01
Funding
Grants allocated in tiers by city size and project scope: a small number of large awards for district-scale deployment, mid-size awards for substantial deployments, and smaller awards for pilots or distinctive contexts and approaches.
A program of the Inspired Air Fund
Clean Air Capitals
Renaissance Philanthropy is designing a challenge for cities that commit to clean indoor air across their public schools. Selected cities receive capital, a technical and procurement package, expert support, and a national platform. In return they put up a local match and deploy against verified milestones.
Why classrooms
Children spend about half their waking hours in school buildings. The quality of that air directly shapes how well children learn, how often they attend, and how healthy they are. The evidence is robust and growing: Poor indoor air quality raises the risk of airborne infection, asthma, and several cancers, and it also drives absenteeism, slows cognition, and can lead to lower test scores.
-
Learning
Poor air slows cognition and can lead to lower test scores.
-
Attendance
It drives absenteeism — days lost that never come back.
-
Infection
It raises the risk of airborne infection in a shared room.
-
Long-term health
It raises the risk of asthma and several cancers.
What a participating city gets
02
A procurement and technical package
Free resources on indoor air quality and guidance for all participants, including a model RFP co-developed with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council.
03
Hands-on support
Coaching hours with technical experts, webinars, and direct help through the application itself, so a city is better positioned whether or not it receives an award.
04
A peer group
Cities working on the same procurement, maintenance, and financing questions on the same timeline, alongside staff from cities that have already run deployments at scale.
05
Visibility
A range of communications and media opportunities, from international stages to local ribbon cuttings, to highlight cities' good work.
Where this sits
The Inspired Air Fund sits at Renaissance Philanthropy, which was built to design and run programs of this kind. Renaissance has directed $533 million toward its mission and catalyzed a further $1.6 billion in government action, including advance market commitments and global challenges. Its leadership includes veterans of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and DARPA, and its Tools Competition has drawn more than 7,000 proposals from 48 countries. This program draws on the lineage of the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge, Race to the Top, and the CHIPS Tech Hubs.
Follow the launch
We will announce the challenge in late 2026. Join the list for the open call, the model RFP, and guidance as it publishes.