The Advancing Equity and Opportunity Collaborative is a coalition of left-of-center organizations based in the southeastern United States. The focus of the coalition is the promotion of “environmental justice” and opposition to the extraction and use of reliable sources of energy such as fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. ¹

While the collaborative’s focus is promoting environmentalist policies, it also views its issue stances through the lens of race and class. It promotes its policies with a focus towards Black and other racial minorities. ²

The group was a supporter of the Clean Power Plan, which would have started the transition away from reliable sources of energy such as conventional fuels and towards weather-dependent sources of energy such as wind and solar. ³

Overview

The Advancing Equity and Opportunity Collaborative is a coalition of left-of-center organizations based in the southeastern United States. The main mission of the coalition is opposing the extraction and use of reliable sources of energy such as conventional fuels. The organization promotes “environmental justice.” ⁴

The organization views its work through the lens of race and class. A major initiative of the organization is the promotion of weather-dependent sources of energy such as wind and solar in Black and other non-white communities. ⁵

The organization seeks strategic partnerships with organizations based in the so-called Global South and considers itself to be in solidarity with them. It claims to see a pattern of racism and poor development like what has been experienced in the southeastern United States. ⁶

The collaborative was founded in 2014 by the Partnership for Southern Equity. ⁷

Members

As of 2022, the organization has thirteen members. The member organizations are left-leaning environmentalist organizations. Those members are: ⁸

Appalachian Voices

Mountain Association

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth

Southeast Energy & Climate Network

Environmental Defense Fund

North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light

EDLI

One Voice

Southern Echo, Inc.

Center for Common Ground

The National Network for Cooperative Member Rights, Education, and Organizing

Democracy 365

Partnership for Southern Equity

Issues

The organization works in the following southeastern states; Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. ⁹

A major issue focus is what it calls democratizing rural electric cooperatives. The purpose is to pressure them to invest more in weather-dependent sources of energy such as wind and solar. ¹⁰

Another major issue focus is increasing dependence on weather-dependent sources of energy such as wind and solar in Black and other non-white communities. It also lobbies for more government funding to achieve this. ¹¹

The organization was a supporter of the Clean Power Plan, which was proposed by the Obama administration, as a way to force more reliance on weather-dependent sources of energy such as wind and solar. ¹²

Leadership

As of 2022, Chandra Farley was listed as the leader of the organization. She was an employee of the Partnership for Southern Equity and currently serves as the CEO of ReSolve, which is a consulting company that works to increase “climate justice.” She was an unsuccessful candidate for Georgia Public Service Commissioner in 2022. ¹³

Funding

The organization does not publicly reveal its finances nor is it a registered nonprofit. The information complied in this section comes from donor websites and the organization’s own website. It is clear the organization has received funding from several left-leaning foundations.

In 2014, the organization made a submission to the Chorus Foundation. ¹⁴

In 2016, the organization received undisclosed funding from the Surdna Foundation, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, and the Chorus Foundation. ¹⁵

In 2017, it received $12,000 from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. ¹⁶

In May 2018, it received $50,000 from the Surdna Foundation. ¹⁷

In October 2018, it received $65,000 from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. ¹⁸

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