Seven nonprofit organizations in San Diego County will receive $180,000 in grants from the San Diego Foundation to create more opportunities for youth ages 16 through 24 to careers in green industries.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics defines green jobs as jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources or jobs where workers' duties involve making their establishment's production processes more environmentally friendly or using fewer natural resources. There are an estimated 417,000 people in the San Diego region between 16 and 24 years of age, and of that group, 31,000 are considered opportunity youth, according to a report published by the San Diego Workforce Partnership.
“Thanks to our local nonprofit partners, this program will help opportunity youth develop personally and professionally while growing the resilience of our local green economy,” said Christiana DeBenedict, Director of Environment Initiatives for The San Diego Foundation.
San Diego County provided grant funding for the green jobs program as a part of it’s Youth Environmental Recreation Corp, launched by Supervisors Tarra Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas.
“These grants are the next step in our new countywide initiative to help young people secure the green careers that will define not only their future but the future of our entire region,” Lawson-Remer said. “These investments in a youth green jobs program are an acknowledgment that our economy can’t fully recover until young people recover — and have equitable access to the green economy of tomorrow.”
Seven local nonprofits each received a grant of $20,000 or $30,000, including:
- Urban Corps of San Diego County to recruit members for its dual work-learning program in Vista, Escondido, and Chula Vista and prepare them for employment in green workforce careers
- Environmental Health Coalition of San Diego to support environmental justice advocacy, community organizing, leadership development and policy advocacy in Barrio Logan
- Ocean Discovery Institute to provide a pathway to careers in science and conservation that includes mentoring and career coaching in City Heights
- Indigenous Regeneration to support paid farm apprenticeships for Native opportunity youth interested in learning about sustainable farming and regenerative agriculture in Valley Center and San Pasqual
- Project New Village to support internships in urban agriculture at Mt. Hope Community Garden in Southeast San Diego
- Casa Familiar to engage interns in transportation justice, mitigating transit pollution and greening efforts in San Ysidro and Otay Mesa
- Tree San Diego to educate, incentivize and provide workforce training for careers in urban forestry in Chollas Creek and Mundo Gardens in National City
In 2021, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst projected that to meet California’s climate goals in 2030 and 2045, the state would need to create a projected 1 million green jobs.
The program also partners with the San Diego Workforce to further support the placement of opportunity youth in paid positions with county departments. Youth may be placed in Parks and Recreation; Planning and Development Services; Public Works; Agriculture, Weights, and Measures; Environmental Health and Quality; Library and General Services.
