Rising Sun Invited to United Nation’s First Ever Youth Forum

Innovation and technology are the paths to a successful future for the world’s youth

There are over 1 billion youth in the world today and they make up over one fifth of the world’s population. The United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chose to recognize the power of this growing and increasingly aware population at the UN’s first ever youth forum, which focused on “Shaping tomorrow’s innovators: Leveraging science, technology, innovation and culture for today’s youth.” The forum was held on March 27, 2013 in New York City and hundreds of delegates were invited from around the world to discuss three major topics: Girls and Young Women in Science, Youth: An Engine for Creative Economy, and Creating Buzz: Using Social Media to Make Ideas Happen.

The forum asked multiple questions of young people, such as “How do you use science and technology to address challenges you encounter in your community? Are you constantly thinking of ways to innovate, whether through an invention or a change in practice or behavior?” A recent shift has occurred in the culture of the UN that believes young people are at the forefront of innovations in science, technology and culture and only by prompting youth to take action, will these ideas reach their full potential. As United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated, “It is not only about telling us what kind of world you want. It is about partnering with us to realize a better future.”¹

Jodi Pincus and Heather Hochrein at the UN in New York city.

Rising Sun Energy Center (Rising Sun) was one of the organizations selected to voice the experience of young people in today’s workforce development and training programs. One of the topics of discussion focused on a speech made by Tony Wagner, a Harvard Innovation Education Fellow at the 2012 Skillshare’s Penny Conference, during which he spoke about the lack of encouragement for creativity and outside-of-the-box problem-solving in America’s education system today, “We as a country need the capacity to solve more different kinds of problems in more ways. It requires us to have a very different vision of education, of teaching and learning for the 21st century.” ²

As a workforce development non-profit, Rising Sun has been tackling this question for almost twenty years. How do we encourage youth to be creative, innovative and take action to stimulate the workforce, economy and community? While there is no magic answer to inspiring each and every young person, Rising Sun has created a unique and effective way to motivate youth through work experience in the green industry. Through its California Youth Energy Services program (CYES), Rising Sun trains and employs hundreds of young people each year in energy efficiency, water conservation and climate change. These young people then help their own community members save energy and water by providing free assessments, retrofits and education in energy and water saving. By affecting their communities in a positive way, learning hands-on and having a tangible effect on the environment, young people who go through the CYES program are not just classroom educated about climate change and community service, but are taught hands-on to become life-long innovators for change. As the UN’s first ever UN Youth Envoy, Ahmad Alhendawi declared “It’s more about action and being involved” ¹ to empower the world’s youth to innovate their own future.

Rising Sun’s mission is to empower individuals to achieve environmental and economic sustainability for themselves and their communities. For more information about Rising Sun Energy Center, visit www.risingsunenergy.org.

For more information about the United Nations’ youth forum, Innovate For Change, visit www.un.org/en/ecosoc/youth2013/

1. “Economic and Social Council: Youth Forum of 2013”, <http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/youth2013/>, (accessed April 25, 2013).
2. Erica Swallow, April 25, 2012, “Creating Innovators: Why America’s Education System Is Obsolete”, <http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericaswallow/2012/04/25/creating-innovators/>, (accessed April 25, 2013).

Rising Sun Earth Day 2013 Festivities

This weekend April 20-21, the Rising Sun Energy staff will be out in full force promoting energy conservation and sustainability at several Earth Day events around the Bay Area. Make sure you stop by our booth to hear about our FREE Green House Call service!

Check out the schedule below to see if  the Rising Sun team will be in your area:

Saturday, April 20th

• City of Berkeley Earth Day, 10 AM – 3PM, Center St at MLK Jr. Way, Berkeley 
• City of Fremont Earth Day, 11 AM – 3PM, 2500 Mowry Ave, Fremont (Across from BART)
• City of Hayward Earth Day, 11:30 AM – 1PM, Weekes Park -27182 Patrick Ave, Hayward
• City of Emeryville Earth Day, 11 AM – 3PM, Doyle Hollis Park, Emeryville
• City of Antioch Earth Day, 11 AM – 1PM, Contra Loma Reservoir Regional Park, Antioch

Sunday, April 21st

• City of Marin Earth Day, 11 AM – 5PM, 395 Dohetry Drive, Larkspur

Monday, April 22

• Oakland International Airport Earth Day, 11 AM – 3PM, Terminal 1 – 2nd Floor 

GETS Graduates Ready to Join the Workforce

On Friday, April 5, fifteen excited individuals graduated from the GETS program.  This is the seventeenth cohort since GETS began in 2009.  It is also the second cohort taught out of our own Berkeley training facility.  This cohort lasted 8 weeks, and covered not only energy efficiency retrofits and installations, but also basic construction skills, applied math, and job readiness.  Graduates left with a GETS certificate, as well as OSHA 10 and Lead Safe Work Practices certifications.

This fresh crop of GETS graduates is comprised entirely of Berkeley residents, and includes one graduate of the Green Bridge Academy program.  The graduates range in age from 20 to 55, and have a broad array of previous experience in construction, office administration, and sales.  After completing training, graduates are eager to find employment.  Some hope to continue in energy efficiency or green construction, while others hope to work in the solar industry or to join one of the Building Trades unions.  All graduates will be working closely with the GETS Training and Employment Manager and the GETS Case Manager over the coming months to achieve their employment goals.

The GETS class was joined by Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who was the keynote speaker at graduation.  Mayor Bates spoke of his own challenges finding the right path in his young life, and the significance of gaining practical skills that lead to a career.  Mayor Bates also spoke of the importance of green jobs in combating climate change, and how investments by cities like Berkeley will help these jobs continue to grow.

The GETS team is excited to support this newest crop of GETS graduates in joining the workforce.  Congratulations to all!

