This document summarizes the key findings from a listening tour and survey of environmental nonprofit organizations in Stockton, California. It finds that the organizations have a shared focus on environmental justice and equity issues, with many working directly in underserved communities. Their programs include advocacy, education, community gardening, and youth leadership development. The report highlights how the organizations build trust in the communities they serve and the strengths and needs identified, such as relationship building, fundraising, and policy expertise. It concludes by envisioning increased collaboration between organizations and community involvement to better address local climate and equity issues.

1. 2021
Listening
Tour Report

2. Thank you Rise Stockton Partners for participating in both the
listening tour and follow-up survey. Without your continued
dedication to promoting justice and equity the environmental
justice landscape in Stockton would not be where it is today. Your
work is vital and your presence is a keystone in our community.
Acknowledgments
Rise Stockton is an independent coalition of partners focused on
environmental justice. We are determined to build our collective
capacity as we create equitable environmental outcomes greater than
the sum of each partner’s ability. Rise Stockton plays a steering role to
ensure that the environmental justice and green economy work in the
community is aligned with its residents values and priorities.
Functionally, Rise Stockton’s work includes aligning the programs of
various partners, advocating for policy that supports partners’ work,
and sourcing and directing funding to partners where appropriate.
About Rise Stockton

3. WHY DOES THIS REPORT MATTER?
THE STOCKTON NONPROFIT LANDSCAPE AT A GLANCE
SETTING THE STAGE
ORGANIZATION STRENGTHS/CAPACITY NEEDS
COMMUNITY AND EQUITY
ORGANIZATION PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS
INSPIRING THE NEXT WAVE OF CLIMATE ACTION
WHAT ORGANIZATIONS HOPE THEIR FELLOWS GAIN
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
RISE STOCKTON
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4. RISE STOCKTON PAGE 1
The information in this report highlights
the important work of several nonprofit
organizations within Stockton communities
to combat the negative effects of
environmental degradation and
environmental injustice. They work to
create a more just and equitable
community where everyone has a voice at
the table. When asked about their hope for
the future of climate work in Stockton, one
stated,
“We hope that the environmental justice
community looks like the community it
belongs to: led by youth and people of
color.”
This report and data will provide context
for the work nonprofits are doing in
Stockton to encourage people to become
involved with the work taking place.
Additionally, it will help foster
collaboration between organizations by
providing examples of organization
projects and strengths. This report will
also highlight the importance of
organizations’ in-house fellowships,
internship programs, as well as the Climate
Action Corps.
Local Stockton, San Joaquin County, and Central Valley nonprofits were asked
to participate in a listening tour during spring 2021. Shortly after the last
interview, a follow-up survey was sent out to collect additional data. The data
collected from the follow up survey is highlighted in the forthcoming
infographics and provide additional testimonials that better tell the story of the
environmentally-focused nonprofit landscape in Stockton.
WHY DOES THIS
REPORT MATTER?

5. Stockton
43.5%
San Joaquin County
30.4%
Regional
21.7%
Sate-Wide
4.3%
0 5 10 15
Community Outreach
Environmental Restoration
Political Advocacy
Air/Water Quality Monitoring
Urban Greening
Community Gardens
Energy/Water Efficiency
Youth-Led Projects
10 or less
46.2%
21-50
30.8%
11-20
23.1%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Environmental Justice
Economic Development
Social Justice
Civic Engagement
Energy/Water
Education
Health
Youth Programs
Urban Greening
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 2
The Stockton
nonprofit landscape
at a glance
Staffing Numbers
Primary Service Locations
Direct Action Projects
Focus Areas

6. Located in San Joaquin County, California, Stockton is home to over 300,000
people. Stockton has been recognized as one of the most diverse cities in
America, with significant Hispanic (42.7%), Asian-American (21.5%), and
African-American (11.5%) populations. With access to an inland port on
California's Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and surrounded by some of
the most fertile farmland in the country, Stockton was uniquely positioned for
prosperity.
In the early 20th century, the city was one of the cultural hubs of the United
States. However, urban renewal and the New Deal wiped out many cultural
landmarks, including Historic Little Manila. The environmental and social
degradation these construction efforts placed on the communities of south
Stockton remains today in the form of higher temperatures, noise, air and
water pollution, a lack of access to healthy and affordable food,
concentrated poverty, and a lack of affordable housing.
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 3
SETTING THE STAGE
EJ author, Robert D Bullard, describes Environmental Justice as “the
disproportionate exposure certain communities have to pollution, and its
effects on health and the environment, as well as unequal environmental
protection and quality provided through laws, regulations, governmental
programs, enforcement, and policies.” Unfortunately, these are typically
communities of color and lower socioeconomic status. This is the case in San
Joaquin County as displayed by the graph below.

7. LISTENING TOUR
KEY FINDINGS

8. Fundraising
36%
Outreach
36%
Operations (Mission/Strategy Support)
16%
Human Resources
8%
Website Development
4%
Organization
Capacity Needs
Designing policy and scientific reports to be more accessible
Experience with policy at all levels
Sourcing ideas from a wide variety of audiences
Placing communities first
Community engagement
Community-based research
Trusted in the community
Investing time in relationship building
Participating in direct service in the community
Learning how to be a steward from different cultures
Building relationships with government entities
Organization
Strengths
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 5

