Acterra

A Palo Alto climate nonprofit that has been running since 1970, offering free workshops, home electrification tours and youth programs across the Peninsula and South Bay.

Who it's actually for

Homeowners and renters trying to work out what to do about their own house, which is a surprisingly underserved question in a region full of climate organizations aimed at professionals. The Green@Home program runs monthly tours of real, lived-in electrified homes where you can ask the owners what it cost, what broke, and what they would do differently. That is worth more than a panel.

It is also a good fit for people who want volunteering with a clear task attached. Acterra runs on nine staff and more than 1,700 volunteer hours a year, so volunteers do real work rather than filling seats. The organization says it prioritizes frontline, under-resourced and multilingual communities, and it runs student and youth programs for people still in school.

It is a weaker fit if you are looking for career networking or startup introductions. Nobody here is going to introduce you to an investor. For that, 9Zero and Women in Cleantech and Sustainability are the rooms, and Acterra is where you go when you want to change something on your own street instead.

At fifty-six years old it is the most established climate organization in this publication, and the least loud about it.

What they run

Four program areas. Clean Energy and Electrification, which includes the Karl Knapp GoEV program and Green@Home with its monthly home tours. Sustainable Food Systems, including Farm Fresh Futures and HomeGrown Bay Area. Youth Education, including You(th) Be the Change and a Student Ambassador Program. And Clean Air and Water.

For adults who want an ongoing group rather than a one-off, there is a Green Team Network and a Young Professionals group.

What it costs

Free. Acterra describes its offering as free workshops, public lectures and community events, and the listings bear that out.

Where

Offices at 3921 East Bayshore Road, Suite 210, Palo Alto. Programs and tours run across the Peninsula and South Bay, and occasionally into the North Bay, so the office address is rarely where the event is.

How to start

Book a Green@Home Sustainable Living Showcase, the monthly home tour. Acterra itself calls these intimate, which is an honest way of saying small, so they fill and an early RSVP is the difference between going and reading about it.