Building Climate Resilience Through Community Trust

WRWC Executive Director Alicia Lehrer recently joined Rhode Island climate leaders for the Rhode Island Foundation’s Climate Action and Sustainability Donor Convening, “Resilience & Risk: Rhode Island’s Climate Future,” featuring U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

Alicia participated in a panel focused on climate readiness and community engagement, sharing WRWC’s experience building trust and developing community leadership through Nuevas Voces.

For communities facing some of Rhode Island’s greatest risks from flooding, extreme heat, and other environmental hazards, climate resilience starts with ensuring residents have a meaningful role in decisions affecting their neighborhoods.

Six Years of Building Trust

Alicia spoke about the six years WRWC has spent growing Nuevas Voces, our bilingual community leadership and advocacy program. The program connects residents with information, resources, and decision-making processes while helping participants develop the skills and confidence to advocate for their communities.

Building that kind of participation takes time and consistency. In the program’s early years, WRWC actively recruited residents to participate. Today, people increasingly come to us looking for opportunities to get involved.

Nuevas Voces graduates have gone on to advocate for neighborhood priorities, participate in public processes, serve in community leadership roles, and help ensure that residents are represented in conversations about climate resilience and investment.

Alicia emphasized that this trust and leadership are themselves an important form of climate preparedness. Strong community networks help residents understand risks, share information, respond to challenges, and advocate for investments that make their neighborhoods safer and more resilient.

“We are so grateful to the Rhode Island Foundation for highlighting and supporting the work we do, getting people involved in the decision-making processes that shape their neighborhoods.”

The Rhode Island Foundation has helped make this work possible by investing in programs like Nuevas Voces and supporting community-based approaches to climate action and sustainability.

We are grateful for their continued partnership and for the opportunity to share what we have learned: lasting climate resilience is strongest when the people most affected have the knowledge, resources, and power to help lead the way.

Learn More

The Rhode Island Foundation recently published its Climate Action and Sustainability Learning and Impact Brief, exploring investments and partnerships that are helping Rhode Islanders prepare for climate change, strengthen community resilience, and protect the places we call home.

Read the Climate Action and Sustainability Learning and Impact Brief