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 – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

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 – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

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 – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

Know before you go!

The Inflation Reduction Act's Home Energy Rebate Programs include 8.8 billion dollars for energy efficiency rebates. States have until January 2025 to apply for funding from the national Department of Energy, and states are required to hold public input hearings to inform their applications. We held a version of this training in June 2024, and as states continue to announce their public input session dates, we’ll be holding it live again.

This interactive workshop will prepare you to attend these public input hearings and advocate for accessible and equitable rebate programs. We will be walking through how to craft your input, confidently relay your message, and what you can expect at the hearing.

Ahead of the training, print out our talking points document and check the status of your state on our HER Advocacy Hub. We will be taking notes so that once it's time for you to attend the public hearing, you'll be prepared, confident, and ready to go!

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 – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

Women in energy matter! This webinar will discuss the difference between EcoFeminism and EcoWomanism and how both theories can be applied to our current fight for access to clean energy options. We will also look at the intersectionality framework, and expand on how it is useful in working towards equitable building decarbonization.

Join Midwest BDC's Director of Grants and Development, Edward Davis II, for this informational webinar on our regrating program. Eddie will walk through the program goals and application, and answer any questions folks may have.

Curious about building decarbonization? Want to see what an equitable, coalition-led method of organizing looks like? Join our monthly Midwest Orientation meeting. Attending this orientation is the first step in getting more deeply involved with the Coalition and becoming a member – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

Curious about building decarbonization? Want to see what an equitable, coalition-led method of organizing looks like? Join our monthly Midwest Orientation meeting. Attending this orientation is the first step in getting more deeply involved with the Coalition and becoming a member – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

Know before you go!

The Inflation Reduction Act's Home Energy Rebate Programs include 8.8 billion dollars for energy efficiency rebates. States have until January 2025 to apply for funding from the national Department of Energy, and states are required to hold public input hearings to inform their applications. We held a version of this training in January 2024, and as states continue to announce their public input session dates, we’ll be holding it live again.

This interactive workshop will prepare you to attend these public input hearings and advocate for accessible and equitable rebate programs. We will be walking through how to craft your input, confidently relay your message, and what you can expect at the hearing.

Ahead of the training, print out our talking points document. We will be taking notes so that once it's time for you to attend the public hearing, you'll be prepared, confident, and ready to go!

Have you wondered what a Public Utility Commission is, what it does, and why it matters for building decarbonization efforts? Join Tanya Paslawski, founder of Elevated Engagement, to learn these basics and ways that you can get involved and be heard.

Tanya Paslawski is the founder and principal of Elevated Engagement.

She is an attorney and energy industry veteran with over 20 years of experience in regulatory policy analysis, development, and advocacy. She served in a variety of leadership roles in the public and private sector on state and federal policy issues and was appointed by Michigan Governor Whitmer to the Michigan Council on Climate Solutions and the Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force.

Tanya is co-founder and facilitator for Advancing White Anti-Racist Education (AWARE), providing training and supported conversations on systemic inequities and tools for change. She was also the lead author of State Energy Justice Roundtable Series: Participation in Decision Making, a publication of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

She has a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law with a concentration in environmental and natural resource law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Oakland University. She is licensed to practice law in Michigan. Tanya is also a certified meditation instructor.

How is decarbonization different from efficiency? Why are Midwestern buildings so important? What’s all this about electrification? Join Jacob Serfling, Midwest BDC's Director of Building Decarbonization Policy and Projects, for this overview of Building Decarbonization, and why it’s so critical to do well and to do equitably.

Kamau Jawara of We the People of Detroit will be leading us in this Energy Justice 101 training! Learn where your energy comes from and how you can stay informed and involved in the work your utility company is doing.

Kamau is a politocultural organizer from Detroit’s east side with passions for community and storytelling. Kamau uses political education & cultural strategy to support concentrations of Energy Justice, Leadership Development, & Co-Governance. In order to build SEMIsaic, our unified dream of organized residents of Southeast Michigan, we must be persistently curious and care for each other. That is to say, movement must start with developing the power & solidarity of Black Detroiters.

More affordable housing is needed across the midwest, and federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) are one tool to help get it built, but are they also effectively reducing energy burden and facilitating a just transition?

