You are here: Home What We Do Building a Movement Community of Practice Working Groups

Working Groups

Biographies and background of the Communities of Practice working group members

Green For All each year convenes working groups of leaders from around the country to serve as the core of the Communities of Practice. We currently have two Communities of Practice: one focused on city-scale energy retrofit programs, the other on green jobs training programs that provide pathways out of poverty.

Below are bios of the working group members listed in alphabetical order, including further information about their programs. 

Green For All greatly appreciates the time and effort of the working groups members to share their expertise with a larger Community in order to further knowledge in the field.

2010 Retrofit America's Cities Working Group Members

Show members »

Louise Auerhahn  I  Working Partnerships USA

San Jose, CA | Bio

Louise Auerhahn is Associate Policy Director of Working Partnerships USA - an organization that conducts research, produces policies, and develops programs to address the needs of working families in Silicon Valley. Her current focus is on the impacts of Silicon Valley’s changing economy on working families and the middle class, including efforts to create good green jobs and place working people, women and communities of color at the center of the emerging green economy. Louise’s current projects include development of the pilot for Santa Clara County Green Pays Program, a scalable residential energy retrofit initiative. The Green Pays model combines low-cost, accessible financing for homeowners with a self-sustaining financial model to spur private investment and strong standards ensuring creation of high-quality local green jobs with career paths.


Ben Beach  I  Community Benefits Law Center

Los Angeles, CA | Bio

Ben Beach is Staff Attorney for the Community Benefits Law Center (CBLC), a project of the Partnership for Working Families. CBLC provides legal assistance to community-based organizations, labor unions, and other advocates in their campaigns for economic justice. They focus on approaches that ensure good jobs, equitable access to opportunities created by economic development, and improvement in major land use and economic development decisions that affect low-income communities. In Partnership with Green For All, CBLC is supporting the City of Seattle’s stakeholder process for identifying appropriate standards and recommending implementation, enforcement and monitoring mechanisms for the City’s building efficiency programs. For more information visit the CBLC website.


Colin Bishopp  I Clean Economy Development Center

Washington, DC | Bio

Colin Bishopp is the Director of Business Development at the Clean Economy Development Center, which connects investors, entrepreneurs, labor unions, and policy makers through the integrated market analysis, business development and access to financing required to scale clean economy industries. Colin joins the Center from Change to Win, where he served as State Policy Director for the Home Performance Campaign. For more information visit the Clean Economy Development Center website.


Will Byrne  I  The DC Project

Washington, DC | Bio

Will Byrne is Co-Founder and Executive Director of The DC Project, a national nonprofit organization delivering training and technical assistance to city and state retrofit initiatives prioritizing high-road job creation in the efficiency sector. Founded in January 2009 with the mission of creating clean energy careers for people who need them most, The DC Project has been applying its cutting-edge organizing tools and tactics to mobilize community interest through WeatherizeDC, its anchor initiative. For more information read this overview or visit the WeatherizeDC website.


Rabia Chaudry I Office of Supervisor Dave Cortese

Santa Cara County, CA


Sammy Chu  I  Town of Babylon

Babylon, NY | Bio

Sammy Chu is the Project Director of the Long Island Green Homes Initiative, a residential energy retrofit program developed by the Town of Babylon. The program is among the first in the nation to use property assessed financing for energy-efficiency home improvements, meaning loans are tied to the property, not the individual borrower. The program was seed funded with the Town’s surplus solid waste funds after it classified carbon as a solid waste to address climate warming emissions that result from wasted residential energy consumption. For more information, please read our case study or visit The Babylon Project website


Amanda Eichel  I  City of Seattle

Seattle, WA | Bio

Amanda Eichel is the Climate Protection Advisor for the City of Seattle Mayor’s office where she has led the development of the Green Building Capital Initiative. GBCI aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the energy efficiency of Seattle’s existing homes and businesses by 20%.  For more information, read the GBCI Summary or visit the City of Seattle’s website.


Rey Espana  I  Native American Youth and Family Center

Portland, OR | Bio

Rey Espana is the Director of Employment, Housing, and Community Development at the Native American Youth and (NAYA) Family Center. Among other goals, NAYA seeks to increase the economic success of the Native community in Portland by providing opportunities for participants to gain the skills and experience needed to be successful in the workforce. Rey was instrumental in organizing “Community for Equity” a broad coalition of community partners that was key to Portland being awarded a 2010 DOL $4 Million dollar Pathways out of Poverty grant. Rey represented NAYA in the development of a Community Workforce Agreement (CWA) for Clean Energy Works Portland (CEWP), a home retrofit effort that is creating jobs, reducing pollution, lowering energy bills, and expanding business opportunities in Portland. Rey currently serves on the Stakeholder Evaluation and Implementation Committee that is working to ensure that CEWP provides high-quality employment and access for those in the community who have been historically left out of new economic opportunities.


Garrett Fitzgerald  I  City of Oakland

Oakland, CA | Bio

Garrett Fitzgerald is the Sustainability Coordinator at the City of Oakland where he has been spearheading the creation of Oakland’s Energy and Climate Action Plan, a wide-ranging policy that will outline the steps the city must take to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The Plan includes a strategy to reduce the city’s carbon footprint through reduced energy use in buildings. Garrett helped develop Oakland’s funding applications for competitive Recovery Act grants from the Department of Energy, enabling Oakland to expand opportunities for its buildings to be retrofitted for more efficient energy use, while also expanding employment opportunities for the city’s residents. Through participation in California FIRST, a property assessed clean energy (PACE) finance program, Oakland property owners will be able to use property-secured financing to cover the installation of energy upgrades, with repayment tied to their property taxes. Click here for our case study on Oakland’s participation in CA FIRST.


Elena Foshay  I  Apollo Alliance

San Francisco, CA | Bio

Elena Foshay is a Research Associate at the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders advancing a bold vision for the next American economy centered on clean energy and good jobs. The Apollo Alliance New York State affiliate recently succeeded in helping to pass into law and implement the Green Jobs/Green New York Act of 2009. Click here to learn more about innovative work from state and local Apollo Alliances across the country.


Merrian Fuller  I  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Berkeley, CA | Bio

Merrian Fuller is a Principle Research Associate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Her work focuses on the financing and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy, and workforce development opportunities in these sectors. She is a member of the Department of Energy's Financial Technical Assistance Team, providing assistance to cities and states deploying stimulus funds. Her current research also includes the interaction of stimulus funds with ratepayer funds, and methods for increasing the demand for building retrofits.  Merrian is the author of Enabling Investments in Energy Efficiency and a PACE Financing How To Guide, key reports that document best practices in the field.


