After writing We Took the Rise, one of my bi-annual highlights of the year are donating the book to the newest cohort of WRISE & Grid Alternatives Solar Power Fellows at RE+. This presentation follows my previous donation this year to the 2025 Rudd Wind Fellows cohort at Cleanpower 2025. It’s been a true honor to be on their renewable energy career journeys!
This year’s event was just as special and meaninful to me as previous years’ events, being able to meet with the eight Fellows selected in person, and hearing about their aspirations in the renewable energy sector.
WRISE & GRID Alternatives partner on the Rising Solar Power Fellowship Program to give aspiring solar professionals from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to pursue a career in renewable energy. The program, part of GRID and WRISE’s workforce diversity initiatives, is aimed at anyone training for careers in installation and design as well as college and graduate students studying renewable energy and related fields.
This year’s WRISE & Grid Alternatives Solar Power Power Fellowship cohort continues the phenomenal track record the program has, with students from across the US, representing the University of West Georgia up to the University of Minnesota, all the way to the University of California-Davis.
It’s more important than ever to be a male ally to the newest generation of renewables professionals to assist in carving out career pathways for the best and the brightest entering our industry. We need more mentors out there in the industry; all it takes is 15-30 minutes a week to do a virtual coffee that can change the trajectory of a young person’s life. It’s about “paying it forward” for those mentors and professionals that helped us in our personal journies to get into this industry.
I’m looking forward to being a mentor to these amazing young women as they embark on their professional careers in clean energy. I encourge you all to get involved in the WRISE & Grid Alternatives Solar Power Fellowship.
