Colleges and communities are under growing pressure to reduce carbon emissions to zero in less than 30 years. There is significant need and potential for transforming technical, governance, and policy approaches within these settings, but design and implementation rely on developing capacity and skills. Credible, replicable plans and planning processes are essential to aligning key actors and opening access to necessary capital, yet many need help to accomplish these aims. An initiative among approximately twenty institutions in Ontario and Michigan seeks to address this need with a comprehensive framework and global expertise. This cohort-based approach leverages multiple institutional partners’ resources, knowledge and innovative practices and aims to create consistency in the resulting methods and recommendations. In this session, participants will hear from a subset of these members whose organizations have achieved breakthrough planning and implementation performance, and energy and carbon reductions. They will share insights, approaches and anticipated steps to advance the cohort’s work.