Knowledge is power: Lessons from the United States to strengthen community capacity for co-design and co-delivery of energy efficiency programs

Building blocks of behavior change

Each of the case studies were evaluated using the “ABCDE” Building Blocks from the “Building Blocks of Behavior Change” developed by Karlin et al. (2021). See Table 1 for a summary of building block definitions mapped with case study findings.

Summary

SMUD has a team dedicated to regional workforce development to ensure there is a skilled and accessible workforce pipeline in the community that can advance SMUD’s energy efficiency efforts. The team manages community partnerships with over 50 organizations each year, and is constantly looking for new relationships, maintaining and supporting existing partners, and connecting individuals with employers to build community capacity from within.

Background

SMUD is the sixth-largest community-owned electric utility in the U.S., providing over 1.5 million customers in Sacramento, California with electricity. Governed by a locally elected Board of Directors, SMUD operates as a not-for-profit utility, reinvesting resources to benefit the community rather than shareholders. Meeting SMUD’s zero carbon goals by 2030 will require electrification of buildings, homes, and vehicles, facilitated by a community-based workforce that supports local contractors. It is best practice to co-design and co-implement programs, and SMUD has operationalized these concepts by supporting CBOs in leading workforce development training programs.

Audience: who is this effort trying to reach?

The SMUD workforce development team has a broad focus of better engaging with communities who are underrepresented in the energy efficiency industry and adjacent trades. The purpose of workforce development efforts at SMUD is to bridge a disconnect between employees and employers in the local industry who experience frustration when looking for work and individuals to fill openings. SMUD addressed this gap by facilitating trainings and placement through community partnerships.

Training partnership opportunities are open to any non-profit organization, educational institution, and customer in the service territory; however, SMUD makes an intentional effort to partner with CBOs in areas with gaps in knowledge and expertise. The main objective is to provide training to communities who either do not have access to or may not be aware of careers or trainings in the energy industry. To do this, SMUD has developed a resource priorities map that overlays the service territory with other data points such as environmental justice community census tracts or areas with limited food or digital access to help identify neighborhoods in the most need. This helps SMUD prioritize “highly sensitive” areas for direct engagement efforts. While any partner who is deeply rooted in the community is considered, SMUD intentionally engages with groups serving communities who have participation and representation gaps such as ethnic-based organizations, anti-recidivism groups, or organizations with high levels of female or veteran-specific participation.

SMUD is unique in that they play an active role in identifying and recruiting partners for participation in these workforce development programs, rather than relying on an application process to distribute regional workforce development funds. To ensure a fair process, SMUD participates in ongoing outreach to new organizations to garner a diverse pool of potential partners and ideas and avoid overreliance on the same organizations yearly. Additionally, a separate, application-based, Shine Award Program can serve as an entry point to identify potential partnerships. Through this program, organizations receive funding for one year that often expands into longer term collaborations, including participation in SMUD’s workforce development partnership for up to three years.

Behaviors: what do we want them to do?

The primary behavior SMUD aims to change is to increase the number of members in skilled trades and clean-energy careers through participation in workforce development trainings, particularly from underrepresented and under resourced communities. A shift in behavior change would result in residents – particularly women, minorities, and members of other underrepresented groups – pursuing training and employment in energy industry careers like electrification, construction, line work, and clean-energy technology. To support this behavior change, SMUD partners directly with CBOs to co-design and co-deliver workforce trainings in ways that consider trust, barriers to entry, and cultural competency.

To support these workforce members in pursuing training and employment, this program strategy aims to decrease barriers to entry so that people who would not have typically applied have increased access and opportunity to receive training. One of the ways SMUD supports this is by offering wraparound services to participants including transportation, childcare, language services, access to technology, tools, and equipment, and stipend funding. By decreasing these barriers to participation, SMUD hopes that individuals will successfully complete trainings and attain and retain careers that can support economic growth and prosperity.

