Green Job Training and Workforce Development

TOPICThe Green Economy, Youth Employment and Workforce DevelopmentGUESTJodi Pincus is the Executive Director of Rising Sun Energy Center and a recognized expert in the green economy, youth employment, social enterprise and workforce development.ORGANIZATIONRising Sun Energy Center is a green workforce development and energy retrofit services organization working throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Their mission is to empower individuals to achieve environmental and economic sustainability for themselves and their communities. Rising Sun Energy Center runs three programs, which include the California Youth Energy Services (CYES), Leaders-in-Field-Training (LIFT) and Green Energy Training Services (GETS). The CYES program includes summer and after-school programs that train and employ young adults ages 15 to 22 to provide no-cost Green House Calls (energy efficiency and water conservation upgrades) to homes in their community. The LIFT program gives top employees in Rising Sun’s CYES program peer leadership roles and teaches business and leadership skills. The GETS program is a pre-apprenticeship training program that prepares adults for careers in construction, energy efficiency, and the solar industry.Website – http://www.risingsunenergy.org/Blog – https://risingsunenergy.wordpress.com/Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/risingsunenergycenterTwitter – https://twitter.com/RisingSunECTAKEAWAY QUOTES“We believe that you can’t solve climate change without addressing unemployment.”“Our youth, not only are they earning money and feeling a sense of purpose by doing the work but they’re gaining a lot of self-confidence, self-esteem; they’re going on to careers in business, social service, and environmental science.”“This wonderful young man… he was in the foster care system… he came out of prison and into our job training program, and he had never graduated from anything in his life, and he graduated from our program.”RESOURCESRising Sun Energy Center’s Best Green ResourcesRising Sun Energy Center’s California Youth Energy Services (CYES)Rising Sun Energy Center’s Green Energy Training Services (GETS)Rising Sun Bright Night 2015 (Participants of the California Youth Energy Services and Green Energy Training Services programs explain what Rising Sun means to them, and how it has affected their lives.)THANKS FOR LISTENING Thanks so much for joining us. Have some feedback or an idea you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave an honest review for Infinite Earth Radio on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are super helpful and greatly appreciated as it helps us expose this show to a wider audience – plus, we read each and every one of them!