A Paradigm Shift for Climate Resilience

Sustento Initiative is our nonprofit arm focused on creating a paradigm shift in how we approach climate resilience. We work ahead of the market to develop and test innovative models that enable deeper investment in building decarbonization while prioritizing equity, health, and social impact.

Our Approach: Mission Over Money

We don't wait for perfect market conditions – we create them. We focus on charting pathways that connect environmental goals with tangible community benefits.

Our Focus Areas

Health & Social Impact

We research and document the connections between building retrofits and health outcomes, focusing on communities disproportionately affected by climate change and environmental injustice. We partner with academic institutions like UCLA to quantify benefits and develop frameworks that assign economic value to well-being.

Pilot Project Development

We support pilot projects that generate tangible, real-world experience by working directly with community-based organizations and affordable housing providers. These projects serve as learning laboratories where we define business models for key markets and document best practices for replication and scalability.

Cross-Sector Collaborations

We facilitate partnerships between community groups, financial institutions, utilities, and government agencies to bridge divides between policy, finance, and implementation. Through programs like our Retrofit LA Cohort, we develop integrated solutions that cross traditional boundaries.

Capital Absorption Framework

We work to align resources, build stakeholder capacity, and develop standards-driven approaches that make equitable climate investments feasible at scale. Our work includes mapping processes, identifying gaps, and creating tools that reduce friction and transaction costs.

Current Initiatives & Partnerships

A multi-year collaboration with community-based affordable housing providers including East LA Community Corporation, Esperanza Community Housing, and Little Tokyo Service Center to develop deep decarbonization retrofits with a focus on non-LIHTC and naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAHs).
Creating a comprehensive guide that makes decarbonization of affordable multifamily housing both broadly applicable and specific enough to streamline future projects.
Partnering with UCLA, we are quantifying the health benefits of building improvements in communities like Boyle Heights, where residents face disproportionate health impacts from air pollution and climate vulnerabilities.
Working with CDFIs and other capital providers to develop novel financial products like revolving credit facilities that leverage incentives and reduce barriers to investment.