Our Work

At Upright Consulting Services, we partner with our clients to translate broad equity commitments into concrete and clear outcomes. We have expansive interest and expertise in working at the intersections of justice, sustainability, and climate change. We embrace projects at all of these intersections, and work closely with clients who want to improve their practice of putting racial equity at the center of climate change work.

We tailor our specific approach and solution in a bespoke way for each client’s unique needs. We work to connect practitioners from social movements, public agencies, mainstream nonprofits, and marginalized communities to forge innovative solutions to big challenges. We analyze the intersection of climate, racial equity, and economic inclusion, focusing on the following areas:

Local government policies and programs

Climate policy impacts on gentrification, displacement, and affordable housing
Equitable building decarbonization and electrification policies and programs
Workforce development, high road policies, and minority business contracting
Equity data, mapping, and metrics
Community power building and co-creation

Key Practices

- Community of Practice – design, implementation, facilitation, management, and support for hiring and training managers.
- Workshops, Trainings, and Educational Series – design and delivery
- Peer-to-Peer Learning and Support
- Collaboration Facilitation – between cities and communities, and among diverse stakeholders
- Partnership Support – between mainstream organizations and community or racial equity organizations
- Community Co-Creation – facilitating and supporting policy and program development between policymakers and impacted communities
- Advising and Technical Assistance
- Pilot Program Design and Implementation Support
- Reflection and Evaluation
- Framework Development, Resource Production and Publication
- Design of Public Policy, Programs, and Processes
- Coaching, Leadership Development, and Thought Partnership
- Fundraising Support – advising on key messages, relationships, approach
- Organizational Development and Support for Hiring and Training New Staff

Our Projects

We embrace projects across the full spectrum of equity and sustainability work—we're eager to explore initiatives that align with our core mission of turning commitments into meaningful action and impactful change.

Leading with Race in Climate Solutions

Upright is leading a collaboration with leading organizations to address legal challenges to race-conscious climate policies. Through field and network building, resource creation, research, facilitation, and concerning, we are supporting movements working towards racial and climate justice.
Towards Equitable Electric Mobility (TEEM) Community of Practice

Upright helped design and manage the TEEM Community of Practice, a multi-state initiative launched by the Greenlining Institute and Forth to advance racial equity in electric mobility and support the collaboration of environmental justice advocates and mainstream transportation organizations for peer learning and policy development.
Community Climate Shift Initiative

Upright is providing technical assistance and facilitation support for a $5 million U.S. DOE-funded project focused on equitable building decarbonization across seven jurisdictions. We are collaborating with our partners on strengthening city-community collaboration, ensuring that community-based organizations have meaningful, empowered roles in shaping policy and programs.
Electrify San José Framework

Upright partnered with the City of San Jose and the Building Electrification Institute to develop the Electrify San José: Framework for Existing Building Electrification. Through a co-creation process, we established formal partnerships with community-based organizations so that equity concerns and community priorities were integrated into the plan, which was ultimately adopted by City Council.