BY MISTY MILIOTO

The Arizona Community Foundation is building a coalition – with the City of Phoenix, Arizona State University, and partners across the state – to fund environmental resilience, restore the Salt River, and convene a landmark summit named for the hottest day Phoenix has ever recorded.

The name says everything. The 122° Conference, set for Dec. 2-3, 2026, in downtown Phoenix, takes its title from 122°F – the highest temperature ever recorded in the city.

The inaugural conference is being organized by the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF) in partnership with the City of Phoenix and Arizona State University. It will bring together leaders across sectors to address what ACF calls Arizona’s most pressing environmental challenges: extreme heat and environmental resilience; water security; food systems impacted by heat; and water and conservation.

“The motivation came directly from listening,” says Michelle Gayles, chief impact officer at ACF. “Environmental challenges consistently rose to the surface – not as abstract climate concerns, but as everyday realities that affect people where they live: extreme heat impacting health; water insecurity shaping futures; and environmental conditions influencing whether neighborhoods remain livable.

What became clear is that the environment isn’t a separate issue – it’s deeply intertwined with community well-being, economic stability, and access to opportunity, especially for communities that need it most.”

A DIFFERENT KIND OF CLIMATE CONFERENCE

The 122° Conference is designed to address what Gayles describes as a persistent shortcoming in environmental conferences: the gap between ideas and follow-through. “Too often, conferences generate ideas and inspiration, but the funding and follow-through rarely happen,” she says. “We wanted to flip that model.”

Wellington “Duke” Reiter, senior advisor to the president of Arizona State University and executive director of ASU’s University City Exchange, says he hopes the conference will build the momentum – and the funding – needed to translate environmental priorities into measurable action. “Hopefully by the time the conference happens, the momentum toward building such a fund is obvious,” he says.

Lori Singleton, president and CEO of Arizona Forward – a statewide coalition of more than 150 organizations working to balance economic growth with environmental quality – says the conference reflects the kind of cross-sector collaboration that drives real progress. “By combining Arizona Forward’s convening power with ACF’s philanthropic leadership and community connections, we can help accelerate the kinds of collaborative solutions that will shape a more sustainable and resilient future for Arizona,” she says.

THE THREE-WAY PARTNERSHIP: ACF, ASU, AND THE CITY OF PHOENIX

Reiter describes the relationship driving ACF’s environmental work as a three-legged stool: the foundation provides philanthropic leadership and donor connections; ASU provides research, expertise, and institutional scale; and the City of Phoenix provides policy authority and on-the-ground infrastructure.

“If a donor comes to ACF and says, ‘Why don’t we do blank,’ we could advise them as to the viability of an approach,” Reiter says. “The university as a whole is available as a resource to ACF depending on the topic they want to take on.”

Reiter points to ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory – which focuses on energy, water, policy, cities, and transportation – as the institutional home for much of this work and notes that ASU leads the United States in impact relative to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. “This university will take responsibility for the region in which it serves,” he says, citing the ASU charter. “What we’re doing with ACF and the environment is a perfect example.”

EXTREME HEAT: FROM POLICY TO WATER FOUNTAINS

Phoenix recorded 55 days above 110°F in 2023, including 31 consecutive days – a record at the time. Heat-related deaths in Maricopa County have climbed sharply over the past two decades, with low-income communities bearing a disproportionate share.

The City of Phoenix and ACF have already partnered on a visible response: chilled drinking water stations in high-foot-traffic areas across the city. ACF funded the expansion of the program into the Maryvale neighborhood of west Phoenix. “Access to chilled drinking water is critical to resilience to extreme heat,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego says. “Thanks to the Office of Innovation and funding from the Arizona Community Foundation, this important amenity is now serving Maryvale residents at Desert West Park.”

Gallego says Phoenix’s water commitment extends well beyond cooling stations. “When it comes to water – our most important natural resource – Phoenix has a culture of conservation, and we’re continuously preparing for the future,” she says. “With large-scale investments in advanced water purification, encouraging sustainable desert development, and providing incentives to help residents make efficiency improvements at home, Phoenix is driving down water use even as our community grows.”

