Eligible applicants for the Climate Ready Workforce Competition must be located in coastal states or territories as defined by 16 U.S.C. § 1453(4) or in the District of Columbia. They are:State governments;Tribal governments - the recognized governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component band, or component reservation, individually identified (including parenthetically) in the list published most recently as of 2022 pursuant to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131);Territorial governments;Local governments;Institutions of higher education (as defined in subsection (a) of section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, other Minority-Serving Institutions, community colleges, and technical colleges;Non-profit organizations or associations.Applicant RoleApplicants will have all or most of the following characteristics:Convening power in the region, which is the ability to catalyze collective action by relevant actors to address regional climate challenges. Exercising convening power is not an end-goal but rather a means to foster collective action to achieve desirable development outcomes.Committed support of the executive leadership from the region and buy-in from appropriate relevant groups (e.g., a governor, mayor or chief executive of a jurisdiction, chief executives of major employers, heads of labor unions, presidents of two- and four-year institutions of higher education).Strong fundraising or budget-management capabilities or connection to a system with strong fundraising capabilities.Relationships and credibility with key players in the workforce ecosystem, including employers, governmental entities, state or local workforce development boards, educational institutions, labor organizations, and worker-serving organizations.A proven track record of coordinating across sectors and partners and of driving relevant groups to successful action.Dedicated full-time employee(s) focused on addressing regional workforce issues to support regional economic development.Ability to translate various sectors’ objectives and key concerns to other sectors.Strong outreach and engagement capabilities.Applicants do not need to have a background in climate resilience but are expected to engage with employers that have good jobs that enhance climate resilience, as well as with strategic partners who can work with the applicant and employers to ensure the training provides the skills needed for those jobs. The workers trained under this NOFO must fill jobs located in a coastal state, Tribal nation, or territory, with a focus on workers from the community where the jobs are located (per section VIII.H).Partner RolesApplications must include project teams that consist of committed partners. Partners are essential within the Climate Ready Workforce Competition. Partners may include government entities, educational institutions (including community and technical colleges), training organizations, economic development organizations, workforce development organizations, unions, labor management partnerships, industry associations, employer-serving organizations, conservation corps, not-for-profits, philanthropic organizations, and/or community-based organizations. All partners do not need to be located in coastal states, Tribal nations, or territories (though, as stated elsewhere, applicants and resulting jobs must be).We encourage applicants to partner and work directly with climate service practitioners, who themselves: have a range of experiences (Figure 2); are trained to evaluate climate risk and develop strategies responsive to that risk; and can help identify employers who need skilled workers related to climate resilience. Many workers in good jobs that enhance climate resilience will not be climate service practitioners, but often worker roles focused on climate resilience will benefit from expanded competency in working with climate service practitioners. Partnerships should clearly delineate the skills needed within a given region or sector to enhance climate resilience, in turn supporting worker roles that function in collaboration with climate service practitioners, whose roles and functions are described below.Figure 2. Climate service practitioners bring multiple skills to bear on serving communities, regions, industries, and sectors.A climate service practitioner has or is able to leverage the following skills, getting assistance as necessary and incorporating relevant climate information into the needs of a specific community, region, business, or sector:Read, understand, and interpret climate science literature.Work with a planning team and facilitate a process using principles of equity and inclusion.Use spatial data and information.Work with communities to understand concerns and determine requirements that define vulnerability, risk, and potential impacts from climate-related impacts.Access and understand relevant solutions to problems, working with subject matter experts in many domains.Develop equitable, finance-ready resilience plans by focusing on the data, methods, tools, and governance structures that can be replicated, compared, and improved quickly.Using appropriate partnerships, tools, and resources suited to your work program, incorporate an understanding of exposure, vulnerability, and risk to climate-related impacts while designing and implementing potential actions to enhance climate resilience. See the Steps to Resilience framework for context and details. (https://toolkit.climate.gov/steps-to-resilience/steps-resilience-overview).We encourage applicants to collaborate with, as strategic partner(s), NOAA-affiliated entities, which include NOAA offices, labs, cooperative institutes, personnel, and programs that implement NOAA climate resilience priorities (https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/resources-climate-ready-workforce). NOAA Federal agencies and their personnel are not permitted to receive federal funding under this competition; however, federal experts and other employees can serve as uncompensated strategic partners or co-Leads on applications. Federal labs and offices can also make available specialized expertise, facilities, or equipment to applicants, but cannot be compensated under this competition for their use.If the project location includes areas that are served by NOAA’s Sea Grant College programs, National Estuarine Research Reserves, the National Coastal Zone Management Program, and/or NOAA’s Climate Adaptation Partnerships (CAP, formerly known as Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments, or RISA), applicants are encouraged to consider involving representatives from these programs as project advisors or strategic partners. Applicants can locate their local/regional NOAA resilience expertise, as well as other non-NOAA experts at https://toolkit.climate.gov/help/partners.Applicants or partners could be existing AmeriCorps or Corps Network members or other organizations that offer paid training, career skills development, and/or job pathways into climate resilience careers. We encourage projects that can also implement elements of the proposed Civilian Climate Corps Initiative (Exec Order No. 14008, see https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/).Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and AccessibilityNOAA is committed to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. NOAA champions diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility (DEIJA) by recruiting, retaining, and preparing a diverse workforce, and proactively engaging and serving the diverse populations of coastal states and territories. NOAA encourages applicants of all ages, races, ethnicities, national origins, gender identities, sexual orientations, disabilities, cultures, religions, citizenship types, marital statuses, education levels, job classifications, veteran status types, income, and socioeconomic status to apply for this opportunity.