Matt Golden  I  Recurve

San Francisco, CA | Bio

Matt Golden is the co-founder and president of Recurve, a leading home performance company based in California. Prior to founding the company in 2004, Matt worked as an Energy Consultant, helping homeowners and businesses develop solar power systems. He soon realized that he was offering only a point solution and was not truly addressing most homeowners’ desires to make their homes and lives more sustainable. Matt developed the concept for Recurve to meet this market demand by providing a single, full-service resource and a brand homeowners can trust to help them improve the comfort, health, and efficiency of their home. Matt currently resides on the following boards: Department of Energy (DOE) Home Performance Council, Building Performance Institute (BPI), California Building Performance Contractors Association (CBPCA), Build It Green, and, Fine Home Building Magazine Green Building Advisory Board, and Efficiency First.


Howard Greenwich  I  Puget Sound Sage

Seattle, WA | Bio

Howard Greenwich is Research Director at Puget Sound Sage, an organization that brings together labor, faith and community to build an economy based on shared prosperity.  At Sage, Howard provides technical assistance to community groups on development and displacement issues in South Seattle and participates on behalf of Sage on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for the City of Seattle High Road Energy Efficiency Workforce Standards. For more information visit the Puget Sound Sage website.


Julian Gross  I  Community Benefits Law Center

San Francisco, CA | Bio

Julian Gross is Director of the Community Benefits Law Center (CBLC), a project of the Partnership for Working Families. CBLC provides legal assistance to community-based organizations, labor unions, and other advocates in their campaigns for economic justice. They focus on approaches that ensure good jobs, equitable access to opportunities created by economic development, and improvement in major land use and economic development decisions that affect low-income communities. Julian has represented coalitions of community-based organizations in negotiation of many groundbreaking community benefits agreements. He has also drafted numerous local hiring and contracting policies, and has worked on living wage policies and many other community economic development initiatives. For more information visit the CBLC website.


Shrayas Jatkar I Sierra Club

Albuquerque, NM


Jordan Jones  I  Good Work Network

New Orleans, LA | Bio

Jordan Jones is the Social Enterprise Director for the Good Work Network in New Orleans. The Good Work Network helps low-income minority entrepreneurs start business ventures and be successful by providing a wide range of training and support services. It staffs the Green Collaborative in New Orleans, which was established in 2009 to create synergies among organizations engaged in environmental justice and sustainability. For more information visit the Good Work Network website.


Jennifer Lin  I  East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy

Oakland, CA | Bio

Jenny is Research Director for the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), which advances economic and social justice by building power and raising standards for working families. EBASE’s Community Benefits Program works to ensure that residents and workers concretely benefit from large-scale economic development projects. Working in coalitions of community and labor, EBASE helps ensure such projects provide local benefits such as affordable housing, living wages, and local hiring. EBASE has supported the development of efficiency programs and policies in Oakland that ensure local residents and workers are included in the growing energy efficiency market. For more information visit the EBASE website.


Darlene Lombos  I  Community Labor United

Boston, MA | Bio

Darlene Lombos is Co-Director of Community Labor United (CLU) in Boston, Massachusetts. Her work with CLU, in coordination with the Green Justice Coalition, is bringing good green jobs and community energy savings to Massachusetts. Their plans for 2010 include launching community-based weatherization pilot projects across Massachusetts, and ensuring that the pilots’ best practices get incorporated into the utility companies’ statewide energy efficiency projects. Throughout the year they will be working for equity – good job standards, up-front financing for low-income families for weatherization, and funding to fix up old houses so they can be weatherized, among other projects. For more information read our overview of the Green Justice Coalition’s Campaign or visit CLU’s website.


Roger Mason I Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 204

Santa Clara County, CA


Kelly McKanna  I  Renewable Funding

Oakland, CA | Bio

Kelley McKanna focuses on federal and state policy, government and stakeholder relations and communications at Renewable Funding, an industry leader in the turnkey administration of Property Assessed Clean Energy  (PACE) programs – programs that eliminate the chief barrier to clean energy installations, the large upfront cost, and enable local governments to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects on private property, including residential, commercial and industrial properties.  Renewable Funding supports communities beginning the PACE program by financing district legislation, offering a comprehensive on-line application processing coupled with a financial package that provides competitive interest rates and no financial risk to the municipality. For more information visit the Renewable Funding website.


Nancy Montoya  I   Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

New Orleans, LA | Bio

Nancy Montoya is the Regional Community and Economic Development Manager for the Gulf Coast region of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Nancy provides expertise to community groups and financial institutions on a broad range of community development initiatives.  Currently she is focused on foreclosure prevention efforts directed to at-risk homeowners and markets; Gulf Coast housing, economic development and collaborative partnership promoting effective post-disaster recovery and renewal, and sustainable communities practices with an emphasis on energy efficiency and finance. Over the past two years Nancy has been building a knowledge base of nationwide best practices around sustainable development and has been applying this information to promote inclusive financing vehicles for sustainable affordable housing and energy efficiency retrofits in the metro New Orleans region.  She also is working to support the creation of a flexible and responsive qualified workforce and collaborative infrastructure that can advance holistic community development.


Khari Mosley I GTECH Strategies

Pittsburgh, PA


Chinwe Onyeagoro  I  O-H Community Partners, Ltd

Chicago, IL | Bio

Chinwe Onyeagoro is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of O-H Community Partners, Ltd (OHcp). Under her leadership, OHcp has designed and launched a performance monitoring tool that is focused on assisting nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies with measuring the economic and social impact of programs and investments. This system has been customized to support energy efficiency retrofit programs around the country and tracks energy performance improvements, job creation and retention outcomes, as well as women and minority business enterprise supplier spending. For more information visit the OHcp website.


Satya Rhodes-Conway  I  Center on Wisconsin Strategy

Madison, WI | Bio

Satya Rhodes-Conway is a senior associate at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), where she works on high-road state and local policy and organizes the Mayors’ Innovation Project and the Wisconsin Apollo Alliance. She is one of the authors of the Apollo Alliance's "New Energy" series, and co-authored "A Short Guide to Setting up a City-Scale Retrofit Program". COWS has been instrumental in the development of the Racine and Milwaukee Energy Efficiency programs, and runs the Efficiency Cities Network.


Derek Smith  I  City of Portland

Portland, OR | Bio

Derek Smith is Project Manager of Clean Energy Works Portland, a public-private partnership offering one-stop energy efficiency retrofits by combining low-interest financing and streamlined service delivery. The collaborative venture features Energy Trust of Oregon, utilities, financial institutions, building science contractors, Green For All and others, and is led by the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, where Derek serves as Policy Advisor. Clean Energy Works was awarded in 2010 a $20 million ‘Retrofit Ramp-up’ grant from the US Dept. of Energy. Derek is now leading the scale-up of Clean Energy Works Oregon, which aims to leverage public and private capital to create a regional platform for quick, effective energy savings, carbon reductions and job creation. For more information read our white paper or visit the CEWP website.


