Women in Solar

As the Volunteer Training Assistant it is great to have the opportunity to get to know our wonderful volunteers and how they came to learn about GRID Alternatives. With that in mind, one afternoon I had the opportunity to meet Alison Van Dusen in our office, after completing her first install.

Jennifer White is here to help. The UCLA Graduate has master’s degrees in both Public Policy and Education, she is self disciplined, highly motivated and is currently channeling her significant energies into her position as a GRID Alternatives Outreach Fellow.

When Richmond-resident Kirk Essler first heard about GRID in the local newspaper, he thought that solar at no cost for income-qualified families just sounded too good to be true. “I knew my house was perfect for solar,” he explained, “…but if something sounds like such a good deal, you have to be cautious. But I went ahead and applied – I had nothing to lose.”

Retired great-grandmother Gloria Williams knows first-hand about the changes in Silicon Valley: she has seen it all over the last 40 years she’s lived in her split-level home in the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park. This March, as millions across the globe celebrated International Women’s Month, Gloria wrote a new page in Belle Haven’s history as the first recipient of a GRID solar system.

Eager about what the day will bring, students from Ceres High School’s Manufacturing and Green Technology Academy strapped on their safety gear, ready to install solar in their hometown of Ceres. School officials and students filled the front yard of the home, as media captured the story of stewardship and volunteerism in the small town.

It was during a college class that Ms. Gonzales heard her fellow students talking about an all women crew volunteering with GRID Alternatives San Diego. “All I heard was ‘job’, ‘crew’ and ‘tools’, and I thought, I could do that!”

GRID Bay Area is thrilled to announce that our first Women In Solar (WIS) intensive training was a huge success! The program was a part of GRID’s WIS initiative – a national push to build a strong and sustainable solar industry through greater inclusion of women’s voices, talent and leadership, as the industry's workforce is currently only 23.9% female. Over the local two week training program, GRID was proud to see women with a diverse set of backgrounds (from veteran to veterinarian!) come together to form a rockin' 10 woman team.

We are excited to announce our newest appointment to the GLA Board, Mary Luévano. Mary comes to the GLA Board with over fifteen years of environmental experience gained from serving as both Vice President and Policy and Legislative Director of Global Green USA where she oversaw many of Global Green’s groundbreaking initiatives related to green building and clean energy.

There is nothing more challenging than juggling in the rain. However, the rain did not dent the spirit of 39 University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) students in the first week of January 2016 as they worked tirelessly in the rain installing two solar systems in Madera, California.

We are excited to welcome Jocelyn DeLeon to the GRID Alternatives family as our new Outreach Assistant in the Central Coast South office.