Following trainings, SMUD also advances these objectives by encouraging employers to hire entry level positions and to support equitable hiring. For example, SMUD works closely with contractors and employers to take a chance on newly trained individuals by subsidizing wages. Through a Subsidized Wage Program, when businesses hire graduates of SMUD’s workforce development programs to participate in on-the-job training, SMUD will cover 50 percent of the wages for the graduate for the first three months as a “proof of concept”. This approach demonstrates SMUD’s strong belief in both the training and the candidates that complete the training. This method also supports candidates and decreases barriers for businesses and contractors to take a chance on new, entry level employees.

Content: what are we saying to them?

To identify gaps in the workforce, SMUD convenes sector-based advisory committees to collect data including number of open job postings, length of time the posting remains vacant, and skills applicants lack. This helps SMUD understand what employers are missing, to allow them to bring these findings to community partners and adjust training topics to fill the real-time gaps in the local community.

There are five different categories of workforce development training that SMUD’s partners offer: career technical training, workplace success and skills training, entrepreneurship programs, upskilling programs, and career awareness and education programs. Content wise, the programs deployed by community partners have a wide range of skills, from resume writing and interview practice, to more involved offerings and technical trainings that include wraparound services with transportation, childcare subsidies, grants for tools and work boots or technology.

Delivery: how will we tell them?

SMUD recognizes that especially since they are not implementing the training, it is very important to ensure the organizations who are doing the implementation are practicing cultural sensitivity. For instance, SMUD staff cannot assume they will know which are the most influential organizations in the region. In the past, collaborating with cultural chambers of commerce to ask for help identifying organizations for partnerships has helped ensure the portfolio of partners mirrors the diverse base of customers the utility serves.

What differentiates SMUD as a community capacity building program as opposed to a workforce development program is their co-design and co-delivery. The primary delivery mechanisms and communication channels differ between programs, but SMUD’s offerings are unique because the messenger is primarily the CBOs. The primary channel includes strong word of mouth communication, but SMUD also leverages community meetings, neighborhood announcement boards, flyers, newsletters, community papers.

CBOs are allowed some flexibility to deliver programs on their own timeline, which allows them to tailor the programming to specific community needs. Organizations are asked to develop a delivery plan prior to receiving funding, but the plan is expected to evolve over the length of the partnership. This reflects SMUD’s trust in partners to serve the communities most effectively.

Evaluation: how do we assess if it is working?

SMUD tracks engagement with community partners including number of partnerships each year, total funding, and number of people trained and placed in the industry. The primary goal that SMUD sets is to reach at least 4,000 people per year with training and then place at least 400 of these trainees in a zero-carbon related career with a competitive wage. In 2024, SMUD exceeded this goal, facilitating placement of nearly 900 people who participated in community-run training programs.

Because these training programs are run directly by the CBOs, SMUD has minimal control over the evaluation. Some metrics CBOs report include number of trainees, number of individuals placed into zero-carbon careers; SMUD also calculates cost per trainee and cost per career placement. SMUD has found that emphasizing the business case for supporting local business with a skilled workforce has been more compelling to management than solely community impact narratives, even though SMUD is a community-owned utility. For example, speaking to benefits like reducing business and contractor costs by directly connecting with a pool of qualified candidates to reduce the number of days needed to fill a position can be helpful. Currently, SMUD’s workforce development programs are not expected to contribute directly to energy savings; rather, the benefit of these efforts is that employers filling thriving-wage jobs strengthens the local economy and builds lasting community partnerships.

In 2025, SMUD began a longitudinal tracking process to build out outcome data and evidence. This evaluation assesses graduates’ progress at 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months following program completion, asking questions about job attainment, industry relevance, and retention. Some indicators for employers include changes in time-to-hire, applicant volume, and level of skill preparedness.

