Training the Next Generation of Climate Heroes: CCC’s Second Higher Education Roundtable
Kat James, Assistant Director of the Center for Smart Building Technology, Roxbury Community College, presents on Roxbury Community College's program opportunities to build and expand the skilled cleantech workforce.
It was wonderful to gather in mid-August with such an impressive group of MA sustainability and workforce development leaders to discuss equitably meeting the workforce development challenge for the cleantech revolution.
Thank you again to our seven wonderful speakers, representing State leadership, the higher ed community, MA unions, and the MassCEC:
Katherine Antos, MA Undersecretary for Decarbonization & Resilience
Melissa Lavinson, Executive Director of the Office of Energy Transformation
Kat James, Assistant Director of the Center for Smart Building Technology, Roxbury Community College — Presentation Link
Dr. Marvin Loiseau, Dean of Academic & Student Affairs, & Darwin Almonte, Assistant Director of Clean Energy Programs, Franklin Cummings Tech — Presentation Link
Ryan Murphy, Executive Director, Climate Jobs MA (affiliated w/ MA AFL-CIO) — Presentation Link
Jennifer Applebaum, Managing Director, Workforce Development, MassCEC — Presentation Link
Speakers and CCC Delegates worked to address two key questions:
1) How can MA’s higher ed institutions collaborate to help the State reach its workforce development goals ?
2) How can the State support MA's higher ed institutions in developing and training the workforce to achieve them?
As we heard Undersecretary of Decarbonization & Resilience Katherine Antos remark to open the meeting, climate change is MA's greatest challenge and opportunity. We will need to work across sectors to equitably develop the workforce to meet the need for at least 34,000 new CleanTech employees by 2030, in industries ranging from clean buildings, offshore wind, clean transport, and engineered solutions for sequestration and adaptation.
As our speakers shared the opportunities and challenges they've identified in meeting this goal, CCC Delegates outlined several potential pathways for collaboration. These pathways included:
Aligning Training Programs with Industry Needs: Kat James, Director of the Center for Smart Building Technology at Roxbury Community College, and Dr. Marvin Loiseau, Dean of Academic & Student Affairs at Franklin Cummings Tech, underscored the importance of aligning training programs (from non-credit certificates through terminal associate's or BS degrees) with identified industry needs, while gaining a clear understanding of potential career paths for their students.
Opportunity: Bring industry to the table. Facilitate discussions between technical schools and employers to identify gaps and opportunities for new or expanded programs, such as FCT's EV charging station repair training. Partner on creating a unified pipeline from training to full employment.
Expanding and Scaling Union Apprenticeships: Ryan Murphy, Executive Director of Climate Jobs, MA (affiliated with the AFL-CIO), walked CCC Delegates through "How to Become a Clean Energy Worker." Step 1: guaranteeing staffing on large-scale projects through Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) to scale up union apprenticeship programs.
Opportunity: Urge the higher ed community, following the example of schools like Harvard, to commit to signing Project Labor Agreements for campus projects. Additionally, explore using the PLA model as a blueprint to encourage the hiring of technical school graduates for specific projects.
Fostering Ecosystem Alignment: Jennifer Applebaum, Director of Workforce Development at the MassCEC, shared that we need greater coordination within the workforce development ecosystem to avoid duplication of efforts and identify/alleviate "training deserts."
Opportunity: Explore pathways for resource sharing among higher ed institutions and support ecosystem mapping initiatives. MassCEC's to-be-developed web platform will map and connect training providers, employers, community partners, and cleantech trainees.
Addressing Equity and Inclusion: Melissa Lavinson, Executive Director of the MA Office of Energy Transformation, used the example of the 60 highly-skilled gas workers staffing the Everett LNG facility as a reminder that the energy transition cannot leave anyone behind.
Opportunity: Develop strategies to increase access to training programs, including transportation solutions, stipends, and support services, with a focus on addressing training deserts and barriers to entry in underserved communities. Streamline non-credit program grant funding to increase accessibility.
We look forward to continuing to develop, implement, and scale these pathways at our next gathering on workforce development: the third CCC Higher Ed Roundtable, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1st, 4:30 - 6pm at the UMass Club in One Beacon.
We would welcome any introductions to employers who have open CleanTech roles and would be interested in speaking to their employment opportunities, as well as how best to partner with higher ed and job connectors to fill them.
The CCC has spent the last year building new and needed state-wide coalition value by uniting perspectives from a wide range of MA sustainability leaders, supporting conclusive evidence that the clean energy revolution is an outstanding business opportunity, an unparalleled workforce opportunity, and a much-needed equity opportunity.
Thank you for your continued leadership in moving MA to the forefront in the global CleanTech revolution.
