Evaluation of the California Climate Investments Technical Assistance Program

California Climate Investments (CCI) is a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment– particularly in under-resourced and low-income communities. The CCI Technical Assistance (CCI TA) Program helps under-resourced communities access these pivotal funds and implement projects to mitigate the effects of climate change. In 2020, Harder+Company Community Research partnered with the California Strategic Growth Council, a cabinet level interagency organization, to design and implement a statewide evaluation to assess if the CCI TA Program model is supporting the California Climate Investments program and the State’s equity goals. This report provides an overview of how the CCI TA Program model defines equity in the context of climate work, presents the logic model for creating sustained CCI TA Program impact, summarizes the evaluation findings, and provides actionable recommendations.