Mesa awarded 2 environmental excellence awards from Arizona Forward

The city of Mesa was recently presented with two awards at Arizona Forward’s 44th annual environmental excellence awards gala.

The city in March received a crescordia award in curriculum and youth-based environmental education for its Mesa youth climate action fund.

The crescordia award is the highest honor awarded by Arizona Forward.

The Mesa youth climate action fund is a city program where members of the community ages 15-24 can be awarded micro-grants between $1,000 and $5,000 to work with city partners to implement sustainable and resilient projects around the city, according to Mesa.

The program is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Mesa has received $150,000 from the organization, according to Lauren Whittaker, the environmental and sustainability deputy director.

In 2025, the city of Mesa awarded more than $80,000 for youth-led community sustainability projects, according to the city.

The grants were distributed between 18 different sustainability projects, all aimed to improve Mesa’s environmental impact and climate resilience as a whole.

Some community partners that have benefited from Mesa youth climate action fund projects include Mesa Public Schools, Child Crisis Arizona, and Jarrod’s Coffee, Tea & Gallery.

At a city council meeting on April 6, Whittaker said some of the community projects funded by the program have been heartwarming to see.

“It’s an amazing program that engages the community, builds confidence in workforce ready skills for youth and creates a more sustainable environment for all of Mesa,” she said. “The impact to the community and youth has been tremendous.”

Mesa also received an award of distinction in heat mitigation for the Reed Park planting and greening project alongside The Nature Conservancy in Arizona and multiple community partners including Arizona Sustainability Alliance, Trees Matter, Unlimited Potential, Watershed Management Group, and The Garden Club of America.

In October 2025 the Reed Park planting and greening project facilitated the planting of 94 desert adapted trees, 35 native shrubs and built three storm water capture basins all done by community members.

The city hopes the project can become more than a one-time project, but instead serve as a template for future projects in Mesa as well as other cities, Whittaker said.

“We hope this project will serve as a template for future collaboration between municipalities, nonprofits and community-based organizations to increase urban shade and make our city more resilient in the face of increasing heat,” she said.

Whittaker also thanked Mayor Mark Freeman and Councilmember Jenn Duff for their attendance at the award gala and thanked the entire council for supporting these initiatives.

“We hope to continue award-winning initiatives like this into the future,” she said.

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