Brad Swing  I  City of Boston

Boston, MA | Bio

Brad Swing is the Director of Energy Policy for the City of Boston. The City recently created Renew Boston, with the mission to help residents and businesses use less energy and generate their own clean energy. Brad is working with Renew Boston to coordinate customer-sited energy service delivery, particularly energy efficiency and alternative energy services.  Renew Boston connects businesses and residents with auditors and contractors providing energy efficiency and alternative energy services, works with local workforce providers, and monitors and verifies contractors’ work, among other things. For more information click here to read our case study on Renew Boston.


Loyd Ware  I  City of Oakland

Oakland, CA | Bio

Loyd Ware is the Manager of the City of Oakland’s Residential Lending and Rehabilitation program, which recently added the Weatherization and Energy Retrofits Loan Program (WERLP) to its portfolio of available loans for low-income Oakland homeowners. WERLP was seeded with nearly $2 million in Community Development Block Grant funding made available through the Recovery Act. The program encourages residents to do deep energy retrofits of their homes, while also creating opportunities for local minority and women contractors and graduates of the Oakland Green Job Corps. For more information read our case study on WERLP or visit the program website.


Michael Woo  I  Got Green

Seattle, WA | Bio

Michael Woo is the Project Director of Got Green, an interactive group of urban youth and young adults dedicated to empowering themselves and communities of color by introducing “green” into their communities. By raising awareness they are pushing  for opportunities that will lift people out of poverty while promoting the certainty of environmental, social and economic justice. Through door to door canvassing, they raise awareness in communities of color about how to conserve energy and lower monthly utility rates, while also promoting the creation of related green jobs and training accessible to those in their community in the greatest need of employment. For more information visit the Got Green website.


Adam Zimmerman  I  ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia

Portland, OR | Bio

Adam Zimmerman is the Senior Vice President for ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia (SBEC) in Portland, Oregon, a certified non-profit Community Development Financial Institution serving urban and rural communities of Oregon and Washington.  Adam works closely with a wide variety of local governments, non-profit organizations and conservation entrepreneurs, providing loans, capacity building services and program development assistance.  He currently manages SBEC’s engagement as Fund Manager for Clean Energy Works Portland.  SBEC provides financial and business assistance to entrepreneurs, non-profits and governments that strengthen the economic, social and environmental resilience of communities of the northwestern U.S. For more information visit the SBEC website.


2010 Green Pathways Out of Poverty Working Group Members

Show members »

Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) | Marta Nelson

New York, NY | Bio

Marta Nelson is the Director of Policy and Planning at the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), a nationally renowned reentry program serving New York City for more than 30 years. CEO’s model of paid transitional employment, full-time job placement services, and job retention efforts has helped people with criminal convictions find over 10,000 full-time jobs over the last decade. Findings from an independent, random-assignment evaluation of CEO programs by the research group MDRC show that participation in CEO significantly decreases several measures of recidivism through three years of follow up. In October 2008, CEO opened the CEO Academy, which helps people with criminal convictions progress from the entry-level jobs they are able to find shortly after release from prison to careers in the skilled trades, specifically plumbing, electrical and refrigeration mechanics. For more information please read our case study or visit Center for Employment Opportunities' website.


Civicorps Schools | Joseph Billingsley

Oakland, CA | Bio

Joseph Billingsley is the Senior Manager of Corpsmember Support Services at Civicorps Schools. Established in 1983, Civicorps Schools (formerly the East Bay Conservation Corps) is the oldest and largest regional urban corps in California. The mission of the Civicorps Academy is to promote youth development through environmental stewardship and community service and to further education reform and social change. Civicorps’ Recycling Program provides young adults who have demonstrated success and leadership in the Corpsmember Program an opportunity to gain advanced employment skills while still continuing to reach their academic goals. This innovative program operates as a specialized service contract for more than 150 public and private accounts in the region. The Civicorps also run a Field Program that includes job training in parks and open space maintenance and expansion, flood channel clearing, and tree cutting and pruning. For more information, please read our case study or visit Civicorps Schools' website.


Civic Works | John Mello

Baltimore, MD | Bio

John Mello is the Project Director for Civic Works’ green career initiatives. Civic Works is a non-profit organization that serves Baltimore City’s disadvantaged youth and adult residents. John oversees “B’more Green” and “EnergyReady” operations. B’more Green is an environmental workforce development program that prepares participants for entry-level careers in environmental technology and brownfields mitigation. EnergyReady retrofits existing residential buildings to create living spaces that are more energy efficient, more affordable, safer, and more comfortable. John is an Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS), and a Building Performance Institute certified building Analyst Professional and Envelope Professional. Civic Works is committed to developing environmentally sustainable living wage employment opportunities that benefit unemployed and under-employed people in the Baltimore region. For more information, please read our case study or visit Civic Works' website.


Construction Apprenticeship & Workforce Solutions, Inc. (CAWS) | John Gardner

Portland, OR | Bio

John Gardner is the Executive Director for Construction Apprenticeship & Workforce Solutions, Inc. (CAWS), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the representation of people of color and women in the construction trades. CAWS is a membership organization created by construction industry stakeholders, including major public and private developers, general contractors, trade unions, apprenticeship training organizations, and community-based organizations, to be a comprehensive, long-term solution to this under-representation issue. CAWS is part of the Community Equity Project coalition, established in 2009. The Community Equity Project targets low-income individuals living in areas of high poverty, with a special emphasis on people of color, veterans, homeless, ex-offenders, and low-skilled adults. The project combines employment and training resources of the Workforce Investment Act public workforce system with culturally specific case management. For more information, please read our case study or visit the Construction Apprenticeship & Workforce Solutions, Inc. website.


Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice | Kinnus Paul

Detroit, MI | Bio

Kinnus Paul is a Job Developer for the Green Jobs Training Program at Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice (DWEJ). DWEJ is dedicated to preparing urban residents to take a meaningful role in the environmental revitalization of their communities. The Green Jobs Training program equips Detroit residents with the skills to pursue careers in environmental industries. Their trainees receive certifications in twelve areas related to the green economy. Throughout the sixteen-week program, trainees are required to maintain a strong work ethic, and receive six weeks of basic instruction in job readiness, math, computer literacy and life skills. DWEJ is committed to producing a highly skilled workforce. For more information, please read our case study or visit Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice's website.


Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit | Keith Bennet

Detroit, MI | Bio

Keith Bennet is the Program Director of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit's Flip The Script program. Flip the Script continues to blaze an extraordinary trail as a multidimensional outcome based male empowerment and training program with extensive and measurable success in transforming the lives of hundreds of minority males, specifically young African American men 16-30 years of age living in the City of Detroit and surrounding areas. FLIP THE SCRIPT has quietly positioned itself as a nationally recognized leader in providing human services, educational training, GED preparation, workforce development skills, vocational training and/or retraining, critical life and social skills development assistance to a populations many in society consider lost, hopeless, helpless and menaces to society. For more information, please read our case study or visit Goodwill Detroit's Flip the Script website.


