Electric Black Futures will support and empower underserved Black communities in Albany, Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, to envision and create their own electric mobility future.
Madeleine Collins and Stan Cross | May 21, 2024
| Clean transportation, black electric futures, electric vehicles, energy justice, Georgia
in October 2023The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), along with our partners EVNoire and Clean Cities Georgia, has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Vehicle Technologies. Extensive funding opportunity for the programme Titled Promoting equitable access to electric vehicles, infrastructure, and jobs in underserved communities in Georgia.
Black Electric Futures and African Futures
We have named this project Black Electric Futures (EBF), and they use very intentional and forward-looking thinking African Futurism A framework for creating a culturally relevant future methodology centered around the lived experiences of Black people in technological innovation. Our project aims to ensure underserved Black communities in three Georgia cities – Albany, Atlanta, and Savannah – are actively engaged and empowered to create and deploy equitable and accessible electric mobility initiatives and access the jobs that the transition to electric transportation brings to Georgia. Our goals over the next three years include:
- Leverage research and community engagement to co-create community-focused electric mobility plans that connect Black communities to federal funding and clean energy jobs and address disproportionate environmental and transportation burdens that impact the social and economic well-being of Black communities
- Empowering Electric Mobility Coalitions to Build the Future in Black Communities To envision and lead the future of electric mobility using Afrofuturism to center Black lived experiences in technological innovation
- Address workforce underrepresentation of Black workers and thinkers in the clean energy workforce and create pathways to upward mobility and economic empowerment through green jobs and entrepreneurship
EBF will leverage community-based participatory research and authentic community engagement to identify and understand community needs and priorities, develop community-focused strategic plans, and empower community voices to ensure electric mobility investments from federal programs like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) deliver what you need Communities want it.
Laying the foundation
Over the past six months, the project team has been meeting with stakeholders in Albany, Atlanta and Savannah to recruit representative partners, including grassroots organizations such as Soyga height And Black Sustainability Companyanchor institutions such as United Way of Southwest GeorgiaAnd communications partner Sub-studios. Our team continues to meet with community organizations in Albany, Atlanta, and Savannah to recruit more partners and participants before launching the formative research phase of the project in June, which will include community surveys and focus groups. EBF will create community advisory boards for local partners to help lead engagement with underserved Black communities in cities. The quantitative and qualitative data collected during this phase will in turn enhance community engagement throughout the project.
Watch the webinar: Building our equitable e-mobility future
Last week, the project team and EBF partner Clouds in Georgia Hosted by the 2024 Climate Solutions webinar series Building Our Equitable Future for e-Mobility. The webinar included a panel discussion moderated by SACE Electric Transportation Director Stan Cross, with SACE Electric Transportation Equity Director Madeline Collins, EVNoire Co-Founder and Managing Partner Dr. Shelley Francis, and Georgia Clean Cities Program Director Sumner Pomeroy. The panel discussion introduced the audience to the EBF approach and further discussed our goals.
Looking towards next steps
In addition to developing strategic plans and identifying funding pathways for the electric mobility project, the project will also engage education partners, including the Georgia Technical Community College System and local historically black colleges and universities, to identify job skills gaps and ensure communities have access to the job training needed to participate in the sector. The state’s thriving electric transportation. The success of the EBF will help inform and achieve the goals of the Equity 40 Initiative, through which the Biden Administration seeks to deliver 40% of the benefits from national clean energy and climate investments to disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted by environmental, social, and economic challenges.
As we move forward, Electric Black Futures will benefit from our ongoing research and what we hear from authentic community voices. Therefore, we will constantly discover new electric mobility needs and priorities in society. The real-time learning is what makes this project so unique and exciting, and we look forward to seeing how EBF in Georgia will unfold over the next three years. Click on the webinar above to learn more.
To get involved and stay connected to the EBF, visit ElectricBlackFutures.org.
Electric Black Futures is part of SACE’s Electrify the South program, which promotes research, advocacy, and outreach to accelerate a just transition to electric transportation across the Southeast. Visit ElectrifytheSouth.org to learn more and connect with us.
