Rising SUN Center for Opportunity

Climate Careers - In 2022, Climate Careers looked to the future. While continuing to offer our hallmark Green House Calls, we significantly increased the size of our externship program and debuted the environmental justice curriculum developed in 2021. At our Stockton office, staff explored joint initiatives, beginning with trauma-informed leadership training. Now in its third year, Stocktons appliance upgrade program was in full swing, sending youth into homes to evaluate eligibility. For those who qualify, Rising Sun covers 100% of the costs associated with purchasing qualified appliances, including labor and installation.

High Road Training Partnerships (HRTP) - 2022 was a year of upheaval for our policy department; advocacy opportunities abounded, and previous projects, including SOMAH, wrapped up. Our residential building decarbonization HRTP, launched in 2021, settled into a more predictable pattern. We named our focus, vision, and parameters and began to consider the ways we want to move and the tactics we want to take in the future, shares High Road Initiatives Manager Chiara Arellano. The work became increasingly relevant: the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is an example of labor standards being applied to public climate investments to uplift job quality and climate resilience. According to President and CEO Julia Hatton, Its informing and pushing our partners to think about the reality of this happening at the federal levelthis money will be coming down to our localities and will require prevailing wage standardsweve been pushing for standards with some resistance, but as they show up more frequently, people begin to see them as the norm.

Opportunity Build - In 2022, Opportunity Build returned to serving three annual cohorts of studentsthough recruitment remained an area of focus. It was more challenging compared to what were experiencing now, shares Case Manager Ashley Clark, and were always thinking of more creative ways to recruit women because its not a common field, its pretty male dominated, and not working for the duration of training is not always an option. Every time one of our students gets accepted into the union they want to be inevery time someone sets a goal in the beginning and then they obtain that goal, I always feel like those are the big victorieseven just growing up and taking accountability. The Opportunity Build team expanded significantly, allowing staff to broaden and deepen areas of focus. We explored fleshed-out financial capability offerings, and Senior Manager of Construction and Labor Relations Juanita Douglas joined state Senator Skinner in Sacramento to speak at the state assembly hearing for SB 1115 (Women in Construction), leading to further opportunities to address childcare-related barriers.