Recap: Party for the Planet 2025
Last Friday’s Party for the Planet was another one for the books! We are incredibly grateful to see community come together to celebrate what we’ve accomplished together. In case you missed us, here is a recap of the events featuring awards, the highlights of the night, and more. We hope to see you next year!
Party for the Planet 2025 was a blast! While partying, Here’s what we accomplished together:
One unforgettable band: We Are Star Children
11 climate heroes honored for real-world impact
13 local organizations sharing ways to take action
100 signatures on a petition to stop a new gas plant in Fluvanna County
$27,000 raised to power C3’s work
Read on for a list of all our amazing award winners driving action in our community.
Excellence in Energy Efficiency: PHA (Piedmont Housing Alliance)
The Piedmont Housing Alliance, PHA, is a local non-profit spearheading the fight for fair and affordable housing in the Charlottesville area. They emphasize creating communities of care by community-centered affordable housing development, high-quality management, resident engagement, and education on financial matters.
With a collaborative process, PHA partnered to design and construct what has become a leading model for equitable, sustainable housing in Virginia. The Kindlewood community, right around the corner from where we are standing, is certified to Enterprise Green Communities and Zero Energy Ready Homes standards, and features beyond-code efficiency, rooftop solar panels and, soon, a battery storage system. The income generated by solar credits is passed on directly to residents or reinvested into resident programs, which creates the perfect example of how sustainable construction can advance equity and economic stability. Best of all, the design of this amazing complex relied on a resident-led approach to ensure that the homes, common spaces, and sustainable features reflected community priorities.
Business Innovation: Inbio
InBio, founded by former UVA faculty Dr. Martin D. Chapman, has made groundbreaking discoveries since 1999 by manufacturing biologics for allergy and asthma and is recognized as a global pioneer in studying environmental exposure to allergens. As our first two-time business awardee, and they have really outdone themselves this year. As a leader and founding member in C3’s Green Business Alliance, they have made great strides on their own carbon footprint, installing solar and tackling deep energy efficiency. Since then, they have strived to look beyond their own operations and cultivate a planet-friendly culture among their employees.
To meet this goal, they went to work crafting a green benefits program, which offers stipends for employees to implement energy-saving and sustainable choices in their own lives. In the three years since its launch, employees have used the program for everything from EVs, e-bikes, rain barrels, composting, crop shares, and more. To date, the company has invested over $27,000 into these purchases, supporting a total investment in our planet of over $144,000!
Upon reception, InBio stated: “InBio was honored to receive acknowledgement at C3’s “Party for the Planet” this year! Our partnership with Green Business Alliance and C3 has proven that an investment of time and resources toward environmental sustainability can have exponential benefits for the larger community. Our award-winning Green Benefits program plays a key role in encouraging employees at InBio to focus on a sustainable lifestyle outside of the workplace.”
Carbon Crackdown: CATEC (Charlottesville Area Technical Education Center)
CATEC is a resource sponsored by the Charlottesville City Schools dedicated to uplifting Charlottesville citizens by providing vocational training from high schoolers and adults including: education, industry certifications, credentials, growth opportunities, and support for higher education. In addition to providing hands-on training and career connections to hundreds of students, CATEC is steadfastly committed to their sustainability goals, taking a firm stance on reducing carbon emissions in their day to day operations.
CATEC has achieved the largest reduction in their carbon footprint since setting their baseline with C3. This year’s award goes to a collaboration that has been several years in the making. As one of our area’s leading schools for trade and technical education, one of this year’s winners is uniquely positioned to help train the green workforce of the future. It also happens that they have a wonderful rooftop for solar panels. When the roof was recently replaced and new leadership brought in to help manage operations, the time was right, and the results have been tremendous. By completing installation this fall of a 260 kW solar array with nearly 500 solar panels, this year’s winners are helping to offset the power usage of over 60% of their school building, helping move Charlottesville closer to its goal of full carbon neutrality for municipal buildings by 2030. This installation will also have the dual benefit of helping the school’s students see the power of the green economy right on their own rooftop, and inspire those future generations to get in on the action.
Outstanding Educator: Megan Sullivan (Brownsville Teacher)
Megan Sullivan is a fourth grade teacher from Crozet at Brownsville Elementary School in Albemarle County who is passionate about her students and the planet.
Over the past five years, C3 has had the pleasure of working with over a dozen public and independent schools across our community. In each case it takes a champion within who is willing to partner, embrace a leadership role, and build cooperative relationships with young people and fellow teachers. Megan has been a great resource to C3, ensuring that our Climate Action Activity Kits were classroom ready and brings fun and creativity lessons to her students every year.
