A mission for a more resilient, just, and sustainable region.
Piedmont Environmental Alliance educates and empowers, builds community, and leads action to create a more just, resilient, and environmentally sustainable region.
Empowering Education
We design and deliver dynamic education programs inside and outside of local schools to deepen student understanding of and connection to key sustainability issues and solutions. Our programs - including in-classroom presentations, field trips, and events - teach more than 3,500 students annually about energy use, water conservation, climate change, civic leadership, and more.
Events that Build Community
We organize events that engage thousands of people in local environmental education and action. One of the largest and most diverse events in the state, the Piedmont Earth Day Fair brings together 8,000+ people to celebrate sustainability and learn about environmental action. The Sustainability Roundtable convenes environmental experts across sectors and identity to develop a shared agenda for collaborative action. PEA’s Green Home Tour showcases ways to increase home efficiency and resiliency. The Green Jobs Expo brings together local job seekers and employers to build a more resilient, future-forward economy.
Impactful Partnerships & Campaigns
We partner with local and regional organizations, corporations, individuals, and communities to influence policy and practice. Our Environmental Action Coalition of 30+ partners meets monthly to build the local sustainability movement. Our campaigns - including Solarize the Triad and Affordable, Healthy Homes - focus on home electrification, community solar, the green economy, and other vital ways to create a sustainable future. Recent wins include supporting Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to pass a landmark Sustainability Resolution, helping the Arts Based School procure an electric school bus, and expanding solar energy to 75+ new families and businesses, sparking $2.2M in local clean energy investment.
Technical Expertise with Measurable Outcomes
We offer technical assistance to local decision makers navigate clean energy programs and participate in the green economy. PEA’s Green Business Network provides a sustainability roadmap and one-on-one consulting for local businesses who want to take action. Our work with Second Harvest Food Bank of NW NC led to the installation of the largest rooftop solar array in Forsyth County, saving the non-profit more than $140,000 annually and reducing carbon emissions by 1M tons annually. Our solar workforce training program is connecting local job seekers with opportunities to be part of the growing green economy.
Our Theory of Change
The work of creating a more just, resilient, and sustainable region is BIG and BROAD - bigger and broader than one issue area or one group or one policy area. At Piedmont Environmental Alliance, we believe that the way forward is through deep community partnerships based on strong relationships, earned trust, and an abundance mindset. By rooting in relationship and shared social justice values, we can build and mobilize community power toward a brighter future for all.
Our History
In 2006, a group of friends joined together to host a family-friendly Earth Day celebration in Winston-Salem. The first Piedmont Earth Day Fair was so successful that the fair's organizing committee formed Piedmont Environmental Alliance, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging the Piedmont Triad community for a more just, resilient, and environmentally sustainable future.
Since our founding, the Piedmont Earth Day Fair has grown to the largest Earth Day celebration in North Carolina and Piedmont Environmental Alliance has grown into our role as the regional leader of a growing environmental movement.