The Green For All Academy
"Congratulations to the Second Class of the Green For All Academy on their Graduation."
In 2008, Green For All launched the Green For All Academy in partnership with Al Gore’s We Campaign. The Academy aims to expand, educate and engage the base of support for climate solutions and a clean energy economy in America. It does this by training leaders from low-income communities and communities of color to communicate the promise of the green economy — and take action to realize that promise. With Academy training, these leaders engage their communities in support of the clean energy jobs agenda.
Academy graduates commit to a one-year term of service as Green For All Fellows. Fellows are on-the-ground leaders in the movement to create an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. After an intensive three-day training, Fellows work with Green For All to advance policy, communication, and organizing goals for the one-year leadership period.
What the Academy Does
The Green For All Academy does four primary things:
- identifies, recruits and trains leaders from low-income communities and communities of color across the United States to deliver, in their own voices, key "green jobs" messages about the opportunity of a clean energy economy and the importance of climate protection;
- develops materials, tools and trainings that inspire people to join the movement for an inclusive green economy;
- supports our leaders as they spread this message in their communities by holding regular conference calls, hosting an online community, delivering powerful tools (e.g., reports, videos, curricula) to help them lead their communities, and placing them in leadership positions in local and national conferences and other fora; and
- helps leaders organize members of their communities to influence public opinion and public policy, and support green economy solutions.
In its first year, the Green For All Academy trained three classes. Nearly 100 Green For All Fellows are now pioneering new and effective strategies for engaging low-income communities of color in the national debates around climate solutions and green jobs. They work in more than 50 cities in 25 states (plus the District of Columbia) throughout the country. Once they have completed the one-year fellowship, Fellows join an active alumni network that Green For All maintains online.
What the Fellows Have Done
The Green For All Fellows have held approximately 1,000 events across the country to educate and mobilize their communities in support of a just, green economy. They have held city-wide events to support green jobs, made presentations to city councils, facilitated workshops, published articles, appeared on TV and the radio, recorded original music about the green economy, spoken at national conferences and held community service projects.
While Fellows take individual initiative in creating events tailored to their communities, they also participate collectively in strategic Green For All initiatives. The first class helped draw more than 50,000 people to Green For All’s “Green Jobs Now” National Day of Action in September 2008, organizing anchor events in major metropolitan areas throughout the country. The first and second classes both joined Green For All staff and allies in Washington D.C. in February 2009 to lobby their congressional representatives and deliver petitions, photos, and testimonials from their communities. Fellows called for green investment in struggling communities, targeted hiring provisions and job training for low-income workers and workers of color, and green service opportunities — all of which came to fruition in bills like the Serve America Act and the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The third class has been a key part of Green For All’s efforts to advocate for strong climate and energy legislation.
Check back soon for nomination forms for 2010. In the meantime, be sure to explore other ways to get involved with Green For All.