Youth EmPowerment: Veronica Vitko
Veronica is an entity that went above and beyond in support of schools and students, by putting climate solutions directly into the hands of the next generation of climate leaders. She has been organizing her peers to engage in a variety of climate initiatives. From running school recycling programs to advocating for more solar and climate funding to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, this leader runs the largest youth club in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.
Youth Climate Champion: Lila Castleman
C3’s Youth Climate Champion Award recognizes local youth who have demonstrated leadership in advocating for equitable climate solutions for our community. When it comes to taking action for local climate, Lila is known for showing up. She has advocated for cleaner transit in Charlottesville, more solar in Albemarle County, and more funding for climate. She has also tabled at numerous C3 events. As a dedicated intern and volunteer, she has been able to bring her insights to our advocacy and our work.
Impact Maker: Matthew Gillikin
When it comes to making an impact on climate, there are so many different ways to engage. You could advocate for sidewalk improvements, lead webinars on important climate/justice topics, drive your electric bike around town, support local educators, participate in local governmental meetings, organize your peers, or start a new nonprofit organization focused on building a livable and sustainable future. Or, you could do all of the above. Matthew is most likely to be found attending community advocacy meetups on his e-bike or giving justice- centered public comment at a local governmental meeting, all on top of his day job. We are all so grateful for and inspired by all that he does for our planet and our community.
Transit Mover and Shaker: Blue Ridge Health District
The Blue Ridge Health District is a comprehensive and vital part of the Virginia Department of Health that provides community-oriented, public health services to more than 250,000 people around Charlottesville, Albemarle, Louisa County, Fluvanna, Nelson, and Greene. Not only does the Blue Ridge Health District focus on human health, but environmental health and how environmental inequity impacts healthcare. They ensure that residents here can have clean drinking water, develop healthy eating habits, mitigate environmental transmission of disease, and so much more.
Transportation is more than mobility – it’s access. To stay healthy, people need to be able to get to a doctor’s appointment, a pharmacy, or a grocery store. That’s why transportation is not only Virginia’s top source of carbon pollution, it’s also one of the biggest public health access barriers. Through its 2023–2025 Community Health Improvement Plan, Blue Ridge Health Distict engaged in deep public engagement to collect data on public barriers to healthcare, putting transportation and transit equity squarely on the public health agenda.
Energy Equity Award: Albemarle Housing Organizers and Advocates
The Energy Equity Award recognizes an entity that has worked to address inequities built into how we use, manage, and deliver energy in our everyday lives. C3 understand that housing affordability is directly related to energy affordability. That’s why the work of our next award recipients is so critical. These award recipients have gone above and beyond to raise awareness about the lack of affordable housing in both Charlottesville and Albemarle County. This year, they worked to ensure that Albemarle County prioritizes housing affordability by setting aside annual funding to increase the number of available units. Their advocacy during Albemarle’s budget cycle led to $5.2 million in new funding for housing in the County.
Community Changemaker: Albemarle Department of Housing - Stacy Pethia
Systems Change, Not Climate Change is a common refrain among climate advocacy. There is no doubt that our society must undergo a fundamental transformation to move to a sustainable, carbon-neutral future. But changing systems is not easy work. That’s why C3’s Change Maker Award recognizes the local governmental staff who have made the greatest strides toward action. Stacy has been working within Albemarle County’s government to seek out pathways to incorporate climate action in their department in collaboration with the Climate Program, setting an example for how to use Albemarle’s climate funding as a cross-departmental force multiplier.
Climate Justice Advocate: IRC (International Rescue Committee)/New Roots
Cities are where the intersection of climate and justice is most urgent. Housing affordability, transportation access, local food systems, and health are all deeply intertwined with climate at the local level. The Climate Justice Advocate Award recognizes an organization whose mission might not be climate-specific, but who has integrated climate impacts and solutions into their work and addresses a critical community issue without which we cannot reach our climate goals. The IRC and New Roots works within the intersections of climate justice principles, where borders are shown up as an invisible, human invention that are not recognized by the impacts of climate change. They have been working to entrench deep understanding of climate change mitigation and resilience throughout their work, while supporting the myriad communities they serve in advocating for themselves on the local level through language and transportation access. Climate justice can only be achieved when all voices are uplifted, especially those whose voices have long been suppressed.
The New Roots program of the IRC that allows Charlottesville to be a safe haven for refugees, asylum-seekers, immigrants, victims of trafficking or other crimes to flee violence and persecution, and make a home for themselves in the United States. As climate change worsens displacement and climate inequity even further exacerbates these problems, IRC does incredible work with government bodies, various civil society sectors, and volunteers to uplift these people and provide them with new opportunities to build a life in the community.
