Selected Projects

Equnival Partners specializes in bringing together communities, companies, government entities, and nonprofit groups to tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time. Our mission is to foster collaboration, identify common ground, and pave the way for innovative, just, and equitable solutions that create thriving, sustainable communities for all.

Current Equnival Efforts

  • Equnival Partners is supporting the efforts of the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) to launch its Building Electrification Initiative, providing technical and policy support to states as they explore options to reduce harmful emissions from the buildings sector. Establishes and facilitates the Environmental Justice Advisory Group to guide the work of the Initiative and manages input from the Advisory Group and broader environmental justice community to the Initiative.

  • Equnival Partners is leading dialogue between state energy offices and community organizations to ensure that offshore wind development proceeds in an equitable and just manner, and that its multiple benefits extend to frontline communities and to low- to moderate-income households. Facilitating ongoing meetings in 2023 and 2024 with state energy officials and frontline organizations and justice and equity advocates, with expected policy recommendations to state regulators on offshore wind development practices expected by December 2024. 

  • During the first half of 2025, Equnival worked with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) to review and revise its Environmental Justice Toolkit. The Toolkit was originally produced in 2017 to provide a guide for local governments in the Washington DC metro area to incorporate justice and equity into their air quality, energy, and policy decision making processes. Equnival has conducted outreach to 40+ leaders and organizations to gain their perspectives on the Toolkit and have identified six recommendations for best practices for community engagement:  

    • Leverage Existing Community Networks 

    • Prioritize In-Person Communication 

    • Engage Early and Often 

    • Support Community-Led Decision-Making & Two-Way Data Gathering 

    • Build on Existing Advisory Groups 

    • Bridge Community Engagement with Public Comment 

    See the Executive Summary for a description of the recommendations, and more details on our methodology and key trends. These recommendations will be integrated into the Toolkit refresh process by COG and will be released in early 2026.

  • Building from our Resilient Coast Community Outreach and Engagement Forum project, Equnival partnered with Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) to support a cohort of congregations in Salisbury as they initiate activities to build resilient properties and communities. IPL sought help navigating the often-complex landscape of flood resilience and available resources. Our team stepped in to bridge the gap between what congregations were experiencing on the ground and the systems that could support them. We held meetings with congregational leaders to better understand their needs and priorities, and we translated those insights into actionable steps. 

    By establishing relationships with city officials (City of Salisbury staff) and drawing on our strong relationships with state agencies (ex: Maryland Department of Natural Resource, Maryland Department of Energy), federal programs (Federal Emergency Management Administration [FEMA] and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Silver Jackets team), and local funders, we connected these faith communities with technical and financial resource opportunities to address specific opportunities, including environmental assessments, flood mitigation infrastructure, community gardens, and outreach initiatives. Today, congregations are implementing those projects with the support of IPL and other funders in the area. projects that reflect both their spiritual missions and community resilience goals. 

    We see this initial effort as a springboard for future resilience efforts in Salisbury and the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland to co-design a robust, multi-year flood resilience initiative backed by significant public and/or philanthropic investment. For more information about this effort going forward, contact us.

Past Equnival Efforts

  • Equnival partnered with the Nature Conservancy – Maryland Chapter to establish the Community Outreach and Engagement Forum (COEF) to inform state policy development for climate adaptation and coastal resilience in Maryland. Identify a network of community leaders, environmental justice advocates, local practitioners, and government officials who collaboratively identify and advocate for climate adaptation policy priorities to address resilience needs identified by Maryland’s coastal communities; and lead dialogues and scoping efforts to identify policy priorities and opportunities for local collaboration to address issues such as flood mitigation, infrastructure development, and local capacity building.

  • We led the Lacuna Fund's efforts to create and select datasets that reduce bias in machine learning within the fields of equity, health, climate, and energy. Our work aimed to ensure that machine learning solutions in these areas lead to more just and equitable outcomes. We provided strategic direction, designed the selection process, facilitated interactions with Technical Advisory Panels, and coordinated the selection of grant recipients. We continue to support this initiative by reviewing interim and final reports from grantees, ensuring the long-term success of these projects.

  • Equnival recently provided process design and facilitation services to the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, a Congressionally mandated commission of fifty members authorized to identify recommendations for federal action to mitigate, respond to, and recover from wildfires, particularly at the wildland-urban interface. Equnival partnered with Commission members, federal agency leaders, and Commission staff to develop commission strategy, manage full commission and workgroup dialogues, and drive consensus decision-making processes. Equnival’s contributions to the Commission led to the development of consensus recommendations delivered to Congress in September 2023. to deliver a final set of recommendations to Congress by September 2023.

  • Equnival led the development of a series of roundtables and workshops for Clean Air Task Force’s Climate Equity Project. Designs roundtable objectives and desired outcomes in partnership with CATF staff, local communities, and environmental justice organizations. Facilitates discussions and summarizes key outcomes to identify strategic plans and next steps for communities to follow as they address key issues. Supports development of partnerships with civic, corporate, governmental leaders to co-design and co-implement strategies and action plans.

     

  • Equnival Partners provided strategic advisement to Ocean Conservancy, assessing the equity and justice implications of the organization’s programs and identifying adaptations to support internal and external equity and justice goals and expansion of existing partnerships with equity- and justice-focused organizations. The project resulted in the development of a $2M internal fund for expanding equity-focused offerings, leading to creation of small grants program and an internal team focused on ocean justice and equity across the organization.

  • Item descriptionEqunival Partners is providing facilitation services for an US EPA-led initiative in four cities along the Mississippi River, focused on reducing plastic pollution and enhancing community-driven solutions. By convening key stakeholders in these cities, our goal is to accelerate the implementation of solid waste and water quality improvements that positively impact the environment. This project not only aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of these efforts but also inspire similar actions nationwide. Through connecting community plastic waste data with a deeper analysis of local human activities, we are helping design targeted solutions that address the root causes of plastic pollution in these communities.

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