BY Tere Figueras Negrete, TFN Senior Communications Director
A new grant program will help communities tap the potential of infrastructure projects to drive economic growth where it’s needed most — helping scale small businesses, train and retain skilled workers, and build career pathways for young people in critical industries.
In all, six communities will receive $1.5 million in matching grants through the Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative to effectively and equitably implement public infrastructure projects across the U.S., including in rural counties, large urban cities and on Tribal lands.
The six grantee communities are: Albuquerque, N.M.; Atlantic City, N.J.; the Kalispel Reservation near Usk, Wash.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Tucson, Ariz.
This new initiative, a program of The Funders Network (TFN), will ensure public infrastructure projects improve communities through job creation, workforce development and training, equitable contracting and other economic benefits.
Local partnerships are at the heart of the Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative, which provides funding, technical expertise and other support for grantees as they work to complete infrastructure projects — while keeping the needs of their communities at the forefront.
“Even with recent rollbacks in federal infrastructure funding, there are still billions of public dollars committed to community infrastructure projects across the country,” said Ann Fowler Wallace, Vice President of Programs and Partnerships for The Funders Network. “The Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative brings together key partners to make sure these projects are completed in ways that center community values and voices.”
Matthew DeNafo, president of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, highlights the importance of the water workforce in New Jersey. Atlantic City community partners will use its Partners for Places funding to upskill and retain utility workers essential to sustaining local infrastructure. Photo credit: New Jersey Water Works Collaborative.
How will these six grantee communities use their Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative grants?
Community partners in Albuquerque will connect dozens of young people to a forestry project across urban and rural areas in Bernalillo, McKinley, and Doña Ana counties, helping them acquire skills that both create career pathways to high-quality jobs and support climate resilience in their communities.
In Tucson, the funds will help local landscapers and arborists scale their operations and help their workers acquire the certifications needed to secure government contracts, ensuring small business owners benefit from a federally funded urban forestry project.
Four of the grantee communities will focus on investments in water infrastructure and workforce development, creating pipelines for job opportunities and career advancement in a critical industry.
In Milwaukee, where efforts to clean up the Milwaukee Estuary have resulted in one of the largest environmental infrastructure efforts in the country, community partners will connect residents to cleanup jobs, apprenticeships and training.
Pittsburgh, which is tackling the largest water infrastructure modernization project in the city’s history, will use its Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative funds to recruit, train and employ new pools of workers to support the project and benefit from new, family-sustaining careers.
“The strength of our infrastructure depends on the strength of our workforce,” said Rob Cherry, CEO of Partner4Work in Pittsburgh. “This investment builds pathways into high-demand careers while supporting critical projects that will keep our region running for decades to come.”
Community partners in Atlantic City, concerned about a looming shortage in the national water labor sector as highly skilled workers retire, will use these funds to train and retain current water utility employees — expanding access to opportunities that will help them grow in their careers and sustain the local water infrastructure.
And on the Kalispel Reservation in Washington, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians is implementing a new, sovereign drinking water system in direct response to a water supply crisis that has plagued their community with boil-water advisories, pressure failures and other issues. Community partners will use the Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative funds to create both temporary construction jobs and permanent careers in water utility operation and management.
The first round of this pilot initiative will provide $640,000 to the six grantee communities through the grant program. With contributions from local funders, a total of $1.5 million in funding will be committed to the selected communities.
The Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative is supported by the generosity of Spring Point Partners, a social impact organization that is among the more than 110 grantmaking institutions that are members of TFN.
“We are thankful to The Funders Network for having the vision for this work and for the opportunity to support it in its initial stages,” said Chetana Mirle, Interim Chief Grants Officer for Spring Point Partners.
Pittsburgh’s plan to modernize and protect the city’s drinking water system for generations to come includes a major overhaul of the Aspinwall Pump Station, including preservation of the building’s historic façade and architectural features. Construction and building trade representatives attended a kick-off event for the project in November 2025. Photo credit: Pittsburgh Water.
The Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure project descriptions, grant recipients, community partners and matching funders are:
- Albuquerque, N.M. ($110,000): To train and place youth in water and climate resilience careers through pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, and partnerships with city/county infrastructure projects. Grant recipient: The Semilla Project. Community partners: PowerCorps and Coalitions & Collaboratives, Inc. Matching funder: W.K. Kellogg Foundation ($500,000).
- Atlantic City, N.J. ($90,000): To enhance job skills in the water sector, creating economic opportunities and promoting sustainability in the Atlantic City area. Grant recipient: New Jersey Future. Community partners/ Matching funders: Atlantic County Utilities Authority, Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority and Jersey Water Works ($55,000).
- Kalispel Reservation near Usk, Wash. ($110,000): To create pipelines to both temporary construction jobs and permanent careers in water utility operation and management connected to a new sovereign drinking water system for the Kalispel Reservation. Grant recipient: The Kalispel Tribe. Community partner: Kalispel Department of Public Works. Matching funders: Paul Allen Foundation and Innovia Foundation ($25,000).
- Milwaukee, Wis. ($110,000): To ensure Milwaukee’s $500 million investment in waterway restoration delivers equitable opportunity by connecting frontline residents to cleanup jobs, apprenticeships, and training. Grant recipient: Harbor District Inc. Community partners: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and Milwaukee AOC Community Advisory Committee. Matching funder: Fund for Lake Michigan ($160,000).
- Pittsburgh, Pa. ($110,000): To expand workforce equity by training underserved frontline communities for family-sustaining careers while supporting Pittsburgh’s largest water infrastructure modernization project. Grant recipient: Partner4Work. Community partners: Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, A. Philip Randolph Institute – Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Gateways. Matching funder: Henry L. Hillman Foundation ($60,000).
- Tucson, Ariz. ($110,000): To scale local landscaping firms and certify frontline workers to secure contracts, bridging workforce training and business readiness to build Tucson’s inclusive green economy. Grant recipient: Local First Arizona Foundation. Community partners: Pascua Yaqui Development Corporation, City of Tucson and Tucson Clean and Beautiful Commission. Matching funders: Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, Arizona Community Foundation and Arizona Complete Health ($60,000).
About The Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative
The Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative, a project of The Funders Network (TFN), is a matching grant program that helps community partnerships unlock public dollars, increase opportunities for small businesses, and create career pathways for local workers.
These grants support communities that are advancing work on infrastructure projects supported by federal, state or other public dollars. This funding is not for the physical infrastructure itself, but for the human infrastructure needed to create meaningful collaborations and center community engagement.
Through the Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative, grantee communities receive investment and technical support to effectively and equitably ensure public infrastructure projects improve frontline and low-wealth communities through job creation, workforce development and training, equitable contracting, and other economic benefits.
This new initiative is part of TFN’s broader Partners for Places community-centered matching grant program, which focuses on projects that foster long-term local relationships that make communities of all sizes more prosperous, livable and vibrant.
To date, the Partners for Places grants program has awarded more than $13 million across North America over the past decade, leading to nearly $26 million in investments.
For additional information and media inquiries, contact: Tere Figueras Negrete, Senior Communications Director at The Funders Network at tere@fundersnetwork.org
Featured image: Matthew DeNafo, president of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, highlights the importance of the water workforce in New Jersey at a local event. Photo credit: New Jersey Water Works Collaborative..