Fresno Local Conservation Corps | Marcelino Salazar

Fresno, CA | Bio

Marcelino Salazar is a Program Manager at the Fresno Local Conservation Corps. The Fresno Local Conservation Corps (LCC) has been providing services in Fresno for since 1997. They currently offer paid job training in the areas of grounds maintenance, recycling, landscaping, construction and solar installation, including a job-training program for youth at the Elkhorn Correctional Facility. They also offer non-paid training in the areas of network cabling, solar Installation and the Reclaiming of rainwater. For more information, please read our case study or visit Fresno Local Conservation Corps' website.


Limitless Vistas | Matilda A. Tennessee

New Orleans, LA | Bio

Matilda A. Tennessee serves as the Director of Limitless Vistas, Inc (LVI), a non-profit organization devoted to creating career opportunities for disconnected youth by engaging them in Environmental Community Service Projects. Under her leadership for the past four years, LVI has received several grants totaling over 1.5 million dollars from the following organizations: Environmental Protection Agency, Americorps and the National Emergency Grant through the Corps Network. Part of LVI’s mission is to help disadvantaged young people complete their education, learn the necessary skills to become gainfully employed and build a hopeful future for themselves, their families, and their communities.  Since its inception in 2006, LVI has enrolled over 200 participants in one or two of the following programs: Brownfields job training, weatherization, and/or basic construction.  Students who matriculate through the program receive several certifications: Hazwoper, OSHA Construction, asbestos, mold and lead. For more information please read our case study or visit Limitless Vistas' website.


Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement | Martin Flores

Watts, CA | Bio

Martin Flores is the Executive Director of the Students for Higher Education Program at Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement in Watts. The Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement, established in 2000, provides 14 – 21 year-olds who live in the City of Los Angeles with services in the area of employment, education and training. Their OneSource Center connects youth to the workforce with training and skills development, including basic skills classes, GED preparation, resume writing, and computer literacy. The Students For Higher Education (SFHE) Program targets offenders aged 16-18 being released from Los Angeles County Juvenile Detention facilities that are returning to the City of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities. The goal is to get the youth engaged in school (alternative, high school, community college), employment (community based organizations, including green sites) and training opportunities.  For more information, please read our case study or visit the Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement website.


Mon Valley Initiative | Jim Reid

Homestead, PA | Bio

Jim Reid is the Project Coordinator for the Southwestern PA Reentry Coalition (SWPARC). An outgrowth of the Mon Valley Initiative’s Workforce Development program, SWPARC is a concerted effort to foster and sustain collaboration among agencies and employers in Southwestern Pennsylvania to coordinate and deliver resources, workforce skills and employment links to individuals whose criminal record presents a barrier to self-sufficiency. For more information, please read our case study or visit the Mon Valley Initiative website.


National Transitional Jobs Network | Amy Rynell

National/ Chicago, IL | Bio

Amy Rynell is the Director of The National Transitional Jobs Network (NTJN),  a coalition of over 4,000 city, state, and federal policy makers; community workforce organizations; anti‐poverty nonprofit service providers and advocacy organizations committed to advancing and strengthening Transitional Jobs programs around the country so that people with barriers to employment can gain success in the workplace and improve their economic lives and the economic conditions of their communities. NTJN provides technical assistance to programs and government agencies which takes many forms, including sharing of forms and best practices, in depth program assessment and consulting, and drafting of RFPs and related materials. The NTJN also organizes conferences and events, promotes public policy improvements and supports research and evaluations of best practices across the country. For more information, please read our case study for visit the National Transitional Jobs Network's website.


OpenDoors | Sol Rodriguez

Providence, RI | Bio

Sol Rodriguez is the Executive Director of Open Doors, a non-profit whose mission is to strengthen communities by supporting the formerly incarcerated. The organization's goals are to successfully reintegrate formerly incarcerated individuals, reduce recidivism, stabilize families, and reinvest in communities and reduce incarceration rates. OpenDoors offers employment case management and group employment readiness classes, both inside and outside the prison. The OpenDoors employment preparation and placement program employs a full-time, experienced job readiness specialist who prepares clients to enter the world of professional employment and become responsible employees. These employment specific services are designed to compliment other services offered in the Resource Center to provide clients with holistic support as they prepare to apply for, get, and maintain sustainable employment.  For more information, please read our case study or visit OpenDoors' website.


Osborne Association | Jessica Rooks

Bronx, NY | Bio

Jessica Rooks is the Director of the Green Career Center at The Osborne Association which provides men and women with criminal records environmental literacy and comprehensive career development training that prepares them to enter and advance in the green economy.  Trainings began in January 2010 of this newest department of The Osborne Association, which has been serving formerly incarcerated men and women and their families for over 75 years.  The Green Career Center seeks to embody making a difference by helping people in the re-purposing of their lives and advocating for opportunities for them to contribute to their families, communities and the environment. An educator by nature Jessica believes environmental literacy is essential in preparing people for good green jobs.  She teaches ROOTS of Success curriculum as part of the Green Career Center’s training. For more information, please read our case study or visit the Obsorne Association's website.


Osborne Association | John Valverde

Bronx, NY | Bio

John Valverde is the Business Manager of The Green Career Center of The Osborne Association which provides men and women with criminal records environmental literacy and comprehensive career development training that prepares them to enter and advance in the green economy.  Trainings began in January 2010 of this newest department of The Osborne Association, which has been serving formerly incarcerated men and women and their families for over 75 years .  The Green Career Center seeks to embody making a difference by helping people in the re-purposing of their lives and advocating for opportunities for them to contribute to their families, communities and the environment. At the core of John’s work his commitment to developing good green local business and connecting those business owners to a solid, skilled workforce. For more information, please read our case study or visit the Osborne Association's website.


Rubicon Programs, Inc. | Rob Hope

Richmond, CA | Bio

Rob Hope is the Director of Workforce and Economic Development at Rubicon Programs, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people to move out of poverty and improving the quality of their lives. Since 1973, Rubicon has built and operated affordable housing and provided employment, job training, mental health, and other supportive services to individuals who have disabilities, are homeless, or are otherwise economically disadvantaged. Rubicon's Transitional Employment Program provides transitional work opportunities that are aligned with their business enterprise, Rubicon Landscape. Clients receive twelve weeks of instruction and closely supervised employment in Landscaping or Commercial Property Maintenance.  This program provides 100 to 150 clients per year the opportunity to enhance both their hard and soft employment skills in a supportive environment so they can transition to higher paying unsubsidized employment.  For more information, please read our case study or visit Rubicon Programs, Inc.'s website.


