Many generous people are willing to share their knowledge and time to help other people. We are very aware of this support, here at GRID Alternatives. Our organization promotes giving back to communities by volunteering and here at the Central Valley office, we have an involved and responsible Board of Directors that share their knowledge and take their time, to help direct our office in taking the next steps as we grow in our community.<\/p>\n
This month, we would like to spotlight just one of our inspiring board members that takes time out of her busy life to support us. Marylen Karsted has been associated with our Central Valley office since her mother and our Executive Director\u2019s wife were prayer partners at a local church. Marylen\u2019s mom shared with her the news, that GRID Alternatives was opening an office in Fresno and Tom Esqueda had just been hired as Executive Director. Marylen attended the very first volunteer orientation on January 7th<\/sup>, 2010 with an attendance of 43 people.<\/p>\n What drew Marylen to GRID Alternatives, was the uniqueness and timeliness of the organization. The fact that GRID builds people up and encompass\u2019 all facets of society. GRID\u2019s triple bottom line of People \u2013 families who are saving money with solar; Planet \u2013 clean renewable energy adoption and production; and Employment- hands-on training and skill development for people who want to work in the growing solar industry. Her first experience with solar was in 2005, when she was in Turkey with Operation Northern Watch and witnessed water that was heated with solar. When her Turkish friend visited California, he was amazed that with all the sunshine in our state, there was very little solar power being utilized, except for the very wealthy.<\/p>\n Marylen is no stranger to service to her community and nation. She served the military for 28 years. Three years in the Army, seven years in the Air National Guard, four years in the Navy National Guard and another 14 years stationed at Moffet Field in the Air National Guard until she was released through a medical discharge. During her service in the guard, she also served as a Senior Community Services Officer with the Police Department for 36 years, two months and three weeks.<\/p>\n But, her first job did not have that military flavor. As a matter of fact, it was much sweeter. She sold handmade bakery items in her neighborhood, door to door. She provided handwritten menus and did the baking herself, with the help of her very nice neighbor, while she was going to school and in the 5th<\/sup> grade.<\/p>\n The hobbies that she enjoys are reading and gardening, but her favorite hobby is traveling, sometimes on her own motorcycle. When asked where she has traveled that was the furthest from home, she said that she has been to the Middle East, but she has also been to China, Japan, and Turkey. Australia is still on her bucket list.<\/p>\n Marylen has two older brothers hitting both sides of the continental United States. One lives in Connecticut and the other lives in Portland, Oregon. When Marylen is not traveling the world, Nick-e, her black cat, welcomes her home when she opens the front door.<\/p>\n Stay tuned for future blog stories sharing the lives of our other board members.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our Board is a Wealth of Experience and Knowledge<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,78,81,79],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[29,31,20,72,27,73],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-4308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-environment","category-equity-community","category-organizational-stories","category-workforce-education","content-type-news","focus-area-clients","focus-area-environmental-justice","focus-area-job-training","focus-area-solar-storage-installations","focus-area-volunteers","focus-area-workforce-development"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"\n