By Sterling Davies | OBSERVER Staff Writer
Green Ambitions, a new program to introduce Sacramento-area Black and Latino teens and young adults to the emerging green and environmental workforce, was launched Sept. 6 by community-based groups and political leaders.
Funded by a $500,000 grant in federal Community Project Funding secured by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) and a $400,000 grant from the NBA Foundation, the 18-month program is for 25 local residents ages 16-24 to explore careers in sustainable industries.
In addition to Matsui, Green Ambitions partners include Green Tech, United Way California Capital Region, the Center at Sierra Health Foundation, and My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento.
Guided by Green Tech and My Brother’s Keeper, enrollees will receive environmentally focused workforce development. They will learn about construction, transportation, utilities, manufacturing, and urban agriculture growth that will impact the future of Sacramento’s environment. Toward the end of the program, participants will take part in the creation of a seven-port EV charging station that will be built in the heart of South Sacramento.
Green Ambitions, in development for nearly two years, came from the rising need to help address increasing challenges to ethnic communities environmentally, and in turn, economically.
“We all know that the climate crisis is the defining challenge of the 21st century,” Matsui said. “Its reach is global, but its impact is local for everyone.”
Dr. Dawnté Early, president and CEO of United Way California Capital Region, recalled how previous technological job booms have failed to incorporate communities of color, especially when resources are scarce.
“We can’t let this next job boom miss our communities again,” Dr. Early said. “And so with that, we began on this journey of trying to find funding and develop a program that could take root here in the Sacramento region. And so that is what’s brought us here.”
Green Tech, a community-based nonprofit that works toward providing workforce development and other resources to help create cleaner communities, has seen the impact of providing young adults opportunities to learn about the fast-growing environmental workforce. Simeon Gant, Green Tech’s board president, noted how “it’s important that our young people learn how to mitigate the problem today, and we want to develop some career opportunities for them, and they need the right experience on how to get there.”
Alongside Green Tech, My Brother’s Keeper will help provide support, mentorship, and guidance for Green Ambition Program participants.
Chet Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation, noted how Green Ambitions will lead to a healthier community because of the support being given to the next generation. “This isn’t about a charging station,” Hewitt said during a press conference. “This is about exposing young people to all the technologies that will pay living-wage jobs in the future. This is what health is really all about.”
Applications for the Green Ambitions program are open until Sept. 19. Project collaborators have high hopes that the program is only the start of more efforts to create cleaner communities across California. Matsui noted how the EV charging station in South Sacramento is the second of roughly 50 planned. The first was established in Del Paso Heights a few years ago.
“Let’s make sure that whatever we do is tangible and impacts [the community] directly,” Matsui said. “This project is wonderful because it brings together different organizations to work on this who understand how important it is to train the youth so that they are part of the community. And not only that, but for jobs of the future, too.”