Summary

The Mass Save^® Community First Partnership (CFP) Program is a community trust building program developed in 2022 to increase energy efficiency program participation and build community capacity. The program partners with 58 municipalities and CBOs across the state of Massachusetts to build trust and support energy efficiency campaigns.

Background

The Community First Partnership (CFP) Program was designed by the Massachusetts Program Administrators (PAs) under the 2025–2027 Mass Save Plan to support decarbonization, equity, customer experience, supplier diversity, and workforce development. Natural gas utilities and energy efficiency providers in Massachusetts come together under the Mass Save^® name with the goal of empowering customers to make energy efficient upgrades through rebates, incentives, services, training and more (Sullivan et al. 2024; Mass Save, 2026). Mass Save sponsors include Berkshire Gas, Cape Light Compact, Eversource, Liberty, National Grid, and Unitil; sponsors collectively deliver nearly $1 billion annually in incentives to electric and natural gas customers throughout the state (Mass Save, 2024).

The CFP Program offers grant funding of up to $85,500 annually for a three-year planned term. This funding goes towards hiring local energy advocates and running community-based social marketing campaigns. The funding model grants half of the funding up front to allow for initial cash flow to hire the community-based position. In exchange for funding, Mass Save asks partners to leverage their position as a trusted local messenger to sign up residents for Mass Save services and help them navigate next steps. Energy efficiency services include home and small business energy assessments, weatherization, and heat pump installations.

Audience: who is the program trying to reach?

Mass Save identified several priority populations who have historically participated less. These include, renters, residents that transact in languages other than English, moderate income customers, and residents who live in environmental justice census blocks. Lower participation is most commonly due to some residents’ lack of trust of their utility. By partnering with municipalities and CBOs across the state, this program was developed to build trust across the Mass Save brand, thereby increasing program participation.

Equity is a central pillar of the current Mass Save three-year strategic plan with a renewed focus on equitable emissions reduction. Massachusetts also has a robust and progressive regulatory framework that prioritizes equitable participation. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has identified a list of 22 “designated equity communities” (DECs) based on lower participation rates that Mass Save prioritizes in outreach efforts. The process of finding participating municipalities and organizations between the first cycle of CFP and the second was more streamlined because there were many partners who renewed their partnership so fewer hours were needed to get new partners on board. All 22 DECs are participating in the CFP for the 2025–2027 cycle.

Approximately 85% of partners are the municipality itself. When possible, Mass Save PAs tries to partner directly with the municipality. Because residents often trust municipal leaders like mayors and town managers, co-branded municipal partnerships can boost campaign success. In scenarios where municipalities are not the primary partner and leader, CBOs can participate if they receive a letter of recommendation from the municipality.

Behaviors: what do we want them to do?

The primary objective of this program is to increase participation in Mass Save energy efficiency programs by improving brand trust among priority communities. CFP relies heavily on community-based social marketing principles, which acknowledges that the messenger is equally as important as the message they are trying to convey. Local advocates with established community ties can leverage lived experiences and build trust more effectively to recruit participants. In practice, this program aims to change the behavior of increasing participation in energy efficient activities.

Content: what are we saying to them?

Partner communities receive extensive support including robust training, tabling supplies, marketing materials, access to design services, mailing lists, reporting templates and more. Communities use these materials as starting points and are encouraged to develop outreach campaigns that will resonate with residents in their local communities. In 2022–2024, partners logged over 5,000 outreach engagements around Massachusetts and sent 40 co-branded outreach letters, resulting in over 45,000 sign-ups.

Community partners are responsible for finding and hiring the energy advocate. Mass Save PAs provide a standard job description template and municipalities tailor it to the needs and desired competencies in their communities. PAs do not set specific goals or track metrics around who the energy advocates are and do not collect demographic information about advocates since they are not Mass Save employees. PAs do set wage minimums and encourage partners to offer full benefits where possible.

