California Center for Sustainable Energy

When President Obama stated his commitment to developing the industries and skilled workforce to support a transition to a clean energy economy, Wendy Evers was hopeful her ideas for green industry training were going to take off. As senior director of new program development at SDSU’s College of Extended Studies, she had already set up several construction certificate programs, so it was a natural move to address preparing workers for green industries in San Diego.

“San Diego has the business climate and the community desire to encourage new building, new ventures and new innovation in green,” Wendy said. “A big part of the success in green workforce development will require continually forming business relationships and partnerships across San Diego, the state and nation.”

Wendy established a sustainability advisory board comprised of some of the top leaders in San Diego industry, education and nonprofits to help develop green career training programs based on business and workforce needs. One result is four online professional certificate programs at SDSU in green building, green energy management, green home contractor and residential and commercial sustainable practices.

Wendy has coordinated and participated in numerous forums and programs in conjunction with many local groups, including the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the Green Chamber of San Diego County and CCSE. She has also contributed to successful grant applications that are bringing federal recovery funds to San Diego, such as one to provide nearly $5 million for education, training and placement services to more than 1,000 veterans and dislocated and unemployed workers within the region.

Wendy is a national speaker for SDSU on workforce development and green careers. Her advice to green job seekers is straightforward – get training, join an association, go to events, constantly network.

To learn more about the SDSU College of Extended Studies green professional certificate programs, click here. SDSU is hosting the Third Annual Green Event, "Blue is the New Green," August 27 from 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. It’s a great opportunity to meet Wendy and other green industry experts – and to do that networking.

Continue reading August's newsletter.