The Binational Resilience Initiative (BRI) builds resilience in the Cali-Baja region by supporting binational projects that strengthen the capacity of the communities to adapt to the impacts of the changing climate.
Donor Name: San Diego Foundation
State: California
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/03/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
A partnership of San Diego Foundation (SDF), International Community Foundation (ICF), Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC), and San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative (SDRCC) is leading an innovative, community-driven process that recognizes the interdependent environmental, economic, and cultural assets in San Diego and northern Baja California, strengthening resilience by addressing climate vulnerabilities through binational collaboration and localized solutions.
Types of Grant
- Coastal/Marine Grants
- Communities in the Cali-Baja region share ecosystems, watersheds and coastlines. The BRI Coastal/Marine Grants supports binational partnerships that advance research, collaboration and community-driven solutions to address climate impacts affecting the shared region.
- Water Grants
- In San Diego and Tijuana, water treatment facilities have not been expanded at a pace that matches urban expansion. The BRI Water Grants further advances a water resilience strategy that supports the health of the communities and helps sustain water resources for the future.
Funding Information
- Funding requested can be up to $50,000 per year per organization
- Funding requested can be up to $100,000 per year.
Grant Period
Projects should be completed within a 12-month timeline.
Eligibility Criteria
- SDF will prioritize funding projects taking place in and benefiting communities of concern or historically under-resourced communities that could be considered underserved or vulnerable to economic, environmental and social impacts.
- Projects within the Cali-Baja region.
- Projects should be completed within a 12-month timeline. Please note that they fully understand the dynamic and unpredictable circumstances they all find themselve in and will be flexible where possible.
- Each proposal must be led by a nonprofit with 501(c)(3) public charity status in the U.S. or led by a donataria autorizada in good standing with the Tax Administration Service/SAT in Mexico.
- A U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity may serve as a fiscal sponsor for another applicant, including Mexican nonprofits, to administer the grant and provide regular financial reporting to SDF.
- SDF can only make grants directly to nonprofit organizations with U.S. 501(c)(3) status. Therefore, Mexican nonprofits whose U.S. partners in the project cannot serve as their U.S. fiscal sponsor will be assigned to ICF as their U.S. fiscal sponsor. ICF can serve only as U.S. fiscal sponsor, but ICF cannot have any other role in projects applying for BRI funding. Thus, ICF will not be considered the U.S. partner fulfilling the role of a U.S. partner or binational collaborator in Mexican-led projects.
- SDF will not fund endowments, existing obligations/debt, scholarships or projects that promote religious or political doctrine.
For more information, visit San Diego Foundation.
