A small founding group
Only ~5 cities or regional clusters will be in the first cohort.
Programs · Early Round: 2027 Cohort
Turn your city’s clean air ambition into action.
This fall, we are inviting a small group of cities to develop ambitious, durable indoor clean-air projects for students from early childhood through high school — and become national exemplars in this work.
We are approaching cities where we already see important building blocks for success, including committed leaders, relevant local initiatives, strong institutions and relationships, and a clear opportunity to build momentum. Our goal is to work with this inaugural cohort in 2027 — and perhaps beyond — to make clean air in classrooms a reality in these cities. We believe these cities can become leaders in the field, demonstrating what is possible when existing assets are brought together.
A national cohort
Join a national cohort for clean classroom air.
This fall we are inviting a small group of cities to form the first Inspired Air cohort: early leaders who will show the country what clean indoor air looks like. Together, we would aim to have cleaner air in early childhood settings and classrooms as school opens in fall 2027.
One national cohort, many kinds of air
What makes indoor air unhealthy varies across the country. A cohort that spans regions will produce solutions that work in many kinds of places, and every city in it learns from the others. A seat can be one city or a regional cluster of smaller districts sharing capacity.
AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
RI
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
- PacificWildfire smoke, plus traffic near freeways and ports
- Mountain WestWildfire smoke and winter inversions that trap pollution in valleys
- Midwest & Great LakesAging school buildings, smoke that travels from distant fires, and summer heat
- Northeast & Mid-AtlanticSome of the oldest school buildings and HVAC systems, dense traffic corridors, and high childhood asthma rates in some cities
- SouthHeat and humidity that keep buildings closed and strain HVAC, moisture and mold, and traffic and industrial corridors
Regions are illustrative. The drivers shown are common patterns, not a description of any one city.
Why join now
A hand in the design
Founding partners help shape the program, including the timeline, supports, and how the cohort works together.
A national stage
Early cities become the national examples others follow, with a spring 2027 convening and communications support to tell their story.
Cleaner air by fall 2027
Cities that start this fall can have cleaner classroom air in place when school opens in 2027.
The partnership
What an Early Round partnership can unlock.
A stronger project
Shape a high-impact project around local priorities, existing assets, and a clear path to results.
A ready coalition
Bring city, school-system, public-health, facilities, community, and funding partners around a shared plan.
A funding pathway
Define the investment case and work together to pursue aligned local and national philanthropy.
A durable model
Build ownership, operations, measurement, policy, and budget pathways into the work from the start.
A working partnership to close the gap between a compelling opportunity and a fundable, implementation-ready project.
What Inspired Air can bring
Tailored technical assistance
Project development, technical and implementation planning, procurement, measurement, and operations.
Coalition and fundraising support
Help to strengthen alignment, define the investment case, and pursue resources together.
A small peer cohort
Cross-sector experts, shared learning, and a planned in-person working session in spring 2027.
Strategic communications
Support building local momentum and making the city’s leadership visible beyond its borders.
What participation would involve
From first conversation to cleaner classrooms.
The program is still taking shape, and founding partners will help inform many of these details.
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We are here
Fall 2026
Exploratory conversations
A few collaborative calls to understand local priorities, what is already in place, and whether the fit is right.
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Early 2027
National cohort confirmed
A founding group of cities, districts, charter networks, and early childhood networks, plus funders, is set.
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Spring 2027
In-person cohort convening
City, district, charter, and early childhood teams meet each other and national experts, and sharpen their local plans.
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Late summer–fall 2027
Clean air where children learn
Filtration goes into classrooms and child care rooms as the school year opens.
Then: implementation and shared learning. The partnership would run at least one year and no more than three, depending on the approach and scope of the initial project.
Target timeline. Dates and cadence will be set with partners as the cohort takes shape.
How we would start
The process begins with exploration of a mutual fit: a small number of collaborative conversations to define the local opportunity, understand what is already in place, identify gaps, and determine fit.
What we ask of partners
Committed local leadership; the right cross-sector partners; willingness to build an implementation-ready, sustainable plan; and participation in shared learning, measurement, and storytelling.
Common questions
Early Round participation.
What are you looking for in a partner city?
We look for two things. The first is leadership interest and enthusiasm from the mayor’s office and from one or more school districts, charter networks, or early childhood networks (such as Head Start grantees, child care networks, or a city’s early childhood office), and potentially from other local agencies such as health and environment. The second is readiness to implement in 2027: could the city and its partners get started in time to have cleaner air in some classrooms and child care rooms by fall 2027? Implementation does take local capacity, but a partner doesn’t need extra staff already in place to be a strong fit.
How much funding could a place expect?
Funding would be sized to each local plan. We are now working to match cohort places with funders. Because that funding is not yet in hand, we are not quoting award amounts to specific places. For planning purposes, clean classroom air costs roughly $1,000 per classroom to put in place and about $5–10 per student per year to keep running. At that scale, hundreds of thousands of dollars could cover an entire small district, charter network, or early childhood network, and a small-to-medium city might need a budget of $1–2 million to cover all K–12 schools. Larger cities would more likely start with a meaningful pilot and a clear path to scale.
In early conversations we ask two questions: what would a meaningful first phase cost, and what would you do with more? Then we build the funding case together.
Who needs to be involved?
The mayor’s office and at least one implementing partner: a school district, a charter network, an early childhood network, or a combination. Leadership ownership within those partners matters most for implementation, and public health, facilities, licensing, and community partners strengthen the plan.
Who does the work locally?
Each place names a person responsible for the work. Where that role sits is up to local leadership, and grant funds could support a staff person or stipend if there is a plan to sustain that capacity afterward. We will shape the time commitment and meeting cadence together.
What clean indoor air means, and what it costs Ten actions for clean air
Can your city become a national leader in demonstrating what clean air for every child can look like?
The first step is a conversation about your city’s priorities, what is already in place, and whether the fit is right.