Safer Foundation | Jodina Hicks

Chicago, IL | Bio

Jodina Hicks is the Chief Program Officer of the Safer Foundation. Founded in 1972, Safer Foundation supports people with criminal records become employable and employed, which supports public safety through the reduction of recidivism. The Safer Foundation uses a various program models and interventions to maximize the likelihood of not only getting a job, but more importantly, maintaining employment through that particularly difficult first year after prison. In 2009, Safer served approximately 10,000 clients and supported 2,700 jobs starts.  For more information, please read our case study or visit Safer Foundation's website.


Seattle Jobs Initiative | Dave Trovato

Seattle, WA | Bio

Dave Trovato is a senior project manager at the Seattle Jobs Initiative, a non-profit workforce intermediary with the mission of creating opportunities for people to support themselves and their families through living wage careers. The Seattle Jobs Initiative employs a sector-based model to workforce development with a policy team that analyzes the labor market for strategic opportunities, and a program team that works with local community agencies and college to remove clients’ barriers to success and link them with full-time jobs that pay, on average, $12-$13 with benefits. The Seattle Jobs Initiative has placed more than 6,000 clients in jobs that meet strict standards, with participants realizing an average wage gain of $6,000 - $10,000 per year. For more information, please read our case study or visit the Seattle Jobs Initiative's website.


Vermont Works for Women | Jayne Sheridan

Wisnooski, VT | Bio

Jayne Sheridan is Deputy Director of Vermont Works for Women, an organization that works to address the needs of women in Vermont to earn a livable wage and to succeed despite numerous personal, educational and economic barriers to employment.  Through summer camps, school-based activities and vocational training programs, VWW also works to educate women and girls about the wide array of career opportunities available to them, many of which may have never occurred to them to pursue. VWW programs have been honored with regional and national awards. Three of their programs, Rosie’s Girls, Modular Home Program (Building Homes, Building Lives) and Step Up for Women, have been replicated nationally. For more information, please read our case study or visit Vermont Works for Women's website.


Workforce, Inc. | Gregg Keesling

Indianapolis, IN | Bio

Gregg Keesling is the President of Workforce, Inc., which operates as a social enterprise  – a business with a social mission. The mission is two-fold: 1) become the recycling hub of Marion County and 2) help those returning from prison have immediate, legitimate earnings combined with a broad array of social supports. Workforce provides transitional jobs for recently released offenders in the emerging electronic waste recycling industry. This program seeks to keep as much electronic waste as possible out of landfills and recover the waste in a way it can be re-used in industry. WFI was the first recycler in the state to complete the stringent registration process for e-waste recycling developed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Since 2006, the program has employed 287 people, paid near $1.75 million in wages and only 17% of participants have been returned to prison. For more information, please read our case study or visit Workforce Inc.'s website.


2009 Retrofit America's Cities Working Group Members

Show members »

Amanda Eichel | City of Seattle

Seattle, WA | Bio

Amanda Eichel is the Climate Protection Advisor for the city of Seattle Mayor’s office.  The Seattle Mayor’s office has proposed a Green Building Capital Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the energy efficiency of Seattle’s homes and businesses. For more information, read our case study or visit Seattle's Green Building Task Force website.

Chinwe Onyeagoro | O-H Community Partners

Chicago, IL | Bio

Chinwe Onyeagoro is the CEO of O-H Community Partners (OHcp). Ms. Onyeagoro has assisted dozens of organizations in designing strategic growth and business plans. She has worked with many of these public and private organizations to successfully implement hundreds of community and economic development programs and initiatives. Over the last four years, OHcp has successfully raised a total of $115 million in grants, competitive loans, government subsidies for clients throughout the country. In her work with OHcp, she has worked with government agencies, foundations, community organizations across the country on  designing market-based development strategies for energy efficient businesses and green collar job training programs.

Andrew Butcher | GTECH Strategies

Pittsburgh, PA | Bio

Andrew Butcher is the CEO of GTECH strategies, a Pittsburgh-based Social Enterprise working to revitalize urban neighborhoods in Pittsburgh through vacant land reclamation, cultivation of remediating biofuel crops, and facilitating green economy initiatives. GTECH is working with a widespread coalition to develop a regional green jobs strategy and initiate a targeted geographic strategy to connect community stakeholders with the growing opportunities in energy efficiency and weatherization. For more information, please read our case study or visit GTECH's website.

Byron Silva | Laborers International Union

New York, NY | Bio

Byron Silva is an organizer with the Laborers International Union in New York. GANE and the Laborers United of North America (LIUNA) launched a partnership to offer union-trained green construction jobs for Newark residents, while weatherizing 30 homes of low-income seniors. Laborers earned accreditation while being paid union rates, with health benefits. Through the pilot program, local residents are hired and trained to weatherize homes of needy households, thus reducing energy consumption, cutting costs for those most in need, and creating good paying, career track jobs.  For more information, please read our case study or read about the partnership on GANE's website.

Derek Smith | City of Portland

Portland, OR | Bio

Derek Smith is a Policy Advisor in the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. In August 2009, Portland launched a 500-home pilot of its city-wide energy efficiency retrofit program, Clean Energy Works Portland. The initial phase of the program will focus on basic weatherization, space heat and hot water measures for single-family homes. Portland will expand to commercial and rental buildings and will offer solar financing in 2010. For more information, please read our case study, read the blog about the Community Workforce Agreement that Green For All helped craft for the program, or visit the Clean Energy Works Portland website.

Don Mathis | Community Action Partnership

Washington, DC | Bio

Don Mathis is the President and CEO of Community Action Partnership (CAP).  CAP is the national association of community action agencies, which are nonprofit and public entities that provide services to low-income people at the local level, including assistance with home energy retrofitting. For more information, visit CAP's website.

Dorian Dale | Town of Babylon, Long Island

Babylon, NY | Bio

Dorian Dale is the Energy Director for the Town of Babylon in Long Island, New York. The Town of Babylon has developed a unique home energy retrofit program called the The Long Island Green Homes Initiative. The program provides residential energy-efficiency home improvements at little or no upfront cost to homeowners. The upfront costs are paid through the city's solid waste fund by classifying carbon as a solid waste and are repaid through a benefit assessment on the property. For more information, please read our case study or visit the Green Homes Initiative website.

Sammy Chu | Town of Babylon, Long Island

Babylon, NY | Bio

Sammy Chu is the Project Director of the Long Island Green Homes Initiative. The Town of Babylon has developed a unique home energy retrofit program called the The Long Island Green Homes Initiative. The program provides residential energy-efficiency home improvements at little or no upfront cost to homeowners. The upfront costs are paid through the city's solid waste fund by classifying carbon as a solid waste and are repaid through a benefit assessment on the property. For more information, please read our case study or visit the Green Homes Initiative website.

