This agreement provides funding under the inflation reduction act (IRA) to the institute for sustainable communities (ISC) in the amount of $48,000,000, as part of a bifurcated award for passthrough…

This agreement provides funding under the inflation reduction act (IRA) to the institute for sustainable communities (ISC) in the amount of $48,000,000, as part of a bifurcated award for passthrough grantmaking activities authorized by CAA 138(B). ISC's national grantmaker project will be funded by inflation reduction act appropriations for a total amount of $60,000,000 divided into two awards of an initial and subsequent award. The bifurcated award is derived from the same funding source but maintaining separate but overlapping timelines and distinct workplans that meet the overall requirements of the award. This agreement provides funding for the subsequent award, which will enable ISC as the eastern national grantmaker to 1) provide subawards to eligible entities in EPA regions 1, 2, and 3 that fill gaps identified in the regional grantmaker programs, particularly in hard to reach areas, 2) build the capacity of subawardees to carry out their projects and address environmental challenges through regular workshops, peer learning sessions, and consultations with technical practitioners; 3) build out and maintain a thriving communities grantmaker program data visualization and communications platform that provides the public with details about the grantmaker program and the subawards supporting projects in urban, rural, remote, and tribal communities to address environmental issues, and 4) coordinate with the other national grantmakers to support the overall success of the thriving communities grantmaker program. Activities:the institute for sustainable communities, as the eastern national grantmaker, will undertake the following activities in the subsequent award phase: - implement a timely and efficient subaward process that distributes funding to eligible entities in impacted communities, with an emphasis on communities referred by the regional grantmakers in EPA regions 1, 2, and 3 and the advisory council members in order to fill gaps in the regional programs. This subaward process will comply with EPA subaward policy and 2 CFR 200. - conduct post award monitoring of subgrantees to ensure compliance and assess progress with regular reporting on the outcomes of the funded projects. - provide ISC subawardees and regions 1-3 grantmakers with virtual learning sessions on topics and tools such as financial management, monitoring and evaluation, audit processes, quality assurance, and 2 CFR 200 compliance requirements. - implement an eastern national evaluation and tracking system that allows regional grantmakers in R1-3 to share and track data. This system will be part of the eastern national grantmaker website, which will also host the data visualization platform to aggregate and share information about the geographic distribution and types of projects supported through subawards. - implement and manage social impact storytelling to communicate and amplify the impact of the program, showcasing how the program is reaching underserved communities with support to address environmental issues and lowering barriers to accessing federal funds for eligible entities in communities facing capacity constraints. - coordinate with the other national grantmakers to facilitate information exchange, knowledge building, consistency of data across regions, and to ensure the overall successful implementation of the thriving communities grantmaker program. The activities in the initial award focused specifically on ISC's systems mobilization to set up the program as the eastern national grantmaker and providing coordination and capacity building support to the systems mobilization efforts of the R1, 2, and 3 grantmakers. The activities in this subsequent award are focused on the implementation and monitoring of subawards, providing compliance support and guidance to regional grantmakers and to subawardees, and evaluation, communications and storytelling for the thriving COM