Mitchell Kapor Foundation Weblog

Following up on the August 7th summit, Green Collar Jobs: Green Economy and Workforce Development – A Learning Agenda, that the Mitchell Kapor Foundation helped sponsor in Sacramento, local philanthropists came together on September 30th to recap the event, learn findings from months of research, and share strategies to continue advancing California’s green economy. Paloma Pavel and Carl Anthony from Oakland’s Earth House Leadership Center facilitated the discussion.

Since the project began, AB 3018, the Green Collar Jobs Act of 2008 (F. Nunez), has passed the state legislature and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature. This statute mandates a “Green Collar Jobs Council” that would — among other tasks — build public, private, and non-governmental partnerships to boost workforce development opportunities for Green Collar Jobs throughout the state. Not only does AB 3018 join a series of groundbreaking policies in California to curb global warming (like AB 32), it also recognizes that while California’s economy develops, it must also lift up the formerly incarcerated, emancipated youth, veterans, and others who’ve historically found barriers to employment.

As outcomes of the 9/30/08 meeting, those attending the meeting proposed:
• To join the Green Collar Jobs Council (still in formation) and to identify intersecting goals with the Environmental Justice Advisory Committee
• To meet with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Workforce Investment Board, Dept. of Education, and other agencies to facilitate implementation of the statute on regional and local levels.
• To fund collaborations regionally among green industry employers, local community colleges, and grassroots organizations for mutually beneficial school-to-career pathways.

CLICK HERE to read the Executive Summary on the August 7th Summit!

Photo by Brooke Anderson via Flickr; from Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the Apollo Alliance rally for a green jobs corps in Oakland.

Back in August, the Mitchell Kapor Foundation co-sponsored Green Collar Jobs: Green Economy and Workforce Development – A Learning Agenda. This summit in the state capital provided a forum for various sectors to share the progress they’ve made in preparing for and advancing the state’s green economy.

Over 80 people attended, from Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez, to Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary, Victoria Bradshaw, to the Bay Area’s “clean tech” entrepreneurs, community college leaders, foundations, and grassroots organizations. The summit was organized by the EarthHouse Leadership Center and funded by the Tides Center, the Bank of America Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation as well as the Mitchell Kapor Foundation.

The summit was a terrific opportunity for state agencies to talk with private foundations, for nonprofits to talk with regional collaboratives, and for private sector employers and investors to talk with public agencies – in other words, for all of  us to reach across our respective silos. In doing so, we developed a deeper understanding of how we can work together to build a more sustainable and equitable green economy in California.

The work of the summit continues on September 30th with a meeting of local foundations hosted by the Tides Center. The meeting will further develop a learning and action agenda for foundations to examine best practices and make the most effective investments in California’s green economy.

For more information about the summit, please visit the Funders’ Network for Green Collar Jobs.

Mary Newson helped to organize the summit on behalf of EarthHouse and is currently working with the Foundation on systems issues.