In exchange for funding, partners receive customized sign-up goals for home energy assessment, weatherization, heat pump, and/or small business energy assessments. There is no current competition component between the communities participating in this program. Mass Save PAs have found that communities are typically motivated to get this work done and the program does not need the competitive edge or gamification. PAs also note that the dynamic of pitting communities against each other is not effective and it can be challenging to compare efforts between distinct communities.

While not its primary objective, CFP has been a good steppingstone for individuals to join the energy efficiency workforce. Energy advocates often leverage the training and experience earned in the program to secure higher paying roles in the energy industry. Because this was not initially developed as a workforce development program, there are not specific equity metrics that are measurable or data that tracks what roles former energy advocates have gone into after participation in the program. Mass Save does not have any current plans to track the pathways of former participants but is open to developing a survey to do this.

Delivery: how will we tell them?

The CFP program is implemented by Mass Save PAs using a lead vendor model. The lead vendor is responsible for assigning program managers to each CFP partner, designing marketing materials, leading trainings, and conducting extensive reporting.

CFP partners are admitted to the program for a three-year cycle. The first cycle of this program ran from 2022–2024 and the program is currently in the second cycle running from 2025–2027. Fifty-eight communities and CBOs participate in the current 2025–2027 cycle. There is a maximum amount of annual funding of up to $85,500. Communities receive half of their eligible award at the beginning of the year and can receive more funding in Q2 and Q3 if they make progress towards their assigned goals. This format supports evaluation of community performance since CFP partners must achieve key performance indicators (KPIs) to unlock additional funding.

While it is uncommon for communities to miss their KPIs, in the last program cycle, two communities dropped out of the program due to staffing challenges. A key learning from the first roll out of this program was that most communities need a full-time energy advocate. There is plenty of work for the advocate to participate in, and in most communities, it was difficult to find an individual who was open to part-time work for more than six months. From this learning, Mass Save has since increased the maximum annual award from $60,000 to $85,500 to accommodate a full-time salary. In the first phase of this program, communities found that $60,000 was sometimes insufficient for the needs of the work in the community.

Evaluation: how do we assess if it is working?

Because this program was developed as a method to drive program participation, there are few workforce development metrics. Mass Save PAs could see value in collecting more data from energy advocates to evaluate how the CFP program supported their energy industry career. This feedback and anecdotal evidence could help highlight program value to both regulators and future applicants.

Historically, this program tracks KPIs related to participation data, not workforce development data. Four main KPIs are used to measure success:

1. Energy assessment enrollment among priority populations

2. Home weatherization projects completed among priority populations

3. Heat pump installations completed among priority populations

4. Small business assessments among priority populations

In addition to the KPIs listed above, Mass Save also tracks partner activity metrics such as community events logged, meetings attended, and number of distinct marketing campaigns launched. Still, those involved acknowledge that the goals and metrics for the program still need refining and shared that there continues to be extensive and ongoing program design changes to improve participant experience and program success.

Summary

The Community Partnership Initiative (CPI) was established in 2021 to provide grants and promote energy efficiency programs in local communities. Participants include CBOs, nonprofits, municipalities, and chambers of commerce (Energize Connecticut, 2025). Partners can apply for a short- or long-term partnership. The short-term partnership is between 3–6 months compared to the longer 6–12-month partnership that most participants select. All funding must be approved by the Energy Efficiency Board, a group of appointed advisors who evaluate and advise Connecticut’s utility companies’ energy conservation plans to help the State meet its energy needs, and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) before a partner receives a memorandum of agreement.

Background

Avangrid, Inc. includes eight electric and natural gas utilities that serve customers across New York, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut (Sullivan et al., 2024). Avangrid, Eversource, the Energy Efficiency Fund, Connecticut Green Bank, and the State of Connecticut sponsor the Energize Connecticut^SM (“Energize CT”) initiative.

