SolarCorps Spotlight: Jennifer White

Jennifer White exudes vitality. 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 and education into her position as a GRID Alternatives Outreach Fellow.

“In February we finished putting together a comprehensive outreach plan for this year,” says Ms. White. “We needed to set more processes in place and we’re finally getting there.”

Objectives are important to Ms. White, she self evaluates regularly -- a skill she honed as a student. “Studying was hard for me initially, but I learned that setting goals and taking time to work out why something did or didn’t work is essential to success.”

Ms. White grew up in the Skyline neighborhood of San Diego and moved back in 2008 after time spent in both Los Angeles and Ghana. She is closely connected to her community and came to GRID with an invaluable, implicit understanding of how to connect with her neighbors. “I get out there, I’m at the local farmer’s market every week speaking to people and handing out flyers. It’s a slow start but it’s definitely turning.”

Ms. White discovered GRID Alternatives whilst researching for her own solar system. “I was getting a hard sell from a for-profit company and it just didn’t seem right,” Ms. White explains. “Here I was with a baby and no job and they were trying to convince me to make this enormous investment.”

A google search turned up GRID and after a couple of phone calls she found out she qualified, her solar panels were installed last October. “I was impressed,” says Ms. White. “I loved the organization, so of course I asked if they were hiring, and the rest is history!”