Five Local Organizations Receive $500,000 in Community-Focused Grants for Environmental Stewardship Projects
The PG&E Corporation Foundation Program Supports Environmental Commitment
OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The PG&E Corporation Foundation (PG&E Foundation) is awarding five community-based organizations in Northern and Central California a total of $500,000 in grants for local initiatives dedicated to environmental stewardship.
The five organizations will each receive $100,000 through the Better Together Nature Positive Innovation Grant program for leading efforts to preserve California's unique biodiversity, focusing on land, air quality and water stewardship.
The grants are part of a commitment to fund environmental stewardship projects in communities Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) serves. The program empowers communities to act and invest in innovative, resilient solutions addressing environmental challenges. Funding for this initiative comes from PG&E shareholders, not customers.
"This generous support from PG&E makes it possible for Sorrel Leaf Healing Center to become the first facility of its kind to integrate traditional Native land management practices into our healing model. With this funding, we will be able to carry out cultural burns, restore the land with native species and create ceremonial and therapeutic spaces. These efforts not only honor cultural traditions but also foster resilience for the youth and community we serve. None of this would be possible without PG&E's partnership," said Shireen Varga, Executive Director, Sorrel Leaf Healing Center.
"We are proud to support local efforts helping to meet the challenges of our changing environment. We commend our community partners leading the charge in bringing about innovative solutions that best serve their communities. Congratulations to this year's grantees — together, we are making a difference," said Carla Peterman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer for PG&E Corporation and Chair of the Board of The PG&E Corporation Foundation.
Grant recipients are based in each of PG&E's five regions: North Coast, North Valley and Sierra, Bay Area, South Bay and Central Coast, and Central Valley. Receiving grants are:
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Sorrel Leaf Larning Center
(Humboldt County) – supporting the Back Acres ecocultural restoration and regenerative agriculture projects at this youth wellness center. The land-based healing center provides mental health care for youth in under-resourced tribal communities and integrates ecosystem restoration into its holistic model of healing.
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Butte Environmental Council
(Butte County) – for the Next Generation Water Stewardship project that empowers youth and protects salmon habitat in two disadvantaged communities. The project expands access to the Classroom Aquarium Education Program and provides hands-on workforce development experiences.
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Literacy for Environmental Justice
(San Francisco) – supporting a one-year, nature positive initiative in San Francisco's Bayview Hunter's Point, a community impacted by environmental inequity and disinvestment. The youth-focused project integrates environmental justice, workforce development and eco-literacy through hands-on land restoration, culturally rooted education and green career training.
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Watsonville Wetlands Watch
(Santa Cruz County) – for the Parajo Valley Watershed Stewardship and Climate Adaption Project. The project will provide nature positive community volunteer engagement, youth internships and workforce development training opportunities on projects that restore and steward wetland and watershed habitat areas in the Watsonville wetlands.
- Fresno Metro Ministry (Fresno County) – supporting the Yo'Ville Community Garden, a nature-based project promoting food sovereignty and urban agriculture in Southwest Fresno. The garden serves an area impacted by poverty, pollution and limited access to fresh food and green spaces.
Better Together Nature Positive Innovation proposals may cover any stage of an environmental stewardship project. This includes but is not limited to planning, construction, design, education and coordination. Projects that address the needs of disadvantaged and/or vulnerable communities are given grant priority.
The goal of the grant program is to help communities build more sustainable habitats and encourage local and regional partnerships. The overall intent is to share solutions for building more sustainable habitats and communities.
Eligible applicants must be a government organization (including tribal governments), educational institution or a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.
About The PG&E Corporation Foundation
The PG&E Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E Corporation.
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SOURCE PG&E Corporation