9. COMMUNITY
AND EQUITY
Equity is important because for so long,
marginalized communities have borne the brunt
of environmental impacts due to systemic social
inequalities, including poor air quality, lack of
dependable/affordable energy, no access to
clean water, or inaccessible fresh produce.
Organizations doing community based work must
strike a balance between their work/mission and
the wants/needs of the community members.
Through this listening tour, it was discovered
that these organizations address equity and
elevate the voices of their communities in a
variety of ways. Those methods and values are
captured in the list below.
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 6
Serving only in communities where
they are needed
Individual case management of
participants in their programs
A “been there done that model”
where those who have experienced
the injustice are advocates.
Using testimonies from community
members when speaking to decision
makers
Encouraging youth to share their
lived experiences
Building youth power and
confidence
Providing community members
pathways to work in their
communities
Utilizing intentional outreach
Printing literature in different
languages for broader access
Sending literature about the work to
communities that need the information
the most
Bridging the gap between communities
and institutional powers
Giving people tools to enter places of
power
Leveraging climate policy to benefit
the communities
Advocating for progressive policy
change
Working in both a short and long term
time scale
Educating community members on
environmental issues and how they
affect their lives

10. Organization
Programs/Projects
"Stop the tunnels" campaign
Social Justice/Environmental Justice Advocacy
Speaking at various water board meetings
Stockton Environmental Justice Campaigns, primarily
concerning harmful algal blooms)
Beginning to work with the port
restorethedelta.org
Community choice energy
Outreach to cities to let them know that
CCE is available
Advocating for policy that will help create
resilient communities
Climate Safe California campaign
theclimatecenter.org
Launching their “Climate careers” program
Phone banking
Providing water quality testing kits to
community members
TCC funded projects, water appliance
efficiency upgrades, a stipended youth
apprentice program
risingsunopp.org
Designing and advocating for progressive racial
justice policies in California
Conducting educational outreach workshops
Developing community vision and fundraising
Bridging the gap between structural and local
entities
Increasing capacity of under-resourced
communities
greenlining.org
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 7

11. Stockton's TCC award will give GRID the
ability to serve people with roofs not
yet ready for solar installation
Providing electric vehicle chargers to
family homes
More job training programs - Clean Cars
4 All
gridalternatives.org
Teaching youth about the
Sustainable Neighborhood Plan,
the revitalization efforts taking
place downtown, and harmful algal
blooms
"Story of Now" and youth member
legacy projects
Exposing youth to EJ issues
changeist.org
Housing justice coalition
Parks activation projects
Community trust building
Public safety work
Workforce development
rsscoalition.org
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 8
Organization
Programs/Projects
Advocates for clean air policy
Advocates for the best clean air practices
Involved in the planning process with San Joaquin
Valley Air Pollution Control District to develop
ways to clean up pollutants in the air
Involved with AB617 work
Community Air Protection Program
calcleanair.org

12. Edict Internship
Demonstration Projects
Equity & Access Projects
Sighten - A solar design software partnered with
GRID to install solar on homes of low-income
families in the Bay area and train GRID staff on the
use of software to install solar more efficiently.
Trove, a circular economy startup built in equitable
hiring, training, and workforce development
partnership into their people operations process.
elementalexcelerator.com
Advocates for AB 617, SB 467, and AB 1087
Implementation of the Healthy Neighborhoods
Collaborative
Providing people with resources and information
about how to switch to solar, concerns about
fracking, and nature journaling
Developed audience-specific environmental justice
toolkits in both English and Spanish
ejstockton.org
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 9
Organization
Programs/Projects
Cal EPA Environmental Justice Grant
Building youth EJ leaders
Community based environmental testing
Developing green job opportunities
TCC Grant, Tree planting in south Stockton
Healthy retail in corner stores

13. In September 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom launched the California
Climate Action Corps (CCAC).The according to the CCAC website the
goal of CCAC is to “inspire people to serve and to take action against
the impacts of climate change”. CCAC launched a seven month pilot
program from February to August 2021 in five cities across California,
including Redlands, Los Angeles, Fresno, Stockton, and San Jose.
Climate Action Corps Fellows work on a wide variety of projects under
larger umbrellas of Urban Greening, Wildfire Prevention/Preparedness,
and Food Security. Stockton’s CCAC pilot includes four organizations
hosting 1-4 fellows each, with hopes of bringing more host sites into the
program in the coming years. In addition to Climate Action Corps
fellows, many of the community based organizations in Stockton have
their own internship, fellowship, Conservation Corps or AmeriCorps
programs. Program participants support these organizations in a variety
of projects, including water quality testing, writing projects, social
media management, outreach, and data analysis. In the listening tour,
organizations were asked what they hope fellows/interns/program
participants gain in their time spent with their host organization.
INSPIRING THE
NEXT WAVE OF
CLIMATE ACTION
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 10

14. Growth opportunities in areas/fields that they want
to explore
An awareness that systemic problems exist
Knowledge about tools to help overcome systemic
challenges
Experience that make them desirable to employers
after the fellowship
The chance to attend webinars and training
opportunities outside of the host organization
Networking opportunities
The chance to the things they learn and apply them
to life outside of their job
The drive and tools to advocate for justice/change
on their own accord
WHAT LOCAL
ORGANIZATIONS HOPE
THEIR FELLOWS GAIN
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 11

15. Continuing to build the momentum of the work already being done in Stockton
will take collaboration between a variety of different parties. From community
based organizations to local governments to community members. It will take
all of us working together on hard work worth doing to create a more
equitable and climate-focused Stockton. When presented with the question
“What do you envision the future of climate action to look like in Stockton?” a
community organization responded:
“We hope to continue to see community involvement with each
organization to better align our projects with the community needs. I
would love to also see different organizations working together to improve
processes and reach more people.”
If you’re interested in participating or learning more about the incredible work
going on in Stockton, check out some of the resources below.
californiavolunteers.ca.gov/climateactioncorps/
risestockton.org
stocktonservicecorps.org
volunteermatch.org
house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
RISE STOCKTON PAGE 12
LOOKING
TO THE FUTURE