Join Jacob Serfling, Director of Building Decarbonization Policy and Projects, for this training on advocating for the construction of affordable, energy-efficient, and decarbonized housing. We will learn how states decide which projects will receive these powerful financial incentives and how it impacts the way developers approach affordable housing projects. Finally, we'll draw on recent efforts by the Midwest BDC Affordable Housing working group to learn how you can engage with and influence this process.

Join two of the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition’s staff for this training on all things Coalition Building and Communications. Executive Director Marnese Jackson and Communications and Digital Marketing Manager Maggie Heiser are teaming up to share their strategies for building community in coalition spaces, and using communications tactics to promote the work being done.

Marnese will share how we approach working in a diverse Coalition and the benefits of working together in this way. Then, Maggie will provide communication resources that anyone can utilize when sharing their work.

Curious about building decarbonization? Want to see what an equitable, coalition-led method of organizing looks like? Join our monthly Midwest Orientation meeting. Attending this orientation is the first step in getting more deeply involved with the Coalition and becoming a member – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

To different degrees, every community is feeling and witnessing the negative impacts of climate change. Whether the chronic stress of living near a polluting facility, the acute stress and trauma of navigating adverse weather events or man-made disasters, or the secondary trauma of witnessing catastrophes through the media, everyone's mental health is negatively impacted by climate injustices. How do we talk about and give language to these experiences? What are the benefits if we do - or the costs if we don't - talk about mental health and climate change? In this session, we'll explore these questions as we start with what we know about climate distress and psychology to what actions and practices we can take to care for ourselves and our communities. 

Bailey Fullwiler (She/Her/Hers) is a Regional Organizer for The Climate Reality Project, supporting local petrochemical campaign work in her home state of Ohio. Bailey has a background in social work and supporting communities in the mental health impacts of climate injustice and environmental trauma. In her consulting, Bailey researches ecological grief and partners with environmental groups throughout the Midwest to tend to trauma and build resilience in the climate movement. Outside of her roles, Bailey is a trauma-informed yoga instructor who teaches with the nonprofit Queer Behavior and in local halfway houses. 

Join Emma Hines (RMI), our Midwest BDC Health Working Group Leader, for this training webinar. We’ll cover the health and air quality risks of burning fossil fuels in our buildings, and the benefits of decarbonizing. In particular, Emma will do a deeper dive into gas stoves and kitchen electrification.

This will be a great training for folks interested in using health messaging in decarbonization efforts across the Midwest.

Curious about building decarbonization? Want to see what an equitable, coalition-led method of organizing looks like? Join our monthly Midwest Orientation meeting. Attending this orientation is the first step in getting more deeply involved with the Coalition and becoming a member – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

Join Marnese Jackson of the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition for a training webinar on the principles of energy and utility justice! Marnese will lay out the history of these movements, their real-life impact, and how we can successfully engage and get involved as advocates.

This will be a great training for folks interested in holding utilities accountable, energy democracy, and social, economic, and racial justice movements.

Curious about building decarbonization? Want to see what an equitable, coalition-led method of organizing looks like? Join our monthly Midwest Orientation meeting. Attending this orientation is the first step in getting more deeply involved with the Coalition and becoming a member – we hope to see you there!

Expect to meet some of our staff, learn about our working groups, meeting schedules, membership, and how you can plug in with our work.

Join Jacob Serfling of the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition for this training. At "Building Decarbonization 101," Jacob explains what decarbonization is, why it's important, and why our coalition focuses on Midwestern buildings.

In this "102" training, he takes participants on a deeper dive into just how we can achieve our decarbonization goals, and why it's so important to honor principles of equity and justice along the way.

Know before you go!

The Inflation Reduction Act's Home Energy Rebate Programs include 8.8 billion dollars for energy efficiency rebates. States have until January 2025 to apply for funding from the national Department of Energy, and states are required to hold public input hearings to inform their applications.

This interactive workshop will prepare you to attend these public input hearings and advocate for accessible and equitable rebate programs. We will be walking through how to craft your input, confidently relay your message, and what you can expect at the hearing.

Ahead of the training, print out our talking points document. We will be taking notes so that once it's time for you to attend the public hearing, you'll be prepared, confident, and ready to go!