On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Vice President Kamala Harris announced that Justice Climate Fund (JCF) was selected to receive approximately $1 billion in funding under the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator program. Wilson Sonsini is honored to have supported JCF in connection with this once-in-a-generation commitment to building enduring clean and green financing institutions that deliver transformational climate equity for families and communities across this nation.    

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chose JCF to deliver funding and technical assistance to build the clean financing capacity of the nation’s community lenders and minority-led banks working in low-income and disadvantaged communities, such that underinvested communities have the capital they need to deploy clean energy technologies. The JCF network includes more than 1,200 community lenders representing over 280 million Americans.

The Wilson Sonsini team, led by Elise Zoli and Elke Trilla, acted as pro bono legal counsel to JCF in its bid for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund awards.

In addition to Elise and Elke, the Wilson Sonsini team that supported JCF included Matt Gorman, Ryan Greecher, Randy Lewis, Jim Jensen, Scott Zimmermann, Seth Cowell, Brian Currie, Colleen Angus-Yamada, Timothy Kobes, Neil Gulyako, Jesse Lazarus, Rebecca Lilley, James Newhouse, Omar Jooma, Japera Parker, Andrew Savage, and Kennedy Ukelegharanya; senior paralegals Lynzy McGee, Naomi Pierce, and Kazuko Shintani; paralegal Ruben Ceja; paralegal clerk Jenifer Kyle; executive assistant Deborah Young; and research and reference specialists Tracy Fitz and Tanya Gutierrez.

For more information, please see JCF’s news release.