Transcript:
Learning a new trade – and being the new person on a job site – can be hard … especially if there’s nobody else there who looks like you.
Native American women working in solar may know the feeling well.
Hayden: “They might be the only woman, they might be the only Brown person … in their group of installers that they’ll be working with.”
Alicia Hayden is with Red Cloud Renewable, a Native-led nonprofit based in South Dakota. The group runs free solar workforce training programs, including one specifically for Native American women.
For graduate Jacinta Goggles, learning alongside other Native women created camaraderie.
Goggles: “There’s a certain kinship you feel … and I think that ability to be so comfortable with each other very quickly was a huge factor in all of our success because all of us wanted each other to succeed.”
And Hayden says participants leave the program connected with other participants and with mentors already working in the field.
Hayden: “In their cellphone, they have the names of 15 new friends they just made, some of which are Native American women who have been working in this industry for 10 years that are just a phone call or a text away.”
So even if they’re the only Native woman on a job site, they can feel supported, connected, and less alone.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