Elissa Berger | Center on Wisconsin Strategy

Milwaukee, WI | Bio

Elissa is a Skadden Fellow who has for the past two years worked at COWS on Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me2), a program that would allow property owners and renters to implement energy efficiency measures with immediate savings and no upfront costs.  For more information, read our case study or visit the Me2 website.

Forest Bradley Wright | Alliance for Affordable Energy

New Orleans, LA | Bio

Forest Bradley-Wright is the Sustainable Rebuild Director at the Alliance for Affordable Energy and a leading driver in the creation of Energy Smart, a citywide energy efficiency program for New Orleans, now funded with over $10 million.  Additionally, he has created an educational facility for green building, energy efficiency, and solar called the BuildSmart Learning Center and implemented a project to install radiant barrier, weatherization, and other efficiency improvements in over 150 homes. This program has evolved into the Louisiana Green Corps, a full time job-training program for local youth 17-24 years old who learn to improve the energy efficiency of low-income households. For more information on the Alliance and the Energy Smart program, read our case study or visit their website.

Jailan Adly | Rising Sun Energy Center

Berkeley, CA | Bio

Jailan Adly is a Program Director for the Rising Sun Energy Center in Berkeley, CA. California Youth Energy Services (CYES) is an employment program run by Rising Sun that hires local youth ages 15-22 to do free residential energy audits and basic water and energy efficiency work. This year, Rising Sun is developing the Green Energy Training Services program (GETS) as the next step of the career ladder for people who've decided they want to pursue a career in energy efficiency, targeting young adults 18-25. For more information on CYES and GETS, please read our case study or visit their website.

Jennifer Somers | Local Initiatives Support Coalition

San Francisco, CA | Bio

Jennifer Somers is a Green Connection Program Officer at the Bay Area Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The Green Connection program works to create green affordable housing and sustainable communities. For more information, visit the Green Connection website.

Joel Rogers | Center on Wisconsin Strategy

Milwaukee, WI | Bio

Joel Rogers is the Senior Policy Advisor to Green For All and Director of COWS. He’s also a Professor of Law, Political Science, Public Affairs, and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Joel co-founded and was first chair of the Apollo Alliance and is currently active in the Emerald Cities Collaborative, a national effort to green our cities in economically sustainable ways that also generate better jobs and democracy within them. For more information, read our case study or visit the Me2 website.

Jonathan Kevles | Sierra Club Clean Energy Solutions

San Francisco, CA | Bio

Jonathan Kevles is the Senior Representative of the Sierra Club's Clean Energy Solutions Campaign. The Clean Energy Solutions Campaign is working to transition the United States to a clean energy economy.  For more information, visit the Clean Energy Solutions website.

Kate Atkins | Garden State Alliance for a New Economy

Newark, NJ | Bio

Kate Atkins is the Executive Director of the Garden State Alliance for a New Economy (GANE), a partner organization of the Partnership for Working Families. GANE and the Laborers United of North America (LIUNA) launched a partnership to offer union-trained green construction jobs for Newark residents, while weatherizing 30 homes of low-income seniors. Laborers earned accreditation while being paid union rates, with health benefits. Through the pilot program, local residents are hired and trained to weatherize homes of needy households, thus reducing energy consumption, cutting costs for those most in need, and creating good paying, career track jobs. For more information, please read our case study or read about the partnership on GANE's website.

Khari Mosley | League of Young Voters

Pittsburgh, PA | Bio

Khari Mosley is the National Political and Field Director for the League of Young Voters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He's currently working with the Pittsburgh Housing Authority, the United Steel Workers, GTECH, 1Hood, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute to develop a green job training program for residents of Pittsburgh public housing.  For more information on the League in Pittsburgh, visit their website.

Kate Houstoun | Sustainable Business Network

Philadelphia, PA | Bio

Kate Houston is the Green Jobs Coordinator for the Sustainable Business Network Foundation (SBN) of Greater Philadelphia. SBN is designing a city-wide green jobs apprenticeship program.  The Philadelphia Green Jobs Corps will aim to match basic skills training with employers' needs and strive to ultimately connect local green employers to the region's workforce. The Green Economy Task Force is an alliance of 100 businesses, environmental groups, government, academic institutions, workforce development providers, and unions and is advising the development of the Green Job Corps.  SBN is also convening a green employer roundtable to match the design of the training program to the skills employers are looking for. For more information on SBN, read our case study or visit their website.

Merrian Fuller | Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, UC Berkeley

Berkeley, CA | Bio

Merrian Fuller's research focuses on the financing and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. She currently works with the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) on local government financing programs for solar and efficiency, and also at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on workforce development opportunities in the energy efficiency services sector.

Stacy C. Noland | Moontown Foundation

Seattle, WA | Bio

Stacy Noland is the Founder and Chairman of the Moontown Foundation in Seattle, Washington. Moontown Foundation works to prepare low-income, historically disadvantaged teens and young adults for family wage careers in the clean and renewable energy industry sectors.  Moontown’s Switch program trains and hires young adults to provide home energy efficiency retrofit assistance to low-income residents.  For more information on the Moontown Foundation, visit their website.

2009 Green Pathways Out of Poverty Working Group Members

Show members »

Keith L. Bennett  | Goodwill Detroit

Detroit, MI | Bio

Keith Bennett is the Program Director of Goodwill Detroit’s Flip the Script Male Empowerment Program. Flip the Script, Detroit’s premier male Empowerment Program has successfully trained and assisted hundreds of low-income Detroit-Wayne County minority males gain entry into unionized Skills and Construction apprenticeships programs and non traditional career tracks through a holistic approach using mathematics as it’s centerpiece. The program’s initial focus was serving young men of color who were underachievers, unemployed, underemployed, had not completed high school and/or were formerly incarcerated. Flip the Script is widening its scope to include women and displaced workers and works with young males currently enrolled in grades K-12. For more information, read our case study on Goodwill Detroit's Flip the Script Program or visit their website.

Patrick Brown | OAI

Chicago, IL | Bio

Patrick Brown has helped to build Greencorps Chicago through his work with the OAI, Inc., a non-profit workforce development agency. Green Corps Chicago is a City of Chicago program to bridge economically-disadvantaged people with the green economy through paid nine-month training programs in diverse environmental trades. To learn more about Greencorps Chicago, read our case study or visit their website.

Kelly Causey | Mile High Youth Corps

Denver, CO | Bio

Dr. Kelly Causey is in her 11th year directing Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) – an agency that employs, educates and trains over 250 young adults each year who give over 46,000 hours of service to the Denver metro area and earn more than $130,000 in AmeriCorps scholarships.  Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) engages youth in jobs that help the planet and provide pathways to a promising future. Through its conservation programs MHYC provides “green-collar jobs” for youth participants while helping thousands of Denver residents. For more information, read our case study on Mile High Youth Corps or visit the Mile High Youth Corps website.