Energize CT sponsors serve over 2 million residential and commercial electric and natural gas customers across Connecticut annually, and its sponsors have united under a shared mission “to provide Connecticut residents and businesses the resources they need to save money and use clean energy” (Energize Connecticut, n.d., Sullivan et al., 2024). Energize CT has developed state goals to reach every energy customer in the state of Connecticut by 2030. To do so, Energize CT has focused on engaging income-eligible customers. The income-eligible population is a large customer base with traditionally low energy efficiency program participation rates, and when engaging multifamily buildings, there is potential to reach both market rate and income-eligible customers alike.

Audience: who is the program trying to reach?

CPI was established in 2021 to enable partnerships with CBOs, non-profits, municipalities, chambers of commerce, and other partners who aim to raise awareness of and participation in energy efficiency programs across EJ communities. Communities eligible for participation include those who are distressed,² are in a grace period (previously distressed but no longer), or census block EJ groups.

While municipalities are encouraged to apply, they must partner with a community-based organization to ultimately be granted funds. These partnerships help share responsibilities for campaign activities and significantly expand community reach. On average, a single community partner can engage with approximately 17 distinct communities. While organizations applying for funding are not required to have any prior knowledge of energy efficiency or the utility industry, it is recommended that partners have roots in the community. Organizations interested in applying who are less developed within the community are encouraged to partner with organizations with more community experience and jointly apply.

Avangrid found success in prioritizing engagement with chambers of commerce and government councils due to their strong community ties, active memberships, and ability to support small business outreach. Chambers have been especially valuable in identifying potential CBO partners, aided by their regular meetings and ongoing community involvement. Community events and networking opportunities have also proven effective for connecting with prospective applicants. To ensure their participants are trusted local actors and will be effective in achieving this goal, Avangrid conducts research on potential organizational partners before committing. Applicants may send letters of support with their application (e.g., if they have received another grant recently, or from a board member).

Behaviors: what do we want them to do?

Avangrid looks to community partners to serve as trusted, local ambassadors for Energize CT’s energy efficiency programs. The primary objective is to raise awareness and deepen understanding of key offerings – such as Home Energy Solutions-Income Eligible, heat pump adoption incentives for income-eligible customers, the Small Business Energy Advantage program, and the Multifamily Initiative. To meet this goal, community partners are expected to:

1. Conduct Local Outreach and Education. Partners help energy customers understand program opportunities, including details on eligibility, benefits, and how to get started. These existing relationships within communities uniquely position partners to reach audiences that may not otherwise engage.

2. Identify and Engage Hard-to-Reach Populations. A core goal is increasing participation among historically underserved or energy-burdened communities. Partners help close this gap by connecting with multilingual populations, low- and moderate-income households, small businesses, and renters who may not be aware of or feel comfortable accessing energy programs on their own.

3. Host or Participate in Community Events. Partners participate in local events to bring Energize CT information directly into community spaces. These venues allow for real-time conversations, Q&A, and referrals to the appropriate programs.

4. Share Campaign Materials and Promote Programs. Partners distribute flyers, posters, social media content, and other campaign materials developed for the initiative. Their ability to use trusted communication channels – such as neighborhood associations, cultural organizations, and small business networks – significantly amplifies reach.

5. Support Residents and Businesses Through the Enrollment Process. Community partners provide light-touch support in helping households and small businesses understand how to take the next step. This may include directing them to program websites, helping them complete program applications, or connecting them with authorized contractors. While partners are not expected to deliver technical services, they play an essential role in connecting community members to the right resources.

6. Provide Feedback to Strengthen Program Delivery. Partners offer valuable insights on what resonates locally and what barriers community members encounter. This community-informed perspective is central to increasing participation and ensuring equitable impact.

7. Track and Share Outreach Activities. Partners document their outreach efforts—such as the number of events attended, materials distributed, and residents or businesses reached. This helps measure impact and supports continuous improvement of the initiative.

Content: what are we saying to them?

