PDPX Accelerator
Introducing PDPX
PDPX, developed in partnership with Pyxera Global, Metabolic, and Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet, harnesses cross-sector collaboration to strengthen U.S.-based grassroots organizations advancing resilience, opportunity, and climate stability in their communities.
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A transition away from our most calcified systems, including dependence on fossil fuels and toxic industries, offers not only our best shot at maintaining a stable planet, but also ensures immediate health, safety, and socioeconomic benefits to millions, especially those subjected to systemic disinvestment.
PDPX aims to strategically use our best-in-class network to infuse innovation and resources into these communities so they can lead the charge in making the necessary transition towards a more sustainable and resilient future, one place at a time.
PDPX’s approach to acceleration relies on true collaboration; solutions are co-designed and co-run by the participating community-based organizations so their needs and ideas remain the driving force behind PDPX. Together, we can uplift their critical place-based work.
Pyxera Global
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Metabolic
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Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet
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The Peace Department
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Pyxera Global
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Metabolic
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Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet
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The Peace Department
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Pyxera Global -- Metabolic -- Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet -- The Peace Department -- Pyxera Global -- Metabolic -- Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet -- The Peace Department --
Areas of Expertise
PDPX Will Assist Its Community Partners By Offering
Network Access
Learn More +PDPX will offer participants access to our deep network, which spans multiple sectors and includes: social impact innovators and entrepreneurs; impact investors and funds; academics and subject matter experts; scientists and engineers; futurists and visionaries; community-building organizations; faith leaders and groups; storytellers and artists; philanthropists, communications and marketing professionals; and, coalition- and movement-builders.
Design
Learn More +We will work with participants to design integrated projects shaped by community needs and brought to fruition with the input of network expertise.
Implementation
Learn More +We will help to get projects live on the field through parts orchestration, including by assisting in the selection of appropriate partners and design of blended finance models to enable implementation.
Catalytic Capital
Learn More +In some instances, we can help seed a project and incentivize participation of different stakeholders and capital sources.
Participation Criteria
We support hyperlocal, community-based organizations (CBOs) and community development corporations (CDCs) in the United States focused on:
Designing transition plans to move from extractive to low-carbon, green, or regenerative economies
Monitoring or advocating against harmful industries, pollutants/toxic substances (i.e., air quality, water contamination, or prevalence of toxic substances in a particular area, resulting in impacts on health and/or biodiversity)
Strengthening community-driven, resilient energy systems
Advancing innovative food security solutions
Promoting community cohesion through education, culture, and placemaking
Driving economic empowerment via workforce development and community ownership
Creating regenerative systems that enhance community autonomy and resilience
Inaugural PDPX Cohort
Is a CBO in your purview ripe for acceleration?
We seek to pilot our program with up to five (5) community-based organizations who will benefit from collaboration with The Peace Department and our network partners. Engagement time will vary per project, starting with a deep dive to assess current challenges and opportunities.
If, after reading Learn More, you'd like to put an organization on our radar for consideration, we encourage you to fill out the interest form below.
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Over a one-year period, CBOs can expect intensive project design and solution integration meetings with a variety of stakeholders, as well as regular check-ins with PD and its core partners. Each participating organization will be assigned a PD program officer who will be available to guide them along their journey.
The goal of PDPX’s inaugural year will be to demonstrate what it looks like to have communities and experts co-design place-based scalable solutions that authentically meet community needs from conception through implementation. This will contribute to systems innovation around how multisectoral place-based transition work can be genuinely rooted in community and be built from the ground up.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Peace Department (PD) provides expertise and builds constellations of support with members of our vast network to optimize community-driven solutions for addressing economic, social, and environmental threats. Our methodology involves working in close partnership with communities to enhance existing programs with additional Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-augmenting solutions, thereby increasing resilience. We believe this place-based and community-driven approach helps to knit communities together while building self-reinforcing systems to foster lasting prosperity and stability. We aim to enable communities to untangle seemingly intractable problems with innovation and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
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We support organizations and movements in the United States focused on designing rapid and just transition plans; building energy systems that are more resilient, safe, equitable, and democratic; implementing innovative approaches to food security and economic mobility; fostering community cohesion and uplift, including through cultural preservation, education and skills development; and, creating self-reinforcing and regenerative systems.
PDPX is accepting proposals from nonprofit and community-based organizations that are committed to place-based solutions and benefitting underserved communities across the United States. Specifically, The Peace Department seeks collaboration opportunities that advance equity, multi-sector coordination, and place-based solutions that build community resilience.