Roshani Dantas | Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice

Detroit, MI | Bio

Roshani Dantas directs the Green Jobs Training Program of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice. The two-year-old program serves under- or unemployed Detroit residents, primarily African American males. The Green Jobs Training program helps transform individuals through wrap-around services. In addition to training people, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice engages in community building and social justice advocacy. So far, the program has been able to place all of its graduates. For more information, read our case study or visit the Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice website.

Larry Dawson | US Forest Service Job Corps

Lakewood, CO | Bio

Larry Dawson is the Director of the US Forest Service Job Corps in Lakewood Colorado.  The Forest Service operates 22 Civilian Conservation Centers in 14 states that serve disadvantaged youth through work-based learning. As part of a Green Jobs Initiative, the Centers are integrating green skills into their construction, forestry, natural resource maintenance, and wild-land firefighting programs.  For more information, read our case study on the Forest Service’s Job Corps.

Courtney DeOreo | Cuyahoga Community College

Cleveland, OH | Bio

Courtney DeOreo is a workforce development consultant who helped design and launch  Cuyahoga Community College’s Pathways out of Poverty through Green Jobs program. The program includes courses in life skills and the green occupations in construction and manufacturing designed for people with barriers to employment. The program was developed to meet the unique requirements of the Northeast Ohio region. For more information, read our case study on Pathways to Green Jobs or email John Gajewski at John.Gajewski(at)tri-c.edu.

Marcy Drummond | LA Trade Technical College

Los Angeles, CA | Bio

Marcy Drummond is Vice President for Workforce Education and Economic Development at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.  She spearheaded LATTC’s Green College Initiative, which has received national recognition.  She is a member of the National Commission on Energy Policy’s Task Force on America’s Future Energy Jobs.  In 2008, she was awarded the Green Achievement Award for Workforce Development by an Individual (California) by Green Technology Magazine.  LA Trade Tech’s Green College Initiative offers courses and certificate programs including green technology, construction, energy, and business in cooperation with regional employers in these fields. The programs serve all Los Angeles residents but particularly those with high barriers to employment. For more information, read our case study or visit the Green College Initiative website.

Mindy Feldbaum | Academy for Educational Devleopment

Washington, DC | Bio

Mindy Feldbaum is the Director for Workforce Development Programs at The Academy for Educational Development (AED), an independent, nonprofit organization committed to addressing human development, educational, and workforce needs in the United States and throughout the world.  Her focus is on workforce development and education issues, including green workforce and economic development; community college access and success; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM); and justice reentry focused on employment and educational opportunities. Ms.Feldbaum recently was the lead author on the publication, Going Green: The Vital Role of Community Colleges in Building a Sustainable Future and a Green Workforce.  You can visit the AED website or download the Going Green publication.

Richard Halpin | American YouthWorks

Austin, TX | Bio

Richard Halpin is the Founder and Director of American YouthWorks in Austin. American YouthWorks has been providing a second chance to high school drop-outs for 30 years through its Charter School and career development program. Its mission is to bring Green Jobs preparation to youth who have been disengaged from the mainstream economy and mainstream school settings. Each year 400 students are enrolled in its Charter school and 100 students are enrolled in its three green job training programs. The Casa Verde YouthBuild program teaches students how to build green houses using green construction methods. This year American YouthWorks will launch the Green Jobs Training Center for green jobs instruction. For more information, read our case study on American Youthworks or visit their website.

Dave Johnson | The Laborers International Union

Newark, NJ | Bio

 The Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), in partnership with the Garden State Alliance for  New Economy and the City of Newark, launched a partnership to offer union-trained green construction jobs for Newark residents in home energy retrofits in January 2009.  Through the pilot program, local residents are hired and trained to weatherize homes of needy households, thus reducing energy consumption, cutting costs for those most in need, and creating good paying, career track jobs. For more information, please read our case study or read about the partnership on GANE's website.

Dawn Jones | Oregon Tradeswomen

Portland, OR | Bio

Dawn Jones is a Mexican-American, journey-level carpenter and videomaker. Through her work as a feminist instructor and social justice advocate at Oregon Tradeswomen, Dawn has helped hundreds of women prepare for high skill, high wage careers in construction. For more information, read our case study on Oregon Tradeswomen or visit their website.

Emily Kirsh | Ella Baker Center

Oakland, CA | Bio

Emily Kirsch is the Bay Area Organizer for the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Emily's work at the Ella Baker Center is building cross-sector partnerships between green business, labor, environmental and community-based organizations to create pathways out of poverty and into the quality, career-track, manual labor jobs in industries such as renewable energy, water and energy efficiency and green building, especially for low-income young adults and those facing barriers to employment.  For more information, read our case study on the Green-Collar Jobs campaign or visit their website.

Rebecca Lurie | Consortium for Worker Education

New York, NY | Bio

Rebecca Lurie is the Director of Development for the Consortium for Worker Education. The CWE works with unions and community organizations, delivering training and job related services to a wide range of workers and job seekers. A carpenter by trade, Rebecca has developed and managed several union partnered pre-apprenticeship programs over the last 15 years. Currently she serves on the NYC Apollo Alliance Steering Committee and is working with the New York Chapter of the USGBC on green construction skills curriculum and certification. For more information on CWE, visit their website.

Janet Marinaccio | Goodwill Industries International

Rockville, MD | Bio

Janet Marinaccio is Acting Director of Workforce Development for Goodwill Industries International.  Goodwill is a social benefit organization whose members support a wide range of services for low-income people.  Goodwill provides green job training and placement in industries such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and recycling.  Janet leads capacity-building training and assists Goodwill members with program development and enhanced service delivery.  For more information, visit the goodwill website.

Michele McGeoy | Solar Richmond

Richmond, CA | Bio

Michele McGeoy, Executive Director of Solar Richmond, is a longtime entrepreneur and Founder of Solar Richmond.  The mission of Solar Richmond is to bring the economic advantages of the emerging green economy to disenfranchised communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a partner and piece of the RichmondBUILD Workforce Development program, Solar Richmond teaches a five-week course in solar installation, including both solar photovoltaic and solar thermal installations. Curriculum involves classroom instruction and on-the-job training in solar energy and installation.  Participants are typically unemployed or underemployed or at-risk youth. For more information, read our case study on Solar Richmond or visit their website.

