Greenbelt Alliance is proud to open a public call for nominations for the fourth edition of the Hidden Heroes of the Greenbelt Awards to recognize the dedicated local government staff championing climate resilience in our Bay Area communities.
Throughout our 65-year history, we’ve worked alongside dedicated government staff catalyzing impact in their communities across the Bay Area. Many of these heroes are creating systemic change for our cities by taking on complex projects to increase housing opportunities while protecting nature, expanding outdoor access, and building climate resilience. From launching parklet plans during the pandemic to facilitating wildfire education and building living levees, Hidden Heroes are creating lasting change throughout the region.
Learn more about our previous Hidden Heroes of the Greenbelt awardees, and nominate an individual for our 2024 Hidden Hero cohort.
NOMINATE A HERO
The three winners will be honored and featured at our annual benefit, Hidden Heroes of the Greenbelt, at Preservation Park in Oakland this August.
How To Nominate?
Nominating is very easy. Nominees should be San Francisco Bay Area local government staff (city/county/agency), non-elected, working at the intersection of land use and climate change within the following categories:
- Nature-based Climate Adaptation: working on policies and projects that lead with nature to build climate resilience. Examples include people working on the conservation and stewardship of open space (reducing wildfire risk and drought impacts), restoring wetlands to reduce flood risk, crafting policies that protect creeks and riparian corridors, etc.
- Planning for Resilience: planning and community engagement that implements equitable, climate-resilient strategies. Examples include people working with frontline communities most impacted by climate hazards to ensure their voices are heard in the planning process, creating innovative plans that incorporate climate resilience, such as general plans, climate action plans, hazard mitigation plans, and more.
- Abundant Climate-smart Housing: building more homes in the Bay Area, close to jobs and transit and away from fire hazards, that are affordable for all, is the single most impactful action we can take to reduce our climate impacts at the local level. Examples include people working on policies to reduce barriers to more housing and working on great climate-smart development projects.
Nominations should be submitted via the Google Form (see embed below) by May 8, 2024. An assessment panel will select one winner per category.
