Solar industry partners with HBCU Coalition to recruit minorities

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is partnering with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Community Development Action Coalition (HBCU-CDAC) to launch an effort to recruit more African-American students to the industry.

Through the initiative, SEIA will host a national jobs fair, along with individual jobs fairs at the 101 historically black colleges and universities in the country.

“Diversity and inclusion is one of our highest priorities and, while we’ve made progress, we still have a long way to go to make the solar industry more accurately reflect the diversity of the communities we serve,” Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO, said. “Those of us in solar joined this industry because we want to make the world better for all, which is why we’re excited to partner with CDAC, tap into the talent at HBCUs, and bring more of these students into our growing industry.”

Under the partnership, SEIA and HBCU-CDAC will work with participating member colleges and universities to develop a database of students who are pursuing clean energy degrees or are interested in working in solar. This database will be accessible by SEIA member companies. Further, SEIA will work with campus representatives to foster resume exchanges and coordinate interviews among participating companies.

“As a national community economic development intermediary offering programs and activities that target HBCUs and their host communities, we are delighted to partner with SEIA in exposing HBCU students as well as their faculty and staff to opportunities in solar and clean energy,” HBCU-CDAC CEO Ron Butler said. “With an ultimate goal of community empowerment and economic relevancy, we see diversity and inclusion in this growing industry from all aspects including workforce and enterprise development.”

SEIA has launched other initiatives to foster diversity and inclusion in the industry. One initiative included was the release of a best practices guide for promoting diversity in the solar workforce. Another developed a Women’s Empowerment Initiative, which provides networking, training and other development opportunities for women.