier homes, stronger communities, and a more equitable clean energy future across the Midwest.
Midwest BDC Orientation + Coalition Building Training
Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition
New Member Orientation & Coalition Building Training
📅 Tuesday, August 18, 2026
🕛 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Get grounded in who we are, how we work, and how to get involved with the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition (Midwest BDC). This interactive New Member Orientation & Coalition Building Training introduces our mission, coalition structure, working groups, and the tools and resources available to members while exploring the principles of effective coalition building across the Midwest.
Required: Attendance at the New Member Orientation & Coalition Building Training and completion of the membership application are required before participating in Midwest BDC Working Group meetings.
Open to Everyone: Our Policy Power Hour and Advocacy & Equity trainings are open to the public and do not require membership.
Join us to connect with fellow advocates, organizers, housing leaders, public health professionals, and climate partners as we work together to advance equitable building decarbonization and climate justice across the Midwest.
August Monthly Coalition Meeting
Monthly Orientation and Monthly Meeting
Get grounded in who we are, how we work, and how to plug into the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition. This session covers our mission, structure, working groups, and the tools available to members. Required: You must attend an orientation and complete the membership application before joining our working group meetings
Midwest BDC Data Center Strategy: Aligning Grasstops & Grassroots Power
This interactive strategy workshop brings together organizers, advocates, and partners from across the Midwest to examine how communities are responding to data center expansion — and what tactics are proving effective at the state level. Participants are encouraged to come prepared to share what they and their allies are doing to push back on harmful data center proposals, elevate community concerns, and shape policy conversations. Together, we’ll map the distinct roles of grasstops and grassroots actors, identify where each holds power, and explore how those strengths can be leveraged in coordinated campaigns. Through collaborative discussion and real‑world examples, we’ll clarify why our movement operates the way it does, how influence flows across sectors, and what strategic opportunities exist to protect Midwestern communities from extractive data center development.
Affordable Housing Working Group
The Affordable Housing WG works to advance energy efficiency, decarbonization, and electrification in affordable housing programs so low-income renters are able to equitably benefit from the clean energy transition.
Working group membership features a mix of green building experts, affordable housing non-profits, and community advocates in Midwest BDC states. Past and on-going topics include affordable housing developer tax credits and energy benchmarking of multi-family buildings.
Canva Basics: Digital Design for Climate Justice 102
Intermediate Canva training for climate justice campaigns. Learn advanced layouts, branded templates, and movement‑aligned visuals that elevate Midwest decarb stories.
Advocacy Working Group | July
Join us for our Advocacy Working Group on the 3rd Tuesday and 2 pm EST
Coalition Orientation and Coalition Building 101
UPCOMING ORIENTATION
Orientation | July — Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition
Curious about building decarbonization? Want to see what an equitable, coalition-led method of organizing looks like? Join our monthly Midwest BDC Orientation meeting. Attending this orientation is the first step in getting more deeply involved with the Coalition and becoming a member
Policy Power Hour | ENERGY JUSTICE & DATA CENTERS-
This month, we will ground ourselves in justice frameworks before revisiting what data centers are and why they’re growing so rapidly across the Midwest. We’ll examine how this expansion shapes grid stress, job creation, air quality, infrastructure, and long‑term community planning. Participants will leave equipped with tools to understand trade‑offs, ask informed questions, and advocate for upcoming state legislation, community‑centered protections for frontline communities, and health‑impact reparations.