The City of Austin launches the Green Workforce Accelerator

Austin cityscape with blue river in right side of image and skyscrapers in back and green park to left

Calling all nonprofits and social innovation organizations passionate about a greener future! 🌱

Call for Applications:

The City of Austin is devoted to increasing equitable access to green jobs in pursuit of its climate, workforce development, and equity goals. In pursuit of these, The Innovation Office, alongside the Office of Sustainability, Economic Development Department, Parks and Recreation Department, and Austin Resource Recovery, will hold the City of Austin’s Green Workforce Accelerator (GWA) - a capacity-building accelerator to help organizations develop or expand green workforce programs. Accelerator participants will receive a $15,000 grant to support their work during the program.

Organizations selected for the GWA will participate in a needs assessment, cohort-based accelerator, and post-program data collection. "A strong ecosystem of organizations providing equitable access to green jobs is key to creating a sustainable and thriving Austin," explains Daniel Culotta, interim Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Austin. "We are excited to launch this innovative program that will strengthen the capacity of the City and community to provide good green careers that help achieve our strategic goals."

Eligibility:

This program may be a good fit if:

you represent a nonprofit organization OR a social innovation for-profit organization;
a decision-maker in your organization has capacity to attend (virtual) sessions twice a week for 12 weeks in early 2024 (anticipated end in May); and
your organization is ready to begin, expand, or reconfigure a program that does one or more of the following:
- Green jobs training
- Green jobs placement
- Green jobs provision or creation

UT’s Green Economy Study defines green jobs as "1) involving work that produces goods or services that benefit the environment and/or conserve natural resources;" and/or "2) involving work that makes production processes more environmentally friendly or consuming fewer resources."

Application and Program Timeline:

Application Open for Submission Now
Application Submission Deadline: 11:59pm CST January 5, 2024
Awardee Selection and Notification: late January/early February
Program End: May 2024

Alt text: Photo of a man with dark skin wearing a safety vest and construction helmet gazes at solar panels in a field as the sun sets. The words “Green Workforce Accelerator - applications now open” display in white text on the image along with the City of Austin and Blue Sky Partners logos.

RSVP for December 13th Informational Webinar:

There will be an informational webinar on Wednesday, December 13th that will be open to the public to review the program and application process and answer questions. Slides and all Q&A will be available on the GWA webpage after the webinar.

Informational Webinar:

When: Wednesday, December 13, 2023 11:30am Central Time (1 hour)

**After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Additional Information:

You can find more information, background, and a link to the application on the Green Workforce Accelerator webpage . If you have any questions, please contact annabel.osburn@austintexas.gov.

City of Austin