Rising Sun Welcomes International Interns

This year at Rising Sun Energy Center (Rising Sun), we are joined by three interns from three different countries: Ghana, Turkey and Costa Rica. These individuals have traveled miles away from home to gain deep knowledge and practical experience in successful models of encouraging energy efficiency to build sustainable communities. This opportunity was made possible by Collabriv, a global collaborative for the global generation. This year’s inaugural Collabriv class brings promising international leaders (ages 21–26) to the San Francisco Bay Area. The intensive six-month program provides a multinational team-based internship at a local organization in the Bay area. Together Pedel, Ahmet and Bernardo have a varied amount of experience in marketing and public relations. Please read on for more information about Rising Sun’s new crop of international interns:

Pedel Oppong (Accra, Ghana)

Pedel was born in Accra, Ghana and has a background in information system, project coordination and research. Before coming to the Bay area she was a project coordinator for a research study on communication and information needs among people in parts of northern and southern Accra. “I am so excited to work in Rising Sun because I believe this internship will launch my career in the green industry.” says Pedel. She will be helping the marketing & outreach team on public relations and marketing projects till August.

Bernardo Jose (Belen, Costa Rica)

Bernardo is an environmentalist from one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Costa Rica. He is a natural resources manager and collaborates with the Costa Rican NGO Terra Nostra, dedicated to environmental education. He is also a community leader in his hometown and manages different youth, artistic and cultural projects. “I’m very excited about being part of an international team and being part of Rising Sun too. I’m looking forward to achieving experience in the environmental field and also learning about different organization models in order to keep working in conservation and energy efficiency in Costa Rica.” Bernardo says.

Ahmet Turkyilmaz (Istanbul, Turkey)

Ahmet graduated from college with a business management degree and is now studying marketing at Istanbul University. Also as a member of the Istanbul Municipality Youth Assembly, he participated and organized multiple local and international projects, which were related to the European Union Youth Projects. He has also served as an editor for various sports websites “The collaboration between us, the international interns, and the local organization is something I am looking forward to. I am also looking forward to using some of my editorial skills I acquired over the years.” Ahmet says.

Join us in welcoming these three interns to the Bay Area and to Rising Sun Energy Center. We hope to provide opportunities that will empower them to achieve environmental sustainability for themselves and possibly for their respective countries. Truly we are reminded once again that all efforts are made so we can all live in a better world. Follow their six month journey here on the Rising Sun blog. Stay tuned.

Rising Sun’s Innovative Training Model gets Global Recognition

Rising Sun Energy Center (Rising Sun), a leading workforce development non-profit based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been selected as one of only fifteen organizations to be featured in Learning a Living: Radical Innovation in Education for Work. The book, which was recently published and is now available on Amazon.com, addresses a critical issue occurring around the world: the failure of education systems to equip students adequately for today’s labor market, and consequently, to become productive members of their communities.

Rising Sun was also invited to be one of the select U.S. organizations to attend the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) 2012 in Doha, Qatar. WISE, which published Learning a Living, hosts an annual meeting of education industry leaders, experts, policy-makers and students from over one hundred countries around the world. The main topic of discussion at WISE 2012 paralleled Learning a Living’s focus of connecting education to the workplace. Rising Sun was featured as a pioneer with real-world solutions to modern education problems. “The education quality must meet the need of the society. But the need of society has no limit,” explained Professor Zhou Qifeng, President of Peking University (Beijing, China), stressing the need for constant improvement in education. WISE 2012 convened over one thousand participants from the sectors of education, government, corporate and not-for-profit to discuss and drive the need for constant renewal, reform and access to education all around the globe to keep up with the rapidly changing needs of modern society.  “We live in a global world and we cannot isolate ourselves from what is happening outside. So we have to prepare ourselves, to prepare our institutions to participate in this global development of education,” said Ms. Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner of Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

Since 1994, Rising Sun has been providing hands-on training, career preparation and employment for youth. Rising Sun hires local Bay Area youth and trains them in energy efficiency, water conservation, climate change and professionalism. These young adults are then sent into their own communities to provide homes with free efficiency assessments, upgrades and education. Learning happens not only in the classroom, but on the job as well, as lessons are put into practice in the field.  Rising Sun empowers individuals to be active contributors to their own community, while focusing on environmental stewardship and community engagement. Learning a Living contends, “To become truly adaptable, learners also need to understand where their skills and knowledge fit into a bigger picture, so they can flexibly apply what they know elsewhere. At Rising Sun, educating young people how to do energy upgrades of people’s homes is only one small part of the task at hand; they must also be given a comprehensive sense of why this kind of work is necessary, and be motivated to care.”*

Jodi Pincus, Executive Director of Rising Sun Energy Center, spoke about the organization’s revolutionary education and training model at WISE 2012: “At Rising Sun, we are trying to solve two pressing global issues simultaneously: youth unemployment and climate change. Our approach is to take youth out of the classroom, into the field and equip them with the skills and consciousness to make a positive difference in their lives, their community and the environment. Our goal is to create life-long learners and engaged citizens who will not only make an impact today, but for future generations.”

WISE 2012 was held at the Qatar National Convention Center on November 13-15. WISE was inaugurated by Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, the Chairwoman and driving force behind the Qatar Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to address the challenges facing 21^st century education, to expand dialogue around the world and to implement practical and sustainable solutions.

For more information on Rising Sun Energy Center, please visit http://www.risingsunenergy.org

For more information about WISE 2012, please visit http://www.wise-qatar.org

Learning a Living can be purchased on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Living-Hannon-Valerie/dp/1780937547

*Valerie Hannon, Sarah Gillinson, Leonie Shanks, Learning a Living: Radical Innovation in Education for Work (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2013), 65.