Arthur Shanks | Cypress Mandela Training Center

Oakland, CA | Bio

Arthur Shanks is the Executive Director of The Cypress Mandela Training Center. Cypress Mandela provides life skills and technical training in green construction and alternative energy in the disadvantaged industrial area of West Oakland.  The Cypress Mandela pre-apprenticeship program is part of the Oakland Green Jobs Corps.  After 16 weeks, Cypress Mandela graduates move on to the local Laney Community College for courses including solar energy, electricity transfer and solar installation. Successful graduates will then be placed in 3-month paid apprenticeships with one of a dozen local green companies that have agreed to support the program with on-the-job training. For more information on Cypress Mandela, visit their website.

Jodi Pincus | Rising Sun Energy Center

Berkeley, CA | Bio

Jodi Pincus joined RSEC in 2006 as the CYES Director and became the Executive Director in April 2007. The three-pronged approach of Rising Sun Energy Center includes educating the public, hiring and training local youth, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Young workers engaged by California Youth Energy Services visit homes in their communities to conduct energy audits and offer simple energy-saving repairs. Arriving in twos, the CYES teenagers measure the household electricity, gas and water consumption and then offer residents help in reducing this usage by switching out incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs, installing water-saving faucet-heads, and offering retractable clotheslines. For more information, read our case study on CYES or visit their website.

Raquel Pinderhughes | San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA | Bio

Raquel Pinderhughes is Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at San Francisco State University. A nationally recognized expert on green collar jobs, her research informs understanding of how to harness green business growth to fight both pollution and poverty and provide people with multiple barriers to employment with pathways out of poverty. The training program she developed provided critical guidance to the Oakland Green Jobs Corps and has been used to inform the development of green collar job training programs in many other cities. She is currently creating an environmental literacy curriculum and facilitators guide for green collar job training programs throughout the United States. She can be reached at [email protected].

Elizabeth Reynoso | NJ Institute for Social Justice

Newark, NJ | Bio

Elizabeth Reynoso is the Coordinator of Planning & Community Partnerships at the Institute for Social Justice in Newark, NJ. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice has two programs that increase economic opportunity for urban residents. The New Careers Project is a transitional jobs program for adults 18 and over who have recently been released form prison. Newark/Essex County Construction Careers (N/ECCC) is a pre-apprenticeship program that prepares low income minority men and women for union apprenticeships. This year N/ECCC will begin a green jobs training program, focusing on brown-fields remediation, while New Careers will prepare a temporary labor force for the City of Newark’s Clean & Green Initiative. For more information, read our case study on the NJ Institute for Social Justice or visit their website.

Wayne Richardson | GANE / The Laborers Union

Newark, NJ | Bio

Wayne Richardson is an organizer with the Garden State Alliance for a New Economy (GANE). Richardson is a lifelong Newark resident, has worked with the Laborers union for many years, first as a business agent, then as an organizer.  He has also worked for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, helping coordinate their program to increase African-American access to careers in construction trades. The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), in partnership with the Garden State Alliance for  New Economy and the City of Newark, launched a partnership to offer union-trained green construction jobs for Newark residents in home energy retrofits in January 2009.  Through the pilot program, local residents are hired and trained to weatherize homes of needy households, thus reducing energy consumption, cutting costs for those most in need, and creating good paying, career track jobs.  For more information, please read our case study or read about the partnership on GANE's website.

Jeff Rickert | AFL-CIO Green Jobs Institute

Washington, DC | Bio

Jeff Rickert is the Director of the new Green Jobs Center at the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute.   The Green Jobs Center will provide resources and technical assistance to AFL-CIO affiliates and partners on policy, economic development, training and other issues related to green jobs.

Ted Roan | American Youthworks

Austin, TX | Bio

Ted Roan is the Training Manager at American YouthWorks in Austin, Texas. American YouthWorks has been providing a second chance to high school drop-outs for 30 years through its Charter School and career development program. Its mission is to bring Green Jobs preparation to youth who have been disengaged from the mainstream economy and mainstream school settings. Each year 400 students are enrolled in its Charter school and 100 students are enrolled in its three green job training programs. The Casa Verde YouthBuild program teaches students how to build green houses using green construction methods. This year American YouthWorks will launch the Green Jobs Training Center for green jobs instruction. For more information, read our case study on American Youthworks or visit their website.

Debra Rowe | U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development

Farmington Hills, MI | Bio

Debra Rowe is the President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. Debra created and teaches energy management and renewable energies courses in an on-line format with National Science Foundation funds as part of the Consortium for Education in Renewable Energy Technology (www.ceret.us), and has helped numerous colleges and organizations develop their energy and sustainability curricula and practices. As professor of energy management and renewable energy technology for over 29 years at Oakland Community College, Debra teaches courses for customized degrees as well as certificates in Renewable Energies and Sustainable Living. As President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, she helps public and private organizations integrate sustainability into mission, curricula and culture, purchasing and investments, facilities and operations, and community partnerships. For more information on the Partnership, visit their website.

Lisbeth Shepherd | Green City Corps

New York, NY | Bio

Lisbeth Shepherd is Founder of Green City Corps, a start-up organization that will combine national service with green jobs training to prepare young people for career-track employment in the green economy.  The program will pilot the new clean energy service corps, serving 18-25 year olds with barriers to employment. The coursework will include an overview of the green economy, environmental justice, climate issues, as well as the hard skills of green building techniques, weatherization, communications and project management. For more information, read our case study on Green City Corps.

Jayne Sheridan | Vermont Works for Women

Winoski, VT | Bio

Jayne Sheridan is the Deputy Director of Vermont Works for Women, a non-profit that helps women and girls explore, pursue and excel in nontraditional careers that pay a livable wage. Vermont Works for Women serves women and girls from a wide variety of backgrounds but particularly women who are unemployed or underemployed, moving from public assistance to work, women seeking to change careers and women who have been incarcerated. Ms. Sheridan currently serves as a member of the Chittenden County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and Adult Education Council. For more information, read our case study on Vermont Works for Women or visit their website.

Annette Williams | Sustainable South Bronx

The Bronx, NY | Bio

Annette Williams is the director of the nationally recognized Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program (B.E.S.T.) providing proven, effective green-collar job training and placement services for NYC residents.  Annette has over 20 years of experience as a program coordinator for community organizations, and as an activist for environmental justice. For more information, read our case study on Sustainable South Bronx or visit their website.

William Winchester | LACAUSA YouthBuild

Los Angeles, CA | Bio

William Winchester is the Green Building Coordinator for LACAUSA YouthBuild and is a YouthBuild Green Fellow.  The Green Building program puts young people to work improving the energy efficiency of homes for low-income people. William developed a Weatherization and Residential Retrofit Program with Community College Partner CD TECH-LATTC. William and his Green Team have a developed  Shovel Ready program for Greening Low Income Homes. For more information, read our case study on LACAUSA YouthBuild or visit their website.

 

 

^ Back to top

 

 

Document Actions

The Community of Practice web pages were made possible by the generous support of the Mitchell Kapor Foundation (www.mkf.org)