Equity: Many communities are struggling with environmental degradation, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of basic services and opportunities, which keep them structurally marginalized. We are interested in working with organizations that are addressing these interrelated crises in novel and holistic ways.
Cross-sector Collaboration: PD’s value-add is its ability to engage and activate stakeholders across sectors to collaborate on groundbreaking initiatives with systems change potential. We are interested in working with organizations that are adopting similar approaches and willing to think outside the box to explore allyship with new sectors and categories of stakeholders.
Place-based Solutions: PD believes a place-based approach that is specific to a community’s unique environment and needs enables a just transition to green and regenerative solutions. We are interested in working with organizations that are approaching their work with a place- and community-centric approach that is both ripe for integration of additional SDG-augmenting solutions and conducive to replicability and systems-scale application.
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"Place-based" means focusing on a specific geographic location and addressing complex and interrelated issues within that area, taking into account the unique characteristics and needs of that particular place and its people. It’s a collaborative, long-term approach to build thriving communities by bringing together diverse stakeholders to develop strategic solutions tailored to that particular locale. Optimizing interventions for a specific context enables stakeholders to maximally target sustainable development opportunities while providing enduring value to the local community. Place-based frameworks can help spread economic costs, create networks of symbiotic stakeholders, and foster shared stewardship and accountability for outcomes and impacts. They can also function as microcosms for testing broader systems change strategies and thereby serve as a wellspring of replicable models.
Place-based initiatives aim to improve quality of life and access to opportunity for people—particularly people of color and families with low incomes—who live in neighborhoods, cities, and rural communities experiencing disinvestment. These place-based partnerships are crucial for advancing equity because they are uniquely aware of and positioned to address local context and history, are grounded in disaggregated data and stories of community experiences and how individuals are faring, and can design and target solutions to enable adaptation and redress harm.
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Just Transition is a framework intended to help us shift away from an extractive economic model towards place-based and regenerative economies that serve the needs of communities and the environment. The framework aims to green the economy in a way that is as fair and inclusive as possible to everyone concerned.
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The Accelerator will assist its community partners by offering:
Network: Providing access to members of our vast network, which spans multiple sectors and includes: social impact innovators and entrepreneurs; philanthropists; impact investors and funds; academics and subject matter experts; scientists and engineers; futurists and visionaries; community-building organizations; faith leaders and groups; storytellers and artists; communications and marketing professionals; and, coalition- and movement-builders.
Design: Helping to design integrated, self-reinforcing projects shaped by community needs and brought to fruition with the input of network expertise.
Implementation: Helping to get projects live on the field through parts orchestration, including by assisting in the selection of appropriate partners and design of blended finance models to enable implementation.
Amplification: Offering amplification through marketing, communications, and advocacy support, as well as high-level convenings.
Catalytic Capital: In some instances, providing catalytic philanthropic capital to seed a project and incentivize participation of different stakeholders and forms of capital.
Community-based groups selected for the program will:
Become part of a global network, which will continue to support them as they work towards integrating SDG-augmenting solutions, building self-supporting systems, and creating impact for their communities.
Receive mentorship from network members most aligned with their mission and vision.
Receive marketing materials and assets, as well as the opportunity to participate in high-level events to amplify their work and connect with diverse stakeholders.
Receive impact investment should their project be selected to receive catalytic capital.
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Because the intention is for the Accelerator to be design-built alongside our community partners, the time commitment is flexible. In agreeing to bring a community organization into the fold, PDPX will outline a plan that includes initial deep dives and a series of touch points that will occur over a 1 year period to guide CBOs on their journey.
To provide some broad strokes guidance, over the course of one year, Accelerator participants should expect to work with the PDPX team to:
Understand needs and assess gaps through research, consultations, and site visits (where appropriate)
Co-design or co-enhance a Place-based Project that addresses specific needs and/or strategically integrates solutions
Identify ideal partners from The Peace Department cross-sectoral network to work together to bring the Place-based Project to life
Begin Implementation by coordinating efforts, co-creating necessary assets, and unlocking resources, including by potentially providing catalytic capital
Distill best practices with other cohort members to help shape the next stage of the Accelerator.
We see this as a long-term relationship, spanning at least one year with the potential for multi-year engagement, depending on how the process unfolds.
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Participation in the inaugural cohort is free-of-charge for community groups selected.
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The Peace Department is not a fundraising organization. Where appropriate, however, PD and its partners may advise on fundraising strategy or make introductions for a cohort member.