Catch Them Early – Educating Los Angeles’ Youth about Opportunities in the Green Economy

In March of 2023 SoCalREN held a Future Green Leaders Summit to build awareness about different career pathways in Sustainability and Energy Efficiency that students may not be introduced to otherwise. The summit was attended by over 1,800 6th, 7th and 8th grades students from disadvantaged/low-income communities around LA. The summit featured over 18 workshops, 40 exhibitors (including Microsoft and Google) and several highly interactive displays designed to inform the audience about opportunities in the Green Energy Sector with the intent of generating interest and guiding the development of future leaders.

This panel will discuss the vision for the summit, the incredible support the summit gained throughout the public and private sector and present key outcomes and feedback. Additional discussion will be provided around the immensely challenging logistics of event coordination and lessons learned.

Speakers

  • Tessa Charnofsky, County of Los Angeles, Workforce Education and Training Program Manager
  • Lujuana Medina, County of Los Angeles, Environmental Initiatives Manager
  • Shanette Anderson, Emerald Cities Collaborative, Southern California Senior Program Manager