The USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability, part of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, has received a $4 million commitment from Ballmer Group to launch a new initiative focused on climate and carbon management.
“This generous gift will enable innovative research to accelerate decarbonization strategies,” says Dornsife College Dean Amber D. Miller. “Our Wrigley Institute is in an ideal position to fill important gaps in our collective efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change—from implementing new scientific and technological breakthroughs to drawing on economic, political, and behavioral expertise from the most creative minds in the business.”
Established in 2015 by philanthropist Connie Ballmer and her husband, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Ballmer Group focuses on improving economic mobility and opportunity for children and families in the United States. The organization’s climate portfolio sits alongside that focus to address the ways in which climate change creates challenges for families and undermines gains in economic mobility. To date, Ballmer Group’s climate grantmaking has included the clean energy transition, implementation of the IRA, ending tropical deforestation, and climate-smart agriculture.