The CLEO Institute Inc - GuideStar Profile (2024)

Goal 1: Make climate a top voting priority in Florida. In order for us to achieve our mission, we need to build an informed community that will demand climate action.

Goal 2: Broaden & scale youth participation in climate movement by allocating additional resources to educate & engage middle/high school & college-aged youth on climate change causes, impacts, & policies.

Goal 3: Collaborate with regional partners with particular emphasis on institutions, utility companies, corporations, and governments to do more on climate policy.

CLEOs diverse team lives and works in the communities it serves; staff is fluent in six local languages. CLEO addresses the intersectionalities of climate issues and social justice by illuminating often-overlooked factors in local climate policy such as marginalization, redlining, and resource exploitation. CLEOs bottom-up and top-down approach bridges the gap between communities, local government, and academia, ensuring community voices are included in climate research and decision-making to foster a more equitable climate response.

CLEOs community programs inspire action, improve climate literacy, build community resilience, and promote equity in climate policy with the aim of shaping a sustainable and secure future for all. Through listening sessions, town halls, advocacy, and programming, CLEO prioritizes the experiences of those most affected by the climate crisis, placing their needs at the forefront of climate policy reform. These efforts have brought residents and decision-makers together, resulting in community-driven solutions that address environmental disparities experienced by low-income residents of color.

CLEO believes that community members should be positioned as experts and that their lived experiences are vital to informing decision-making; this belief begins with our staff. CLEOs staff consists of scientists, K-12 and college educators, social justice and equity professionals, and community organizers, several of whom have public health backgrounds, and all of whom hold steadfast to CLEOs mission and values. Additionally, all of our staff live and work in the communities we serve, with several members having been recruited directly from the communities we serve, and others who are past CLEO program participants.

Additionally, CLEO is viewed by regional governments, organizations, and academic institutions as the go-to credible source for vetted climate science, community justice, and outreach expertise, allowing us to serve in an advisory capacity on initiatives such as climate and health, education, energy justice, and mitigation/adaptation. The deep community relationships weve built in Florida position us as an ally and convener who brings marginalized voices to the forefront of local climate planning and policy development.

CLEOs 13-year track record providing community outreach and climate education includes listening sessions, climate workshops, and town halls; we began these efforts in underserved neighborhoods in Miami, such as Little River, Liberty City, Little Haiti, and Overtown, and have since expanded our reach across the state. In 2023, we reached 18,000 residents across Florida with science-based information through workshops and trainings.

Our recent advocacy work to push for protections for South Floridians from rising temperatures resulted in Florida Power & Light (FPL) changing its policy for disconnecting customers with overdue bills during heat waves. Now, FPL will avoid shutoffs whenever its hotter than 95 degrees outside or if the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory.

In 2022-23, CLEO worked with the City of Tampa to develop their Climate Action & Equity Plan, ensuring vulnerable communities were at the center of planning conversations. The plan was unveiled in June 2023.

Additionally, CLEO trained over 2,000 Students through in-classroom trainings, reached more than 800 teachers, and trained 95 people to be CLEO Climate Speakers.

CLEO also engaged 260 Elected Officials through over 40 advocacy events across Florida and nationwide.