CPI leverages the local knowledge, trusted relationships, and community experience of organizations in areas of focus to raise awareness of and participation in energy efficiency offerings from Energize CT. Avangrid staff shared that oftentimes people have to hear something five to six times before they act on it, so these partnerships are crucial to help customers gain interest. When designing efforts to reach communities with these offerings, Avangrid gives partners a fair amount of freedom, providing templates for campaign and marketing activities and expertise upon request. This partnership is also not intended to replace other marketing efforts, but rather to enhance them and reach further than the existing marketing efforts have.

While the average grant is between $40,000 and $50,000 USD, grants range between $10,000 to $80,000 to implement community outreach plans that promote energy assessments, weatherization, and other energy-savings upgrades (Energize Connecticut, 2025). A large portion of this funding is allocated towards partner’s staff time, but Avangrid ensures that this does not take away funding from the efforts mentioned above by requiring partners to submit outreach and budget plans, as well as monthly staff hours. Some CPI partners are organizations run by community volunteers who are not compensated for their time or efforts.

Delivery: how will we tell them?

Avangrid announces application content through local media and leverages their own networks. During the application process, Avangrid hosts monthly webinars to provide a high-level overview of the partnership, go through the application process, and answer questions. Outreach is primarily conducted via email, common connections, and media.

Since the program’s inception, invoicing has shifted, as it was previously pay by performance. In round two, partners received all funding upfront. Currently, in round three, Avangrid provided one-third of funding upfront and a checklist of items partners needed to complete. These items include signing and submitting a memorandum of agreement, invoicing for their first third of funding, viewing orientation recordings for the programs of focus, partnering with authorized contractors, setting up a system with contractors to track leads, posting a press release to announce their funding award, creating a landing page for their campaign, creating two forms of collateral that follow Energize CT branding requirements, and completing a yearly work plan to outline their anticipated efforts. Once these items are completed, partners can then invoice for the final two thirds of funding.

Communication regarding marketing materials is conducted via email, but partners are encouraged to coordinate in-person meetings with the Avangrid program manager on a bi-weekly basis. To increase transparency, Avangrid publishes regular newsletters detailing partner work and Avangrid efforts to support partners. To maintain constant support to partners, Avangrid periodically sends reminders that include helpful tips and tricks like marketing advice or requirements of Energize CT branding.

Avangrid addresses language barriers by earmarking funding for generating marketing materials in different languages, working with contractors that can speak in the desired language for the customer, and having team members that are able to speak the language at program events. Specifically, Energize CT found the benefit to providing dual language collateral for households where someone in family speaks English, but other family members do not; they provide one resource that these households can use and flip back and forth between more easily. To remove additional barriers, contractors serving income-eligible customers will see them through with additional add-on measures. For example, when exploring weatherization services, contractors will also explore heat pumps with the customers. This allows the same contractors to work with customers for the entire process from proposal to install. Avangrid found that having partners connect with an Energize CT authorized contractor helps see the project through to the end and increases customer retention.

Evaluation: how do we assess if it is working?

Avangrid provides all applicants with a goal based on past participation for the community of focus. Initially, Avangrid set goals by increasing average participation over the previous five years by 10%. In practice, reaching this goal was challenging so for round three, Avangrid is using a three-year average with a 10% increase. These goals have been set to encourage partners to reach more customers, but there is no penalty for not reaching these targets.

Avangrid helps tailor engagement goals based on the program the campaign focuses on. To measure customer engagement, contractors are responsible for finding and tracking a set number of “leads” or completed assessments. In previous rounds of funding, staff found that time was a common barrier for customers. For instance, Avangrid might have a customer who gets into their system as a lead and has an appointment scheduled, but it takes months or after the campaign ends, before their assessment is completed. In response, both metrics now count towards the goal.

To track leads and completed assessments, Avangrid has created tracking systems where all customer information is embedded. Contractors can pull reports embedded in the tracking system and filter them for the communities that are part of their partnership. Avangrid staff look at these monthly and let partners know where they stand towards reaching their goals. Staff are in the process of making progress toward the goals public so the community can also view this data through the Energize CT Municipal Dashboard.

