GRID IE is proud to share exciting news: we have been awarded more than $765,000 through Thrive Inland SoCal’s Catalyst Funding to expand clean energy job training and solar readiness in our region.

Through the SolarCorps Fellowship program, GRID IE provides a full-time, 11-month real-world experience to community members interested in pursuing a career in the climate action movement. 

GRID IE in partnership with the Center for Employment Training (CET) and the Southern California Mountains Foundation, hosted a successful Workforce Information Session at the Coachella Library on August 21, 2025.

“GRID IE is doing more work in Mecca and North Shore, and Diana Centeno is the first of three interns to be funded by the TCC Riverside County Development Grant that we’ve been awarded,” shared Sandra Romero, the Workforce and Training Manager, whose team helped recruit Diana for her Community Engagement internship that started in April 2025.

On April 17, a team of Arvato employees stepped away from their usual work in supply chain management and e-commerce solutions to spend a day in hard hats and tool belts, helping the Espadas family of Ontario, California, gain access to clean, renewable energy.

“Riverside and California are getting expensive to live in. I want to make sure my mom is taken care of, and lowering the cost of our electricity bills makes that easier.” –Eddy Newton, the 34th Eastside homeowner to receive no-cost solar through GRID IE

On April 19, 2025, Edison International​​​​​​​ partnered with GRID Alternatives Inland Empire (GRID IE) for a meaningful and energizing Team-Building Sponsored Volunteer Workday in Rialto, California.

In June 2025, ten trainees completed their full-time, 5-week IBT 200 course, which covers the complete installation of photovoltaic solar systems in the classroom with GRID IE’s experienced trainers, and on the roof with GRID IE's professional Construction Team.

In March 2024, Solar Futures students from Sherman Indian High School (SIHS) and GRID IE teamed up in Eastside, Riverside, to install solar for the Newton family household located in Eastside’s Santiago Estates manufactured home community, just a block away from GRID IE’s office. 

GRID IE welcomed a group of bright, driven I-REN Energy Fellows for a tour of the Clean Tech Training Center in Riverside.