Oakland
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In Partnership with Ella Baker Center
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and IBEW Local 595
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Emily Kirsch
510.285.8228
emily@ellabakercenter.org
1970 Broadway, Suite 450 Oakland, CA 94612
Partnerships with other organizations:
Convened by the Ella Baker Center and IBEW local 595
A Note from Emily Kirsch at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights on the next steps for Oakland Apollo
MISSION
The Oakland Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor unions, environmentalists, community-based organizations and green businesses, working together to create quality jobs in the new energy economy. The Oakland Apollo Alliance is anchored by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 595).
The Oakland Apollo Alliance believes that Oakland can become a shining national example of a blue-collar town transformed into a green-collar powerhouse. Oakland can be used as a model sustainable city that creates high quality jobs for its residents while cleaning up the environment, improving public health and helping America achieve energy independence.
At its heart, the Oakland Apollo Alliance is a “movement building” project — a forum for groups with widely different backgrounds to come together to explore mutual interests, work through challenges, and advance a common agenda.
WHY OAKLAND?
During the civil rights movement, small cities like Selma and Montgomery were flashpoints for national debate. Green-Collar Jobs Campaign believes Oakland can become a Montgomery for the 21st century — a national example of transformation that shifts the country’s beliefs about what is possible on these issues.
How? It starts with proving that our unique coalition — environmentalists + organized labor + social justice activists + business — can come together across lines of race and issue area to create real change. Then we leverage that success as a new national model for change.
Oakland’s first Chinese-American and first female Mayor’s recently announced in Washington DC that her top priority for the City is green jobs.
A little known fact: Oakland was recently named one of America’s ten greenest cities by The Green Guide. Parts of Oakland have clean water, clean air, innovative energy initiatives, and good public transit. Mayor Ron Dellums has pledged to make Oakland a “global green leader” and a “model city.” The time is right, politically and economically; the stars are aligned in Oakland.
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AC Transit low-emission bus |
The Ella Baker Center and the Oakland Apollo Alliance convene the Oakland Climate Action Coalition.
The Oakland Climate Action Coalition is a cross-sector coalition of community-based organizations, environmental experts and advocates, labor unions, and green businesses working for an equitable and just Oakland Energy and Climate Action Plan (ECAP).
We’ve created a list of policies that can achieve significant carbon reductions while building a vibrant local economy and improving the quality of life for all Oakland residents — especially low-income communities and communities of color that are impacted most by global warming. Our recommendations embody these goals:
• Clean Up Air Pollution
• Create Local Green-Collar Jobs
• Save Money for Residents
• Improve Public Health
Thanks to the work of the Oakland Apollo Alliance and the Ella Baker Center, the city of Oakland is about to pass one of the most effective and equitable Energy and Climate Action Plans of any city in the country.
With bold green house gas reduction goals and explicit equity language, Oakland’s Energy and Climate Action Plan is a model for cities across the country to follow.
Oakland is home to one of the first green-collar job training programs called the Oakland Green Jobs Corps which was developed by Oakland Apollo to provide opportunities into the green economy for low income people and people of color.
The Oakland Green Jobs Corps proudly launched in October 2008, after more than two years of hard work by the Oakland Apollo Alliance and a rich network of supporters and partners. The program officially launched at a press conference on October 25 that featured elected officials, employers, labor union leaders, community members, and for the first time, students of the training program.
“This is a very elegant idea, elegant in its simplicity,” said Mayor Ronald Dellums of Oakland. “The idea is to fight pollution and fight poverty simultaneously.”
Providing “green pathways out of poverty,” the Oakland Green Job Corps will serve young adults who face barriers to employment – poverty, lack of work experience, limited education, cultural and language barriers, or history with the criminal justice system. The teachers at Cypress Mandela provide wraparound services and work with the students to help them achieve basic literacy and math skills, pass their GED, learn personal finance, get their drivers license or clear their driving record, and pass their weekly drug tests.
The students receive hands-on training in the construction trades, as well as specific training for green-collar jobs, such as solar panel installation, energy efficiency and green construction. The program will also include a section on eco-education and environmental literacy. Oakland Green Jobs Corps graduates will install solar panels on rooftops, weatherize homes and businesses, and construct the Bay Area’s new green buildings with the latest technology for water and energy efficiency.
The Oakland Green Jobs Corps is a partnership between Laney Community College, Cypress Mandela Construction Training Program, and a workforce intermediary called Growth Sector. This partnership is designed to insure that students graduate with the training, education, and support they need to qualify for employment with green-collar businesses. The first cohort of 40 students will be placed in jobs by Spring 2009.
In order to guarantee that the graduates of the Oakland Green Jobs Corps are placed in jobs paying a living wage, the Ella Baker Center organized the Green Employer Council comprised of green businesses and non-profits in the East Bay that do solar installation, green construction, and energy efficiency work. Members of the Green Employer Council agree to provide paid work experience and jobs for graduates. Roughly half of the graduates will take jobs with union contractors.
The City of Oakland — through the leadership of the City Council and Mayor Ron Dellums — provided a historic $250,000 in seed funding to launch the Oakland Green Jobs Corps and continues to provide resources and support for the program. The Oakland Green Jobs Corps is bringing renewed hope for the future of Oakland by boosting our local and regional economy, strengthening our most vulnerable communities, and creating opportunity where before there was none. The program will serve as a model for the country and illustrate the steps that communities can take to bring about real change and opportunity for all its residents.
• Ella Baker Center (Convener)
• IBEW Local 595 (Convener)
• Peralta Community Colleges
• Trades Women Inc.
• Sierra Club
• Work Force Collaborative
• California Apollo Alliance
Sign the Oakland Apollo Challenge
We’re working to get thousands of signatures to show elected officials that there is support for the Green Jobs Policy Platform. Signing the challenge also gets you on our e-mail list. We’ll let you know when things are coming up for a vote. And we’ll connect you to community events like rallies, Solution Salons, and lobby days.
Volunteer
Green-Collar Jobs Campaign could use some foot soldiers to help out in the office or carry the “build Oakland green” message to the streets. Fill out our Volunteer Form for more info.
Write a letter to the editor
Write a letter to the editor telling the community that you support our policy platform because it uses the growing green economy to give people a real path out of poverty.
Oakland Tribune: submit a letter on their website.
San Francisco Chronicle: submit a letter by e-mail.
East Bay Express: submit a letter by e-mail.
