Ester Sandoval
BA/HQ Solar Installation Trainer
Ester has been involved in the Construction Industry from various angles since she was a child. Dating back to her native Chile she had her first cleaning crew at the young age of 7. It took her various Colleges & University stints to realize she needed a different type of education once back in Seattle. Knowing she had a knack for fixing things & liked physical work, she decided to follow her mantra: “Find what you enjoy & love & the rest will follow”!
After becoming a Certified Flagger, she was hired as a Union Laborer. Within 3 years she had been a Crew Lead for both the Cleanup & Core Drill Crew. Next, she decided that she wanted to learn more via an Apprenticeship Readiness Program (ARP). By passing both union entrance exams: Carpentry & Electrical, she chose Carpenter’s Apprenticeship as they offered a job first. Apprenticeship was challenging due to lack of work, so she decided to enlist in a small business course which gave her tools to start her own small business as an Ehandywoman. This meant when work dried up as a Union Carpenter she had her own business to rely on along with a PT job as a Maintenance Coordinator/Tech at a transitional/permanent housing for women: Jubilee Women’s Center. Ester became a Journey Carpenter thanks to her resilience & the joy of working with the tools.
Love brought Ester to Oakland, which is now home where she’s been happily living, cycling & working. The last 8 years she enjoyed working as a Sr. Program Coordinator advocating for active/future tradeswomen in the Bay Area with Tradeswomen, Inc. Ester also presented, instructed, and mentored women, men & non-binary folx at the various ARP’s in BA: Cypress Mandela, RichmondBUILD, FutureBUILD, Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, NB TIP.
Thanks to a self-imposed sabbatical, Solar was whispering to her soul again… thus Grid Alternatives became her next adventure. Her desire to keep aligning her life values with an organization that tries to do the same is extremely important to Ester as well as training a future workforce in the Solar Industry & sharing her life and career experiences with folx so they too may succeed in their Solar journey.
After becoming a Certified Flagger, she was hired as a Union Laborer. Within 3 years she had been a Crew Lead for both the Cleanup & Core Drill Crew. Next, she decided that she wanted to learn more via an Apprenticeship Readiness Program (ARP). By passing both union entrance exams: Carpentry & Electrical, she chose Carpenter’s Apprenticeship as they offered a job first. Apprenticeship was challenging due to lack of work, so she decided to enlist in a small business course which gave her tools to start her own small business as an Ehandywoman. This meant when work dried up as a Union Carpenter she had her own business to rely on along with a PT job as a Maintenance Coordinator/Tech at a transitional/permanent housing for women: Jubilee Women’s Center. Ester became a Journey Carpenter thanks to her resilience & the joy of working with the tools.
Love brought Ester to Oakland, which is now home where she’s been happily living, cycling & working. The last 8 years she enjoyed working as a Sr. Program Coordinator advocating for active/future tradeswomen in the Bay Area with Tradeswomen, Inc. Ester also presented, instructed, and mentored women, men & non-binary folx at the various ARP’s in BA: Cypress Mandela, RichmondBUILD, FutureBUILD, Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, NB TIP.
Thanks to a self-imposed sabbatical, Solar was whispering to her soul again… thus Grid Alternatives became her next adventure. Her desire to keep aligning her life values with an organization that tries to do the same is extremely important to Ester as well as training a future workforce in the Solar Industry & sharing her life and career experiences with folx so they too may succeed in their Solar journey.
