Native chosen to lead new state climate change corps

Marin County native Josh Fryday has been chosen to lead the nation’s first statewide civilian corps dedicated to preparing for and reversing climate change impacts in California.

Created by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month as part of a suite of climate-related initiatives, the new Climate Action Corps plans to deploy more than 250 people throughout the state next year, paying them a stipend and offering scholarships to plant tens of thousands of trees, harden homes against wildfire threats, expand programs to reduce food waste and organize volunteers.

The state also is calling on all Californians to take action in their own communities and is creating an online platform where agencies, environmental groups and nonprofits can post local volunteer opportunities.

“I think this is a paradigm shift because no longer will people have to ask, ‘ What can I do?’ ” Fryday said. “We’re living in a time right now where every Californian is living through the effects of climate change and people don’t want to feel powerless. People want to feel they can do something about it. With the Climate Action Corps, we’re giving every Californian that opportunity.”

Fryday, 39, has served as the state’s chief service officer since September 2019 overseeing the state’s AmeriCorps program and volunteer disaster response efforts related to the coronavirus pandemic and record wildfires. A native of Novato now living in Sacramento, Fr yday previously had served one term on the Novato City Council, was the former president of the nonprofit Golden State Opportunity Foundation and served as a lieutenant in the Navy.

The state plans to have the first 55 to 60 “climate action fellows” on the ground in January who will be placed in five cities: Fresno, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Jose and Stockton.

“We’re largely focusing on low-income and frontline communities that are affected most by climate,” Fryday said.

Fellows will commit to a period of service of up to a year and in exchange receive a stipend and up to a $10,000 scholarship depending on their length of service. There is no age requirement to participate.

Applications for this first round of fellows can be submitted through Friday at bit.ly/3e1kXpX.

Fellows will work with city and county governments, universities and nonprofit organizations to lead and organize various types of projects. For example, Los Angeles has a goal of planting tens of thousands of trees to not only address climate issues caused by carbon emissions but also social justice issues such as heat islands in low-income communities in which more urbanized areas experience higher temperatures, Fryday said.

“An example is our climate fellows will be helping the city meet their tree goal by organizing tree planting projects, by organizing the community and neighborhoods to produce volunteers to help plant and care for the trees,” Fryday said. “The idea is to take the community’s goals and provide the volunteer and service infrastructure to meet those goals.”

The first cohort of fellows is set to serve seven months and two weeks and will each receive a $14,000 stipend distributed evenly throughout that time, according to California Volunteers communication director Cristina Valdivia Aguilar.

By the third year of the program, Fryday hopes to have 1,000 fellows deployed throughout the state.

In addition to the fellowship program, California Volunteers is building a “first-in-the-nation” platform with the nonprofit organization VolunteerMatch to build a statewide hub of volunteer opportunities, Fryday said.

“People in every community from Humboldt to San Diego can look up and find nonprofits and organizations that they can work with to take climate action now,” Fryday said.

Kathryn Phillips, director of the Sierra Club California, praised the creation of the new corps and its focus on tangible, achievable projects among communities being acutely affected by climate change.

“The more people understand the complexity and the various levels where climate emissions occur and how we can work to reduce them, the better,” Phillips said. “I think in some ways what this will do is set up ambassadors for climate information. I can’t help but assume by the time these folks have gone through this volunteer program they’re going to be pretty knowledgeable and able to share the information they have with their peers, their families and their communities when they go back home.”

Mo r e information about the Climate Action Corps can be found at bit. ly/3mnP0uM.