There were many submissions of candidates interested in filling the position of executive director, but one stood out among them all. GRID IE is pleased to welcome Jaime Alonso as the new Executive Director.
Jaime Alonso was born and raised in the Coachella Valley. Like many in the region, he came from a family of Mexican migrant farmworkers. Raised in a trailer park in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, Jaime recognized early on that access to adequate housing, safe drinking water and reliable energy sources were not readily available. This recognition motivated him to return to the Coachella Valley after graduating from the University of California in Los Angeles (U.C.L.A) in 2005 to work as an organizer with Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC). Working in collaboration with faith communities throughout the eastern Coachella Valley, Jaime got policymakers in the City of Coachella to agree to expand the number of parks in the city, and to devote over $3.5 million to park improvements. Jaime graduated from Brooklyn Law School (2009) with honors and has spent the last decade as a legal and policy professional in the Washington D.C. metropolitan region. A California native through and through, Jaime has maintained strong ties with organizations and policymakers in the Inland Empire region. In his new role as Executive Director for GRID Alternatives, Inland Empire (Riverside, CA), Jaime says:
“I am excited for the opportunity to lead an organization devoted to positively transforming the lives of residents and communities by providing access to clean, renewable solar energy to low-income families and hands-on job training to help workers enter the solar industry.”
Jaime will be in attendance at GRID IE’s 4th Annual Summer Solarbration where he will have an opportunity to network and meet community partners and members of the community. If you have not already RSVP’d for this event, please contact Natasha Ferguson at 951.465.2866 or email nferguson@gridalternatives.org.