REAP Strategy and Fundraising Webinar
Executive director Jonathan DeLong gives an overview of REAP’s strategy for impact, and what we need to make that happen. See how REAP continues to provide service in the face of current challenges!
In the News:
REAP & Partners Granted $530K Workforce Grant
While we talk about our goals, it’s important to talk about our progress towards them!
REAP, in partnership with Greenbelt Alliance and Pacific Coast Community Services, has secured a $530K grant to expand our Regenerative Job Pathways. Learn from the Alameda Post how this funding supports training in sustainable fields!
The Big Picture
At the highest level, the REAP Climate Center envisions a world where all human-built systems align with nature.
We provide the tools and trades for communities to grow Earth-conscious Industries.
Premise & Problems
A Healthy Climate Starts with Good Jobs
Climate Risk is Business Risk; Climate Mitigation is Opportunity
Workforce and Industry Gaps Threaten Community Resilience
Green Infrastructure & Innovation Provide Jobs
Embracing Natural Systems
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REAP By the Numbers
4.5 Years Operational
$2.5M Raised
6 Employees
32 Work Experience Staff
4.2 Acre Campus 40% Developed
Engagement
6,500 People Campus Visitors Engaged
6 Community Lead Projects Completed
500 People Served in Curated Experiences
60 Events Held
Many More Currently Scheduled
Workforce Development
125 Clients Certified
7 Classes Filled
4 Labs funded
Workforce Clients
While REAP has something for EVERYONE, currently our job training programs are for vulnerable populations, including veterans, seniors, people with disabilities and special needs, and disinvested communities.
Solving for climate starts by helping solve for people’s core needs.
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Total Goal: $13,100,000 (over 2-years)
Funded by a combination of grants, gifts, pro bono services, earned revenue, and debt financing.
1. Operations & General Capacity: $2.4M
Critical basics
Community presence
360 graduates in existing curriculum
48 workshops & events
2000 volunteers & team building participants
Municipal & regional initiative support
Note: capacity funding decreases if all other programs below are fully funded.
2. Purchase Campus & Building + Improvements: $8.4M
"Place-based security is a high priority for the vulnerable communities that we serve"
Secure long-term land and facility control. Finalize site purchase, ADA update 11,000 sq/ft HQ, and scale regenerative labs.
5.6 Acres Land + Infrastructure
Ag Facilities
9 Regenerative 'Damp' Labs
1.5 MakerSpace + FabLabs
12K+ Sq/ft Co-working & Offices
Home for 3rd party mission-aligned nonprofits
3. Regenerative Jobs Programs: $1.1M
Train 100+ participants in 8 regenerative disciplines with employer-linked pathways, stipends, and wraparound services.
Complete sector analysis and four new curriculum
100 Participants
$115K in trainee stipends
16 Employer pathways
Accredited Certificates:
Biochar Technology
Fungi-Based Bioremediation
Vermiculture Practices
Compost Operation
Urban Farming
Pollinator Support Practices
Fermentation Certificate
Hydrology & Transpiration
4. AgTech Accelerator & Community Fund: $1.2M
Launch 12 community-rooted startups with non-dilutive funding, founder support, and regional market access.
12 AgTech Startups
$216K Non-Dilutive Seed Funding
45+ High Road Jobs
For financing breakdown, please see financing graphic below.
Note: previous $20M submitted in federal grants no longer viable
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Jonathan DeLong (Executive Director)
Serves on the Alameda County Workforce Development Board
Member of EPA & US Navy Restoration Advisory Board for the former Naval Air Station at Alameda Point
Active contributor to the Alameda Urban Forestry Planning Group
Member of Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Group for the Oakland/Alameda Estuary and San Leandro Bay
Impact & Workforce Advisor to the Alameda Chamber of Commerce
Biodiversity facilitator at the 2024 MIT Sustainability Summit
Gave a 2023 TED Talk about "The Power of Soil for Climate, Community, and Course Correction"
Certification - UC Berkeley School of Law: Sustainable Capitalism for Directors
Certification - Harvard Business School: Sustainable Business Strategies
Certification - Wharton: M&A and Corporate Development Strategies
Experience in Design Science and Systems Thinking from the Buckminster Fuller Institute
Soil Advocacy Training from the Kiss the Ground organization
30 years of experience ranging from startups to Fortune 50s
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Alameda County Workforce Development Board for Green Jobs (Supervisor Appointed)
EPA & US Navy Restoration Advisory Board for the former Naval Air Station at Alameda Point
Alameda Urban Forestry Planning Group
Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Group for the Oakland/Alameda Estuary and San Leandro Bay
Alameda Chamber - Special Advisor: Impact and Workforce Development
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During a casual interview recently, our executive director was asked: What do you see for REAP and our species over the next 20 years?
“At a super high level for our species, I see the dispelling of the myths of externalities in both capital markets and regenerative systems.
I am wildly curious about what quantum computing and AI will reveal about the interconnectedness of all things. I’m even more curious about what we will choose to do with that knowledge.
The planet is always working towards optimization, independent of if we are to persist as a species.
The resilience that regenerative work can provide at a community level rolls up into the optimization of earth systems in our favor. It is truly a wild time to be alive.
I can fairly confidently say that most of the people we serve through our job programs are not focused on such things. And that is OK. System alignment is part of systems change. The way I look at it is we are helping steer people into a new framework while helping them realize value in the existing one.
At the low end, we’ve taught people how to grow a thing, build a thing, fix a thing. At the high end, we are creating closed loops with co-benefits that can regenerate across adjacent industries.
This is what I see for the next 20 years. Some of it will be incredibly painful. Much of it will be beautiful. Time will tell.
Just some food for thought while on top of a tractor.
Last year, I had the honor of being a biodiversity facilitator for the MIT sustainability summit, working with some global leaders and modeling scenarios for the Amazon. It was a lot of fun. My constant realization in this work is that we have so many levers yet to pull.”
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Short-term Goals
Buy land
Expand all programs
Engage next round of 5,000 people
Regenerate as much land as possible under the premise that "Nature is Infrastructure"
Long-term Goals
Open or support 400 similar bioregional centers
Cultivate and incubate businesses and communities that align with this mission
Tip the scale in favor of biodiversity and global resilience
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