NOAA will give priority to applications that advance equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. NOAA also prioritizes efforts to reach individuals from historically underserved communities and to benefit disadvantaged communities.

For a full list of grant priorities, please refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity here.

Click on the next section to learn more about this funding opportunity’s eligibility requirements.

The eligibility criteria for the Climate Ready Workforce Competition includes:

• Applicants must be located in coastal states or territories as defined by 16 U.S.C. § 1453(4) or in the District of Columbia.
• Applications must include project teams that consist of committed partners. Partners may include government entities, educational institutions, training organizations, economic development organizations, workforce development organizations, unions, labor management partnerships, industry associations, employer-serving organizations, conservation corps, not-for-profits, philanthropic organizations, and/or community-based organizations.
• Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with NOAA-affiliated entities, such as NOAA offices, labs, cooperative institutes, personnel, and programs that implement NOAA climate resilience priorities.
• Applicants or partners could be existing AmeriCorps or Corps Network members or other organizations that offer paid training, career skills development, and/or job pathways into climate resilience careers.
• Be consistent with NOAA’s strategic focus to enhance climate resilience, make equity central to our work, and support economic growth and the agency’s mission of science, service, and stewardship.
• Support one or more of the following actions from the Ocean Climate Action Plan
  • Promote coastal community resilience strategies that are adaptive, equitable, and based on best practices.
  • Support transformational resilience investments in coastal habitat restoration, conservation and in coastal community resilience.
  • Advance evaluation and adoption of nature-based solutions, such as living shorelines, to build resilience against climate-driven coastal hazards.
  • Reduce climate threats and improve the resiliency of climate-vulnerable protected species, including marine mammals.
• Recruit workers (e.g., 50-1000+ over time) into “good jobs that enhance climate resilience,” and train them for using one or more of the five climate-informed skills (see I.A.).
• Place workers in good jobs within coastal states, tribal nations, and territories or the District of Columbia, with a focus on training workers from the community where the jobs are located (per section VIII.H).
• Support work in communities with climate justice vulnerabilities and in disadvantaged communities as identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.

Click on the next section to learn more about the matching requirements for this funding opportunity.

There are no match requirements for this funding opportunity. However, cost sharing, leveraged funds, and in-kind support will make projects more competitive.

Applicants are encouraged to combine this NOAA federal funding with formal matching contributions or informal leverage from a broad range of sources in the public and private sectors. Informal leveraging includes resources that are not committed as part of the formal cooperative agreement, but which are brought to bear on the project in other ways, for example employer commitments, staff time or volunteer hours. Community, government, academic, non-government, and industry participation/involvement in projects is encouraged through cost sharing, leveraged funds, and/or in-kind support.

Click on the next section to learn more about the eligible costs for this funding opportunity.

The purpose of the competition is to ensure workers in coastal states and territories are trained for and hired into quality private- and public-sector jobs in the U.S. economy that are needed to increase resilience to climate-related hazards.

Examples of activities that could be funded through the competition include:

• Developing training programs that build in-demand skills for jobs that enhance climate resilience.
• Offering wraparound services that allow workers to successfully enroll in and complete training, such as transportation, childcare, elder care, and housing services.
• Helping workers enter or advance into good jobs that enhance climate resilience.

Click on the next section to learn more about this funding opportunity’s project timeline.

NOAA expects projects to range in duration from 24 months to 48 months, beginning no earlier than August 1, 2024.

Click on the next section for this funding opportunity’s application deadline and forms.

Letters of Intent are due at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 30, 2023. If invited, the deadline for application submission is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on February 13, 2024.

Application packages are available online and can be downloaded from Grants.gov under opportunity NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-2007783.

Click on the next section to access the Contact Information for this funding opportunity.

Questions about this opportunity may be submitted via email.

NOAA’s website provides additional information on NOAA and its programs.