Audience

• Engage with the chambers of commerce to reach many organizations at once and ensure cultural sensitivity. Cultural chambers can help identify organizations for partnership and ensure the portfolio of partners mirrors the diverse base of customers the utility serves. Chambers typically have close ties to community, active members, and can better support small business opportunities. Chambers of commerce have been particularly helpful when identifying CBOs due to their active community participation and regular meetings.

• Prioritize full-time employment positions, as these are typically more desirable and feasible for community members looking to enter the industry. Part-time work opportunities often lead to higher turnover so ensuring that funding is available for full-time opportunities will benefit individuals and community members.

Behaviors

• Invest in the messenger as well as the message they are delivering. Co-delivery of programs leverages existing trusted community relationships. Co-design will build trust, address barriers to entry, and utilize cultural competency. A community-based messenger can better reach those who would not have typically applied than an outsider.

• Explore community capacity building characteristics of programs not originally intended for workforce development. Providing experience in the energy industry can serve as a steppingstone and build community capacity even if it is not the main focus of a program.

Content

• Give partners latitude with program design to ensure cultural sensitivity and community buy-in. Program administrators do this by providing community partners with templates and technical support, but largely by stepping back and allowing partners to tailor programming to specific community needs on their own timeline. An added benefit is that these communities are better able to practice cultural sensitivity as they are typically embedded directly in the communities they are aiming to serve.

• Offer wraparound services to minimize barriers to participation. These services may include funding for transportation, childcare, or work equipment. It can be challenging to include these items in a budget, but program administrators have found success in creating a large, general, line item and allowing community partners to provide wraparound services at their discretion. Offering these additional services that go beyond traditional trainings help individuals feel more compelled to participate in trainings that can support future career development and discovery.

• Provide on-the-job training opportunities and support trainees and recent graduates by advocating for them in entry level positions. One way to do this is by subsidizing wages as a “proof of concept”. This method also provides support for candidates and aims to decrease barriers for businesses and contractors to take a chance on new, entry level employees and supports more equitable hiring practices.

Delivery

• Increase transparency by being accessible to community partners and the community. For example, some program administrators publish regular newsletters that detail partner work and share work that the PA is doing to support the community.

• Provide funding incrementally. When dealing with a large sum of money to be spent on an annual basis, program administrators found great success when giving a portion at the beginning of the funding period to cover initial costs. Then, throughout the year, awardees can incrementally request more as they meet goals, complete checklists, or prove progress towards KPIs.

• Leverage a multitude of media outlets, especially ones that are meaningful to the community, to promote programming. Providing an opportunity for potential grantees to ask questions during the application process has helped reduce barriers to participation.

Evaluation

• Help community partners set goals. This is an effective tool to encourage progress towards longer term objectives. It can be helpful to constantly evaluate metrics to ensure barriers like time do not diminish the magnitude of efforts and progress towards goals. For example, instead of tracking completed assessments, measure leads to show community engagement with program and intent to participate.

• Strive for continuous improvement. Regularly collecting feedback from community partners and customers who are engaged in programming has led to increased community buy-in and more successful programming. Co-design and co-delivery give program administrators less control over evaluation of each program, making it challenging to collect customer data or feedback.

These exploratory case studies detail the strategies of three energy efficiency programs towards building trust, co-delivering and co-implementing community-based programs that build capacity from within. While these three case studies offered different approaches to program design and delivery, key themes stood out. Leveraging trusted messengers to boost participation in underserved communities, providing partners ongoing support and utilizing wraparound services to decrease participation barriers, allowing partners the freedom to tailor outreach plans and goals to their specific local contexts, and creating consistent feedback mechanisms are all essential elements to building capacity in communities. Doing so is essential to minimizing barriers to participation in energy efficiency programming to ensure all audiences can benefit.