The battle against climate change is providing job opportunities to Brooklyn residents as they work together to combat it.
Local organizations are coming together in Brownsville to prepare for the future of the workforce. Brooklyn Youth Offshore Wind Industry Training Program is a paid summer internship for youth between the ages of 15-24.
Participants will learn about project management, construction, and wind turbine technician training. The goal is to not only to introduce youth to environmentally friendly jobs, but also to overcome racial disparities in the workforce and education.
Rachel Mattes Greenberg, head of sustainability at Citizens Bank, says one of the best parts of the program is that participants will come out with skillsets for good paying jobs.
"Giving them the skills, the resources, to have good paying jobs between $75,000 and $125,000 annually to support their own development, the development of their families, and the development of the broader community," said Greenberg.
La’Shawn Allen-Muhammad, a leader of the program, says the future workforce needs to begin preparing for what he refers to as the ‘new Industrial Revolution’.
"By 2030-2040, New York will be completely carbon free,” said Allen-Muhammad. “By starting a program now, we are preparing the future workforce for the offshore wind industry."
The program will also include swimming lessons. The internship hopes to give participants the proper skills to enter the budding environmental workforce.