Local Media Contacts
Courtney Thomas
Vice President for Communications & Public Affairs
Greater New Orleans Foundation
courtney@gnof.org
504.236.7096
Todd Ragusa
Together Louisiana
todd@ragusaconsulting.com
(504) 330-2202
National Media Contacts
Pete Nelson
Director of Communications – Gulf Research Program
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
PNelson@nas.edu
(202) 334-3989
Angie Ngo
Lever for Change
media@leverforchange.org
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program and Lever for Change Announce the Greater New Orleans Foundation and Together Louisiana as Finalists for $50 Million Challenge to Support a Safer, More Resilient, and Sustainable Future for the Gulf Coast Region
New Orleans — On September 9, 2025, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program and Lever for Change announced the Greater New Orleans Foundation (Foundation) and Together Louisiana as one of ten finalists for the $50 million Gulf Futures Challenge. These finalist projects are a collection of bold ideas that apply, translate, and communicate science, engineering, and medical knowledge to address critical challenges in the Gulf Coast region.
Representing all five Gulf states, these ten projects present creative visions for tackling the urgent challenges of energy security, environmental change, and community well-being, each through a distinct, locally grounded approach. The projects are united by a common goal of creating safer and more resilient communities where people in the Gulf can live, work, and thrive. From addressing flooding to repurposing decommissioned wind turbines, together, they are demonstrating how science can drive practical, people-centered solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.
In 2022, Together Louisiana and the Greater New Orleans Foundation launched the Community Lighthouse strategy to create a community-wide network of nonprofit resilience hubs, each powered by commercial-scale solar systems with back-up battery capacity, that will be able to better provide assistance to surrounding communities during power outages caused by hurricanes and other disasters. The Greater New Orleans Foundation provided a $1 million grant to The Community Lighthouse strategy, serving as the lead investor and partner in getting the project off the ground. The gift was the Foundation’s largest single grant from its Disaster Response and Restoration fund.
The funding from the Gulf Futures Challenge will allow the Community Lighthouse Initiative to expand to 80 resilience hubs, equipping trusted civic institutions with solar + battery microgrids and trained neighbors to provide reliable power, critical services, and strong neighborhood networks—strengthening energy resilience across the Gulf Coast.
“The Gulf Futures Challenge finalists exemplify the bold thinking and community-rooted innovation needed to navigate the complex transitions facing our environment, economy, and public health,” said Lauren Alexander Augustine, Ph.D., executive director of the Gulf Research Program. “We are proud to support their efforts and see them continue to build their ideas into action.”
“The Greater New Orleans Foundation is proud to partner with Together Louisiana on the Community Lighthouses project and to be recognized as one of ten finalists for the Gulf Futures Challenge by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program and Lever for Change for that important work,” said Andy Kopplin, President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “As we saw with Hurricane Francine in September 2024, Community Lighthouses make a huge difference in the lives of members of our community. Following Hurricane Ida in August 2021, we received enough support from generous donors to make our largest ever long-term recovery investment to launch the Community Lighthouse project. An initiative of Together Louisiana, 18 Community Lighthouses have been established at congregations, clinics and community institutions statewide. When the power goes off, our most vulnerable citizens now have a place to go to access cooling stations, charging stations, food and water, oxygen exchange and other critical services.”
“The clock is ticking on the Gulf Coast. Disasters have shown us time and again that resilience must be built from the ground up, rooted in and accountable to our communities,” said Sonya Norsworthy, President of Together New Orleans, part of the Together Louisiana network. “This recognition affirms that the Community Lighthouse strategy is a model not only for our community, but for the entire Gulf Coast and beyond.”
The Gulf Futures Challenge received 164 applications from organizations based in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Each entry was subject to participatory reviews and multiple rigorous evaluations by experts from science, engineering, and medicine. The finalists collectively represent all five states along the Gulf Coast and were selected based on four key criteria: whether they were impactful, bridging knowledge to action, innovative, and inclusive in their proposed approaches.
Each of the ten finalist teams will receive an initial project development grant of $300,000 and technical assistance to strengthen their proposals. After submitting revised applications, two finalists will be awarded $20 million each to implement their solutions. The remaining eight will be eligible for up to $875,000 in additional project development support.
The Community Lighthouse Initiative is led by Together Louisiana and the Greater New Orleans Foundation, with additional partnership from the LSU School of Social Work.
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The Greater New Orleans Foundation
With roots extending over 100 years, the Greater New Orleans Foundation connects generous people to the causes that spark their passion. As one of the most trusted philanthropic organizations in the region, we work every day to drive positive impact by championing charitable giving, strengthening nonprofits, and leading civic projects in our thirteen-parish region. In addition to grantmaking, we convene people, resources, and ideas to create intelligent strategies and solutions to meet our region’s greatest challenges. We are proud to serve as a vocal civic leader with our partners to ensure an economically and culturally vibrant, sustainable, and just region for all. Learn more at www.gnof.org.
Together Louisiana
Together Louisiana is a statewide network of more than 250 religious congregations and civic organizations across Louisiana, representing more than 200,000 people. It is one of the largest grassroots organizations in the history of Louisiana.
The mission of Together Louisiana is to give faith and community-based organizations an opportunity to develop the leadership capacity of their members and affect change on a larger scale than they could alone.
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine & The Gulf Research Program (GRP)
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. The National Academies operate under a 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit nationalacademies.org/about.
The National Academies’ Gulf Research Program (GRP) is an independent, science-based program founded in 2013 as part of legal settlements with the companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The GRP’s mission is to develop, translate, and apply science to enhance the safety of offshore energy, the environment, and the well-being of the people of the Gulf region for generations to come. It supports innovative science, guides data design and monitoring, and builds and sustains networks to generate long-term benefits for the Gulf region and the nation. Visit nationalacademies.org/gulf/gulf-research-program to learn more.
Lever for Change
Lever for Change is a nonprofit affiliate of the MacArthur Foundation that creates equitable access in the world of philanthropy, enabling donors to discover and invest in organizations with transformative potential. Through an inclusive open call approach, the team invites organizations of all sizes from around the world to showcase their big ideas and receive donor funding and resources to make them happen. To date, Lever for Change has influenced over $2.5 billion in grants and worked with more than 500 organizations worldwide. Discover new potential at leverforchange.org.