Worker Training and Job Readiness Program
REGISTER FOR UPCOMING TRAINING SESSIONS
WE ACT’s Green Institute: Taking Workforce Development to the Next Level
Good Jobs Are Essential for a Healthy Community
Today’s high poverty and unemployment rate in Northern Manhattan is caused by decades of poor and often racist public policy around jobs, housing, and homeownership, education, policing, and more. And climate change is exacerbating the issue, widening existing social and economic inequalities in our community and others like it.
In the wake of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy, an extreme weather event that impacted New York City’s low-income communities and communities of color particularly hard, WE ACT relaunched and expanded its free Worker Training program thanks to input from the community and funding from the New York State Department of Labor. The goal of the program is to provide a pathway for equitable employment in these communities as we work to combat climate change.
Focusing on the perennially healthy construction industry, the classes have evolved over the years to include the now mandatory Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) 30-hour Construction Industry Outreach, Building Performance Institute Multifamily Building Operator, Solar Photovoltaic Installation, and Flagging & Scaffolding. WE ACT has trained more than 800 unemployed and underemployed members of the community to date, enabling them to earn certifications free-of-charge that had previously served as cost-prohibitive barriers to careers in the construction industry.
WE ACT’s Green Institute
In 2023, WE ACT rebranded its workforce development program, launching WE ACT’s Green Institute. The mission remains the same, training and connecting local residents to good paying jobs in the green economy. What’s changed is the depth and breadth of the program, expanding the services offered as well as the opportunities available.
In addition to the 30-hour OSHA Certificate and Site Safety Training required for entry-level positions in the construction industry, along with Solar Photovoltaic Installation certification, WE ACT’s Green Institute also offers training for free 60-hour energy efficiency technical training to earn GPRO Fundamentals of Building Green Certification. And soon we’ll be adding training for off-shore wind work.
However, these certifications are just the entry requirements for these jobs. That’s why WE ACT’s Green Institute is offering professional development workshops designed to help you navigate the application and hiring process as well as ways to advance your career once you are employed.
WE ACT’s Green Institute is open to everyone aged 18-years and older, regardless of background. All applicants will undergo interviews, evaluations, and a screening/selection process.
To learn more, contact Charles Callaway at charles@weact.org or 917-561-7209.
Many thanks to West Harlem Development Corporation
for generously supporting our Worker Training Program
We have also started a Worker Training Working Group to help those in the program better prepare for entering the job market. And this has led to the formation of a Northern Manhattan Solar Cooperative to help our trainees become entrepreneurs in the fast-growing solar field. Contact Charles Callaway at charles@weact.org for more information.
Click here to see testimonials from local residents who have participated in our Worker Training and Job Readiness program.
Jose Pichardo, Graduate & Member
Fresh out of prison and looking for an opportunity to turn his life around, Jose learned about WE ACT’s Worker Training Program and saw it as a pathway to not only steady work but a career in construction. In his words, our training program gave him the three things he needed to achieve this goal: “Motivation, Certification, & Opportunity.” Jose completed the 30-hour OSHA, Building Performance Institute, and Solar Installation training classes and has been working in construction ever since. In fact, he was recently promoted to foreman and does his best to hire others who have been through our worker training program.
Willie Russell, Graduate & Member
Willie was looking to break into the construction industry, where a number of his friends had found steady work. But he lacked the costly certifications required to get even an entry level job. His friends told him about WE ACT’s Worker Training Program, where he could get the training he needed to earn these certificates for free. Willie took all three of our classes, earning his 30-hour OSHA, Building Performance Institute, & Solar Installation certificates. He has been working in construction and is active in developing our solar co-operative, so he and his fellow solar trainees can create more opportunities for work – for themselves as well as other Solar Installation graduates.
Ken Pipersburg, Graduate & Member
“WE ACT’s Worker Training Program helped me to get an OSHA 30 certificate, which led to a permanent, union job with Amtrak.” Click here to see more testimonials from our Worker Training and Job Readiness program.