Check back soon for more articles about the past events sponsored and organized by MAGJC.

For a bulletized list of major milestones in the history of the Massachusetts Green Jobs Coalition, go here.

From January through April 2009, MAGJC co-founder Kalia Lydgate designed and taught a course on Sustainability and Green Jobs using hip hop and creative expression as a means of education and understanding. The curriculum was designed in collaboration with the Marion Institute and MAGJC and built on the work of educator and MAGJC member Mike Cermak. The course, I Thrive Green Alive, was a program of Brick by Brick, a New Bedford non-profit whose mission is to empower South Coast residents, in particular youth, to advance personal and career goals through inspiration, education and mentoring with a special focus on the creative careers of art, theater, music, writing and graphic design. The course was co-taught with local MC and Brick by Brick educator, Angel Diaz, aka Anghelli.

The course introduced students to the ideas of ecology, equity and economy and the ways in which these 3 elements interact with and relate to each other. Over the eight week span students focused on an array of topics, from the history of civil rights and environmental justice in New Bedford, to the development of a green economy, to food systems, to climate change, to overconsumption and more and classes featured guest speakers, performances and field trips. The curriculum utilized popular hip hop songs as an entry point to these topics – Kanye West’s “All Falls Down” (lyrics) to for overconsumption, Mos Def’s “New World Water” (lyrics) to look at water shortage issues, and The Roots’ “Rising Down”  (lyrics) to talk about Climate Change, for example. (sample mp3's at the bottom of the post)

On March 23, 2009, Obama gave his first Clean Energy address as the President of the United States. In the audience of the White House press conference was MAGJC co-founder, Kalia Lydgate. Lydgate was invited to be part of the event along with 100 other Green Jobs and Clean Tech Innovators from across the nation, including Susan Hockfield, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Inventor and Founder of Perceptive Pixel, Jeff Han; Marcus Ryan, Co-Founder of the DC Project, among others. The event began with a panel moderated by Van Jones, the newly appointed as White House Council on Environmental Quality’s Special Advisor for Green Jobs. Included on the panel was Neal Verfuerth of Orion Energy Systems, a company that provides energy-saving lighting to Fortune 500 companies and employs over 250 people. Also on the panel was Deepika Singh, founder and president of Sinmat, a company developing new ways to manufacture microchips that can help power smarter energy systems. Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, and Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality were also in attendance.

December 2009

The Springfield-Holyoke Gateway to Green Jobs program, lead by the Regional Employment Board (REB) of Hampden County,  was one of the five recipients chosen to receive the "Pathways out of Poverty" (POP) grant, as authorized by the Green Jobs Act.   Mass Green Justice Coalition (MAGJC) Co-Founder Laurie Leyshon consulted on the submission of the winning grant application.  Members of the Coalition played a key role in producing the POP legislation that made this grant possible.   A visit to the Springfield/Holyoke training site on December 10th, 2009 allowed MAGJC members to witness the tangible results of the hard work of so many: a bustling training program with active and happily engaged young trainees preparing for their green careers.      

As described in this press release from the Patrick administration, the POP grants were "designed to jump-start training in clean energy careers for low- and moderate-income residents." In response to a request from Chairman Smizik, Senator Downing, and Chairman Bosley for Green Jobs Proposals, MAGJC members played a key role in initiating the Pathways out of Poverty (POP) portion of the State's Green Jobs Act.  Members came together in early 2008 to create the POP proposal that later became a bill sponsored by Senator Downing and supported by Chairmen Bosley and Chairman Smizik.  The POP language was included as a critical part of the Green Jobs Act, signed into law by Governor Patrick in August 2008.  This was a "First in the Nation" Legislation to fund green jobs training programs for low income communities and individuals with barriers to employment.