The oil and gas industry has been substantially populated by the Hispanic and Latine communities for decades. And yet, according to the Clean Air Task Force, it is this same industry that has damaged the health of over one million Hispanics over time.
Now, with changes in the energy landscape, career opportunities for minorities and people of color are shifting to renewable energy.
In the last 10 years, the tech industry has become strongly familiar with renewable technology. Renewable technologies such as solar, geothermal and wind are all grouped under the label “cleantech.” This increasingly profitable industry has created a demand for a workforce that has sprung up a call to action for cities like Los Angeles. They aim to prepare their communities by educating and training women and people of color about this potential career path. The Latine community, according to the 2023 U.S. Census, is 19.5% of the U.S. population and even higher in the state of California, and now has a great opportunity to break into this industry.
Los Angeles has a surplus of startups/new businesses and people who want to break into the cleantech field. Not-for-profits like the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) are crucial players in closing the workforce and diversity gaps in this industry.
Laura Maria Gonzalez, an adjunct professor of journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the senior program manager of incubation at LACI is a prominent voice for the Latine community in cleantech. She is in charge of two programs: the Innovators Program for early-stage startups and the Founders Business Accelerator (FBA), which focuses on small businesses in the city of Los Angeles.
Programs like those available in LACI are opportunities for the Latine community to become more comfortable with the cleantech industry. However, Gonzalez expressed her concerns about engaging the Latine community. “One of the biggest barriers is that cleantech is not a very mainstream term in our communities.” Gonzalez added that due to the lack of usage of the term itself, people may already be a part of the industry without realizing it. Gonzalez said that on top of the language barriers across Spanish and other languages, there is a larger language barrier with the terminology used in the cleantech industry. She adds that the language needs to be “less dense” and “more casual” so the community can resonate with the narrative.
Without education on this topic in Latine communities, transitioning to cleantech will be a large hurdle to overcome. “There’s a big gap for women and people of color in cleantech and in tech in general,” said Gonzalez. LACI is a great opportunity for interested parties to get involved with the world of cleantech as a potential employee or to start a business. In a video, Oscar, a LACI workforce graduate, talks about how the program gave him the opportunity to now work with L.A. Sanitation.
Having team members at LACI who understand the Latine community, like Gonzalez, has been essential to the progress made in recruiting. By creating paid training opportunities and using hybrid models that take childcare into account, Latines can now show up. Programs like LACI are working tirelessly to bridge the gap between the Latine community and cleantech industries that will not only help improve the person’s professional endeavors but hopefully quality of life as less toxic materials are involved in the technology when compared to oil and gas companies.
To learn more about LACI’s programs available to both startups and people interested in the workforce, subscribe to their newsletter on their website here.
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