Green Job Corps

[irishbobcat]

Oakland Builds Green Job Corps, We Build Prisons

July 28,2008

Last week the Ella Baker Center of Oakland, California announced a major report.
After more than a year of anticipation, the Oakland Green Jobs Corps has cleared the last hurdle to begin operations this September.

On Tuesday, July 22, the City of Oakland green lighted $250,000 for an exciting partnership that unites some of the best education and training programs in Oakland. This partnership includes:
·   Laney College -- one of the region's premier community colleges, providing green vocational education
·   Cypress Mandela Construction Training Program -- a renowned pre-apprenticeship program that serves young adults with barriers to employment, and that has strong connections to the building trades unions
·   Growth Sector -- a workforce intermediary that connects employers, government and community agencies
This is a powerful partnership that will provide disadvantaged Oakland residents with world-class training and education, and then connect them to quality jobs with solar companies and green construction contractors.

BACKGROUND

In June 2007, the Oakland Apollo Alliance, co-convened by our Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, convinced City Council to provide $250,000 in seed funding for the Oakland Green Jobs Corps. A model for the training program, based upon best practices in workforce development and the research of professor Raquel Pinderhughes at San Francisco State University.

The city held a competitive "Request for Proposals (RFP)" process to identify the most qualified partnership to run the program and carry out the model. Mayor Dellums appointed an expert and neutral RFP Selection Committee to review applications and pick a winner.

This lengthy and careful process is finally complete!

A BIT MORE ON THE PROGRAM

40 low-income Oakland residents will participate in an 8-month program that includes construction training; life skills; academic, environmental, and financial literacy; solar panel installation; energy efficiency; and 3 months on the job with green employers. After graduation, participants will be connected to opportunities in the solar industry and construction trades.
While Oakland officials understand Green Job Corps are the way of the future, we sit around the Mahoning Valley building "alternative" schools that are merely one step away from sending inner city youth to jail.

It's time we invest in Green Job Corp programs for our poor, working, and middle class.

As Write-In Green Party Candidate for Congress, This is my Goal!

Dennis Spisak

Campaign Site: Http://votespisak.opg/electspisak.tripod.com

Check out the Green For All Job Corp Program on our web site under programs and links