Ava Supports Training Programs To Fill Clean Energy Jobs

The clean energy business is booming, partly thanks to Ava’s support for renewable energy, home and vehicle electrification, and other local development opportunities. With this boom comes demand for workers, and Ava is helping prepare a pipeline by supporting job training programs.

In 2025, Ava awarded two $300,000 grants for job training initiatives led by the Advancing Green Apprenticeship Pathways for Efficiency (AGAPE) initiative and the Rising Sun Center for Opportunity. Each grant will be paid out over the course of three years, with money coming from Ava’s Local Development Community Grants budget.

“We’re trying to create as much opportunity as we can as our communities transition to a clean energy future,” says Ava CEO Howard Chang. “Our investments create jobs, and we want those jobs to be filled by local workers. Supporting ‘green ladder’ training programs helps ensure that vision becomes a reality.”

The first grant supported AGAPE, a partnership between Cypress Mandela Training Center and Revalue.io. Cypress Mandela was founded in 1989 in response to the widespread rebuilding needed after the Loma Prieta earthquake. Revalue.io is an energy efficiency services company that partners with local contractors to facilitate career pathways.

AGAPE is training students, creating partnerships with local clean energy employers, and providing experiential learning opportunities, such as guest speakers and educational field trips. It is plugging trainees into PG&E’s Empower My Home program and BayREN’s Efficiency And Sustainable Energy (EASE) Home program, which provide low- or no-cost efficiency and electrification for low-income households, installing heat pump water heaters and heating and cooling systems, insulation and duct sealing, and electric panel upgrades.

“AGAPE bridges the education-to-employment gap for young adults in historically underserved and underinvested communities through hands-on training, mentorship, and real project exposure,” says Mark Hall, a youth educator and founder of Revalue.io. “Participants gain industry certifications while earning stipends and building careers in the clean energy transition.” 

Ava’s second grant, for Rising Sun, is allowing it to expand and improve its Climate Careers curriculum. Climate Careers started in 2000, when Rising Sun taught a residential energy efficiency workshop at Berkeley High School. Support from Ava will help Rising Sun hire coordinators in both Alameda and San Joaquin Counties, do outreach at 60 schools and events, and provide training, job placement, career counseling, and mentorship.

Rising Sun also delivers energy efficiency services to households primarily through its Green House Calls program, which provides home audits and simple household upgrades. With new funding, Rising Sun plans to hire 22 young workers each year to serve as Energy Specialists and Leaders in Field Training.

After a year of Ava support, the programs are starting to see results. 

AGAPE has engaged with 203 youth and completed training for 92 in four cohorts, from nine different cities. It held four career fairs and worked with three employers.

Rising Sun, meanwhile, has held six events in Alameda County and 18 in San Joaquin County, reaching a combined total of 1,640 youth. With grant support, Rising Sun has enhanced its Decarbonization Curriculum; developed an online Careers catalog for Alumni to access clean energy job opportunities in a centralized location; completed training for 467 young people; conducted 12 training sessions, and placed 75 trainees into externships and seasonal job opportunities. For the next two years of the grant, the primary focus will be to continue identifying creative solutions that bridge the training-to-employment gaps.

The programs have also surfaced some challenges. Although some trainees receive stipends, the payments tend to be lower than foregone employment opportunities, which can be a barrier to entry for some prospective participants. Some trainees need to cover childcare and transportation costs, making it difficult to commit to the sessions. For the AGAPE team, recruiting women to join these programs has been a particular challenge.

Nevertheless, both organizations provide other incentives to encourage students to complete their certification programs, such as mentorship, coaching, soft skills training, lunch or completion stipends, and alumni-employment connections. 

“We are fostering a supportive, collaborative culture, building confidence, and helping youth navigate different potential career pathways,” says Darren Kumar, Rising Sun’s Director of Climate Careers in the Central Valley. “Those may be the most important and enduring things.”

There are plenty of local opportunities for energy-sector jobs, especially in rooftop solar, appliance installations, and electric vehicle manufacturing.

According to the US Department of Energy’s annual Energy & Employment Report, Alameda and San Joaquin counties were home to about 76,000 energy-related jobs in 2024.

Among those power sector jobs, solar dominates with 8,176 in Alameda and 1,057 in San Joaquin County. Another 1,595 and 998, respectively, are employed in energy storage, such as installing batteries. Alameda County has a total population about twice that of San Joaquin County.