Green Economy Initiatives

GTECH is growing the Green Economy by connecting people and institutions, increasing access to opportunity, and establishing a unique model for collaboration to build and strengthen a green workforce.
 

The Green Economy is composed of any business, product or service that has a positive impact on the environment while connecting people and communities together, is dependent on a workforce steeped in the principles of sustainability.

GTECH’s Green Economy Initiatives are in three broad categories:

Coordination

The Green Jobs Advisory Board (GJAB) is a diverse body of stakeholders committed to growing the regional Green Economy through collaboration and enhancement for educational training and employment opportunities.  GTECH in partnership with the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board is facilitating in the management of the regional collaborative effort.
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In November 2008, The Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB), Student Conservation Association (SCA), and Growth through Energy & Community Health (GTECH) collaborated to convene over 90 regional organizations representing the spectrum of workforce development to initiate an ongoing dialogue around Green Jobs. This “roundtable” was brought about due to mounting public opportunities around Green Job training programs, the successful implementation of a Pittsburgh Green Jobs Corps, and an emerging regional asset known as the Green Innovator project. Composed of workforce development professionals, environmental experts, trade unions, corporate employers, community based organizations, policy advocate, public officials, educators, and small businesses, the GJAB is a forum for information sharing, collaboration and strategic development.
 
The function of the Green Jobs Advisory Board is:
  • To provide relevant and up-to-date information about green jobs to stakeholders, partners, decision makers and the general public.
  • Develop an infrastructure that provides support for, promotes collaboration among and increases the impact of stakeholders.
  • Connect regional stakeholders and relevant parties across sectors to available resources, information, and tools.
  • Promote social justice and equity in green job pathways for disenfranchised populations including minorities, women, un/underemployed individuals, adjudicated youth/adults, formerly incarcerated individuals and low-income persons.
The 2010 goals of the Green Jobs Advisory Board are:
  • Disseminate and coordinate green job information among membership and associated stakeholder groups.
  • Establish operational infrastructure that supports the existence and development of collaborative green job strategies through stakeholder connections Strategies.
Coordinated Weatherization Campaign (CWC): CWC is a multi-organizational collaboration towards developing a large-scale, geographically targeted energy efficiency /weatherization program in the region. Goals include: reduction of energy costs for low income communities; promotion of minority contractor participation; employment of low income residents maximizing resources; creation of a dynamic workforce development initiative.
 
Urban Green Growth Collaborative's Regional Green Economy Task Force:  GTECH leads the Regional Green Economy Task Force, a subcommittee of the UGGC, whose mission is to build strategic alliances, align mobilization efforts across sectors, advocate for and implement strategies that create green career pathways for the historically disadvantaged.  The UGGC is working towards the development of sustainable, livable communities that are competitive in the global economy.
 
Job Readiness Roundtable:  Job Readiness Roundtable is a multi-organizational collaboration that brings together training providers and employers to emphasize aligning efforts to provide appropriate job readiness training. There is a particular emphasis on soft and hard skills to help ensure that individuals seeking jobs are adequately prepared for both training and employment opportunities.
 

Implementation

Youth Green Jobs Corps (Student Conservation Association, Urban Green Jobs Alliance)
Youth Green Jobs Corps is a collaborative program between GTECH and the Student Conservation Association (SCA) committed to building an accessible green career ladder to youth. Participants gain hands-on experience and an understanding of the green workforce and green economy opportunities.
 
Coro's NEXT Leaders for Green Communities:  The NEXT Leaders for Green Communities is a part-time, two-year leadership development program with two goals: provide training and mentoring for the NEXT generation of Hill District/Uptown leaders, and assist young and established leaders to explore how the green economy can fuel community development in the Hill District and Uptown.
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The goals of the program are to:
  • Position the community for leadership succession.
  • Take the lead in designing and implementing community-wide initiatives that utilize the green economy for community development.
  • Provide an intensive leadership development training for NEXT leaders.
  • Deepen connection to and collective strength with other organizations in the community by meeting jointly to mentor the NEXT leaders and implement green initiatives.
GTECH brings a sophisticated understanding of the local and national green economy landscape’s current trends, dynamics and activities. In addition, GTECH is recognized in Pittsburgh and in the wider region as a leader of the green jobs movement, with the ability to bring vision, convene key stakeholders, move policy, and advance social change. Finally, GTECH targets environmental liabilities as platforms for creative, productive and inspiring platforms for community prosperity and can help Young Leaders in Green Communities (YLGC) participants identify untapped opportunities in their community.
 
GTECH’s role will be to:
  • Develop green economy specific content and materials for sessions, workshops, interviews, external communication and other relevant elements of YLGC program.
  • Identify, recruit and facilitate the participation of green economy resource experts, organizations and programs in the YLGC program.
  • Ensure YLGC participants are connected to ongoing and upcoming green economy opportunities and activities in the Hill District and across the region.
  • Introduce participants to appropriate green economy solutions emphasizing community-based initiatives with the potential to spur green enterprise development creating a distributed network of community innovation.
  • Encourage an active organizational collaboration focused on enabling local leadership on the ground to grow the marketplace, shape public dialogue and engage community.
 
Breaking the Chains of Poverty:  This is a pre-apprenticeship green job-training program administered by the A. Philip Randolph Institute's Pittsburgh Chapter and facilitated in partnership with the United Steelworkers, Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and GTECH. This program identifies, recruits and provides job readiness and introductory green jobs for residents of public housing communities.
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This is a 6-week training program that covers both soft and hard skills including Carbon Footprint, Green Chemistry, and Life Skills training. The goals are to raise awareness and educate residents of public housing about green jobs and the green economy, develop a leadership pipeline among residents of public housing in support of investment in the green economy, and connect community members to training and employment programs.

Research

Southwestern Pennsylvania Green Jobs report: A study supported by The Heinz Endowments, commissioned by GTECH and Green Building Alliance, presented by GSP Consulting and Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board.  This report serves as the regional resource in growing the Green Economy.  It serves as the first step in determining the projected areas of growth in the local green economy and the respective career ladders leading to each area.
 
For more information on the research we do, please see the Resource section of the web site.