According to Todd Zubatkin, communications director for Mayor Gallego, ACF’s funding supported two units in Maryvale that have already provided the equivalent of more than 3,100 bottles of water since December 2025, without plastic waste. The 12 units in the city’s broader initiative have collectively delivered more than 300,000 bottles.

ACF’s broader heat work runs through its Environmental Accelerator Project, a yearlong initiative drawing together nonprofit, community, municipal, and academic leaders to develop heat response strategies that can scale across communities and regions. “Scalable solutions are those that can grow because they’re practical, trusted locally, and adaptable,” Gayles says. “When paired with strong partnerships, they can make a real difference beyond a single neighborhood or pilot.”

WATER: PHILANTHROPY’S ROLE IN A POLICY-DOMINATED SPACE

Water is Arizona’s most existential environmental challenge. The Colorado River has faced years of stress driven by overallocation, drought, and rising temperatures, and Arizona has already faced mandatory cutbacks under shortage declarations.

“Philanthropy can help create space for collaboration where it doesn’t always exist,” Gayles says. “We can support research, fund community engagement, and convene stakeholders who don’t typically share decision-making power. Our role isn’t to replace government or industry, but to help reduce barriers, build trust, and support better, more informed decision-making.”

THE SALT RIVER: FROM DUMPING GROUND TO REGIONAL VISION

South of downtown Phoenix, one of the city’s most significant environmental transformations is underway. The Rio Salado – a stretch of the Salt River once used as an industrial dumping ground – is being reimagined as a 55-mile ecological and cultural corridor linking Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Avondale, and Buckeye, as well as Maricopa County and tribal partners including the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Gila River Indian Community.

The initiative, called Rio Reimagined, launched in 2018 with ASU serving as its pro bono facilitator and convener. Reiter says it grew from conversations with the late Senator John McCain, who saw the transformation possible along the Salt River. “He wanted to see how that could be expanded,” Reiter says.

“Rio Reimagined celebrates the river that made Phoenix, and our neighboring communities, possible,” Mayor Gallego says. “This initiative is made up of people from all walks of life who are committed to preserving the riparian habitat and creating opportunities for residents to enjoy this special amenity.”

Phoenix has backed the initiative with $23.5 million in land acquisition funding through its 2023 bond program, and the U.S. EPA designated Rio Reimagined as the 20th Urban Waters Federal Partnership Project. ACF’s role, Gayles says, is to work alongside partners and collaborators statewide for river restoration and to align resources toward community priorities.

DESIGNING FOR A CITY THAT WILL ONLY GET HOTTER

Reiter, an architect and urban designer, says Phoenix faces a challenge unlike any other American city: designing livable spaces where outdoor temperatures are dangerous for months at a time – and will never improve. “It’s never going to get cooler here,” he says. “It’s the built environment, but also how we operate in it.”

Policy – governing how buildings are positioned, how much asphalt is poured, how workers are protected – is equally essential, Reiter says. “The environment’s a little more abstract,” he says of ACF’s move into the space. “That’s not usually where community foundations are. But what ACF is doing is listening: This is an equivalently important issue, and our donors want to see us getting into this space.”

WHAT ARIZONA CAN SHOW THE WORLD

“Arizona is often described as vulnerable to climate change, but it’s also a place of innovation, resilience, and leadership,” Gayles says. “Our goal at ACF is to help coordinate the people, ideas, and resources already moving forward so Arizona can help show what’s possible for communities everywhere.”

The measure of the 122° Conference’s success, Reiter says, will be what follows: a growing fund, early investments, and a cycle of accountability. “I think the following year you would see where that funding is going to be distributed; where can it be most helpful to advance good ideas in Arizona,” he says. For readers who want to support the work, Gayles offers simple advice: “Collective action, sustained over time, is what drives real change.”

For more information, visit www.azfoundation.org, www.phoenix.gov, and www.asu.edu.