Delve into the Chihuahuan Desert Climate Fellowship, which was launched by El Paso's Office of Climate and Sustainability in 2024.This initiative recruits fellows from underserved communities to help develop the El Paso, Texas, region’s first Climate Action Plan. Learn how the city has woven career development opportunities into climate action planning, aligning workforce skills with sustainability goals and long-term resilience. El Paso has partnered with local workforce organizations and nonprofits to expose fellows to sustainability fields, local environmental justice issues, and essential skills such as public speaking, GIS analysis, and personal branding.
Explore the fellows' experiences, which range from leading neighborhood meetings to collaborating with grassroots health workers (promotores), gathering insights from colonias, and contributing to key technical milestones shaping the climate action plan. Learn about some of the fellows’ community projects that pilot climate action in their neighborhoods.
Leave with an understanding of the fellowship’s structure and resources — which is a replicable model, along with actionable strategies for integrating career development into planning processes, building local capacity for climate action implementation, and fostering more inclusive and effective community planning.
Learning Objectives:
Integrate career development opportunities into climate action planning, aligning workforce skills with sustainability goals.
Establish a fellowship program, educational syllabus, and facilitation materials that foster climate literacy and leadership and include strategies for making complex technical information accessible to a diverse audience.
Foster local advocacy by equipping youth with tools to engage in meaningful conversations about climate issues, and develop their ability to navigate diverse political and religious backgrounds and priorities.
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