Jobs for the Future and the National Wildlife Federation are collaborating in the
Greenforce Initiative, a two-year project to spur green-jobs education, innovation, and
training on community college campuses. With support from the Bank of america
Charitable Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the initiative will
build the capacity of community colleges and state networks to respond to immediate
and long-term workforce needs in the green-jobs field. It will also increase the number
of lower-skilled younger and older adults who enter and move through green-career
pathway programs.
an important component of the Greenforce Initiative will be six regional Learning and
action Networks, with multiple community colleges in each location leading collaborative summits. the networks will be in Illinois (Chicago area), Michigan, North Carolina,
northern Virginia, Seattle, and south texas.
ernie McLaney, executive director of the Center for Sustainability at Central Piedmont
Community College, is looking forward to being part of the North Carolina network. It
will mean “that we don’t keep reinventing the same wheel,” he says. “and we’ll also
expand our own knowledge of national and global developments in the field.”
Students participate
in a solar crab race
at The Alamo Colleges
in San Antonio.
For More Information:
The Greenforce Initiative: www.greenforceinitiative.org
Alamo Colleges Green Training Program:
www.alamo.edu/greenjobs
Central Piedmont Community College, Center for Sustainability:
cpcc.edu/cfs
The EcoBox: www.ecobox.me
Grand Rapids Community College Keller Future Center: www.grcc.edu/urbanfarming
Green Student University: www.greenstudentu.com
Illinois Community College Sustainability Network: www.igencc.org
North Carolina Community Colleges Code Green Initiative: www.ncbionetwork.org/code-green
Chicagoland Green Collar Job Initiative: greencollarchicago.org
In North Carolina’s capital region,
for example, Wake Technical Community College’s Northern Wake Campus
became the nation’s first all-LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) campus. The campus
has saved thousands of dollars through
sustainable practices that reduce water
and energy use and generate less
construction waste.
Texas
The Alamo Colleges in San Antonio is a
key partner in the Mission Verde Center.
Located at a former middle school,
the center offers training, technology
demonstrations, and environmental
information to residents of the city’s
economically depressed West Side. The
Alamo Colleges collaborated with the
local school district, youth centers,
Texas A&M Engineering Experiment
Station, and two local utility compa-
nies to establish the center as a hub
for green and community economic
development.
A biology program at Wilbur Wright College
in Illinois teaches ex-offenders how to
build and cultivate beehives.
as they experience how these upgrades
improve their lives. The center aims to
build awareness and trust in green-jobs
development, using demonstration
events, summer camps for kids, and
mobile simulations.
