~5 cities
A small founding group
One city or a regional cluster of smaller districts per seat, spread across the country.
A program of the Inspired Air Fund
Clean Air Capitals
Clean air in every classroom and child care room. This fall we are inviting a small national cohort of cities to show the country what that looks like, with cleaner air in place when school opens in 2027.
Now inviting cities
The Early Round: 2027 Cohort
A working partnership to turn your city’s clean air ambition into a fundable, implementation-ready project, for children from early childhood through high school.
Fall 2027
Cleaner air, fast
Cities that start this fall can have cleaner classroom air in place when school opens in 2027.
Hands-on
Support and funding
Technical assistance, help building the coalition and funding case, a peer cohort, and a national stage.
Why clean air
The biggest unmeasured input in education is the air
Schools test water and inspect kitchens. Most have never measured the air children breathe, and the evidence says it matters.
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12.5%
fewer absences from classroom air cleaning, in a randomized trial of 2,000+ children
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0.1–0.2
standard deviations higher math and English scores after air purifiers went in
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18%
fewer new infections in daycare centers with air cleaners
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77%
less particle pollution in classrooms with in-room filters
About $1,000per classroom to put in place
$5–10per student per year to keep running
No constructionno new HVAC, no new staff, nothing asked of teachers
Start this school year
Ten actions for cities and school systems
The steps that buy the most clean air per dollar, in four parts. Every one can start within a single school year.
Clean the air in every classroom
Quiet air cleaners, better use of existing HVAC, cleaner air at the school gate.
Measure it and make it public
A monitor in every classroom, a response for every reading, a plan for bad-air days.
Set the standard
A written clean-air standard, built into every purchase.
Keep it running and paid for
A named owner, a maintenance budget, and durable funding.
Who is behind this
Clean Air Capitals is run by the Inspired Air Fund at Renaissance Philanthropy, which has directed $533 million toward its mission and catalyzed a further $1.6 billion in government action. Its leadership includes veterans of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and DARPA.
Bring the Early Round to your city
The first step is a conversation about your priorities, what is already in place, and whether the fit is right. Or get updates as the program takes shape.