Air District awards $3.5 million in second cycle of James Cary Smith Community Grant Program

Each organization will receive up to $300,000 over a three-year period. The program supports local leaders to implement strategies that build community capacity to improve air quality and advance public health in neighborhoods disproportionately burdened by air pollution.

Grantees will implement a wide range of capacity-building approaches — from multilingual air quality ambassador initiatives to a project-based learning program for diverse high school students. Examples of projects currently in progress include Breathe California of the Bay Area’s training for emerging leaders in environmental justice communities and Climate Action Pathways for Schools’ support for high school students to execute decarbonization and sustainability projects. The Air District prioritized funding for projects that benefit environmental justice communities and support long-term, community-driven solutions to local air quality challenges.

The 12 grantees for Cycle 2 include:

• All Positives Possible – “Air Guardians Outreach Project", Vallejo
• Breathe California of the Bay Area – “Building Capacity and Equity for Clean Air and Healthy Lungs”, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties
• Brightline Defense Project – “Our Community, Our Air Program”, Eastern San Francisco
• California Interfaith Power & Light - Faith-Led: “Building Resilient Communities for Clean Air and Climate Action”, Alameda, San Mateo, and/or Santa Clara Counties
• Citizen Air Monitoring Network – “Clean Air Ambassador Program for Carquinez Strait Communities”, Vallejo, Crockett, and Rodeo
• Climate Action Pathways for Schools – “Empowering Student-Led Climate Action Pathways in Morgan Hill’s Schools & Fostering Authentic Participation by the City’s Environmental Justice Communities”, Morgan Hill
• El Concilio of San Mateo County – “Climate Ready Ambassadors: Construyendo promotores del medio ambiente (Building Environmental Promotores)”, North Fair Oaks/Redwood City, North Central San Mateo, North County
• La Clínica de La Raza – “Air Quality Community Advocates Project”, Pittsburg/Bay Point, Vallejo
• Multicultural Center of Marin – “Building Community Leadership”, Canal Neighborhood of San Rafael
• People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights, or PODER - “Bicis del Pueblo/Bikes for the People – Building Skills, Advancing Environmental Justice”, Mission and Outer Mission/ Excelsior Neighborhoods, San Francisco
• San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility – “Building Capacity to Secure Equity and Justice in Residential Electrification”, San Francisco
• Urban Habitat – “Building the Capacity of Rising Juntos’ members to engage in climate and air quality processes”, Pittsburg/Bay Point

The James Cary Smith Community Grant Program is a key component of the Air District’s strategic plan, aligning with efforts to reimagine funding programs designed to better serve pollution-burdened communities and build more inclusive partnerships with community leaders.

The refocused grant program launched in 2022 to strengthen the Air District’s partnerships with communities most affected by air pollution. Cycle 1 of the program awarded $6.4 million to 33 organizations over three years. For more information on the James Cary Smith Community Grant Program, visit www.baaqmd.gov/communitygrants.

View press release(213 Kb PDF, 2 pgs, posted 29/07/2025).