“Solar Jobs and Second Chances

September has been a month of discussion and connections at GLA, where we’ve successfully launched our Los Angeles Energy & Equity Power Series (LEEPS) to talk about the most important challenges and opportunities that pertain to Los Angeles’ solar industry in the 21st century. After the inaugural series event where stakeholders from across renewable energy, government, and housing covered maximizing the impact of solar on the communities housing low-income renters, we announced a day of panelists to explore reentry. Like GRID Alternatives teams in other regions of the United States, we’re enthusiastic about the untapped talent that the solar industry can tap in our recently-released men and women. Moreover, we feel that it’s vital for employers, nonprofits, and society at large to be aware of the challenges individuals who have a history of experience with the criminal justice system face to be successful.

The second LEEPS event, Solar Jobs and Second Chances: Breaking Barriers to Employment for the Formerly Incarcerated, took place at LACI’s La Kretz Innovation Campus on September 28. The topics that mattered today, which were explored by two moderators (Kimberley Guillemet, Manager of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Reentry; and Erika Symmonds, GRID Alternatives Director of Workforce Development), add a new dimension of depth to the work we’re doing with the significant population of Los Angeles residents who are returning citizens. We place trainees in good-paying jobs throughout the year, and work hand in hand with the success of local organizations like Homeboy Industries that show a parallel commitment to employment for at-risk groups. As Jose Osuna, HBI Director of External Affairs, said on a LEEPS afternoon panel, “There’s a model we’ve followed for ten years now: really building a relationship with potential employers. Eventually that’s what we really took to the next level.”