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2024 was filled with accomplishments, and one of the most remarkable feats was the successful completion of the Every Career is a Climate Career summer internship pilot. We recruited, trained, and placed 30 students in 12-week-long paid internships with over 20 host sites representing various sectors of the climate action space, from cutting-edge clean tech companies to grassroots community-based organizations. Summer interns learned a lot about climate solutions, advocacy, policy, science, and technology, while augmenting their general work and transferable skills. Our internship program was covered by LAist, and you can read their article here.
We are currently recruiting participants and host sites for the 2025 iteration of this program. We aim to place a total of 100 students in paid summer internships this year, and many interns will benefit from special tracks that include additional mentoring and training components to ensure they hit the ground running and increase their chances of being hired after their internship ends. For more information, please visit our website.
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California Youth Leadership Corps (CYLC) has partnered with West Los Angeles College to create a new community change learn-and-earn career opportunity for students interested in becoming climate action leaders. It is open to WLAC students from all academic disciplines. Launched this Fall, the CYLC-West Los Angeles Climate Action and Environmental Justice Fellowship Program prepares students from historically marginalized backgrounds to become community organizers, change agents, and leaders in their local communities. The CYLC model provides students work-based learning opportunities with partner organizations that provide critical services to historically marginalized communities.
28 West fellows were placed in 17 Community-Based Organizations:
Amigos De Los Rios
Communities for a Better Environment
EcoDorm
Friends of Ballona Wetlands
Foodcycle LA
Garden School Foundation
Grades of Green
Green Arrow Co-Labs
Heal the Bay Aquarium
Humma.AI
LA Neighborhood Land Trust
Nature Nexus Institute
Rising Communities
S.O.W. Collective
The Niles Foundation
Youth Climate Strikes LA
U.S. Green Business Council
Climate Across the Curriculum (CATC)
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By Dr. Stella Setka, Ph.D., WLAC English faculty, CATC Facilitator
The CATC Year 2 cohort has made significant strides in integrating the topics of climate change and climate justice into West courses. This year's cohort consisted of 14 faculty members from 12 different disciplines. Their innovative approaches will enrich our curriculum and provide students with a comprehensive understanding of climate change and its far-reaching consequences.
Over the summer, faculty participants developed modules or contextualized entire courses to highlight the intersections between climate change and climate justice within their respective disciplines. For example, Allison Rowland created a module for her Kinesiology 100 class that examines the multifaceted ways in which climate change impacts human health, both directly and indirectly. Anthony Cuomo’s Communication Studies 101 teaches students how to cultivate the rhetorical skills needed to shape climate change discourse and challenge misinformation, while Victor Corona’s Sociology 001 includes a module that addresses how the "sociological imagination" can be used to understand and conceptualize climate change.
The interdisciplinary approach of CATC underscores the importance of addressing climate change through multiple lenses, fostering a holistic understanding among students. This collaborative effort will empower students in every major to think critically about climate justice and become informed advocates for sustainability.
As we look forward to the continued success of the CATC initiative, we are excited to see how these newly developed courses will inspire and educate the next generation of leaders in climate action and justice.
LACCD Environmental Equity Education Demonstration Project (LEEEDP)
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By Beth Abels, Pierce College Architecture professor, Sustainable Environment Institute Coordinator
With significant funding through the Climate Center, the Sustainable Environment Institute (SEI) has launched a year long LACCD Environmental Equity Education Demonstration Project (LEEEDP) - now in full swing.
This all-district project includes a faculty liaison (EEL) at each of the 9 district campuses and an additional 50 faculty cohort - the inaugural Global Environmental Equity Education Cohort (GEEECo). These faculty represent a wide variety of disciplines all committed to embedding environmental equity into their courses. SEI meet our goal of significantly increasing students’ capacity to advocate for environmental justice in their communities.
The LEEEDP cohort have access to professional development resources including seminars, workshops, field trips and coaching sessions with curriculum experts and liaisons, as well as a monthly Community of Practice meetings. We are planning a culminating event in the spring.
This Fall SEI held the We Live Here seminar series. Speakers from Native American groups in Southern California have been sharing their knowledge and perspectives on ways of seeing nature, stewardship, relationship and sustainability. Thinking about place, and where we live, study and work has been a meaningful launch point for faculty, as they integrate environmental equity into curriculum.
The Environmental Equity Education Demonstration Project is intended to scale up statewide, ideally to all 116 California Community Colleges. In partnership with ASCCC leadership, we submitted a 7.5 million dollars request for funding, and we continue to push for support from state legislators and from the State Chancellor's Office.
Blue Economy & Climate Action Pathways (BECAP) - A LARC Funded Program
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By Dr. Holly Bailey-Hofmann, Ed.D., WLAC English professor, Faculty Liason for the California Center for Climate Change Education, State Chancellor's Climate Fellow
BECAP is a consortium of 14 Southern California colleges focused on creating jobs for the blue (ocean-based) economy, which is a growing area of economic opportunity for our region. Administrators and faculty are collaborating to grow programs based in four pillars: Regenerative Aquaculture, Renewable Energy, Bluetech and Underwater Robotics, and Ecosystems Conservation and Restoration. West is spearheading Pillar 4, with a Nature Conservation certificate and several related certificates and degrees in the works.
Members of the steering committee, which meets monthly, facilitate faculty curriculum development such as workforce certificates and degrees that prepare students for good-paying jobs in the blue economy sectors described above. Professional development is also being planned, such as a kickoff conference March 2025.
The Climate Center also partnered and hosted amazing community events. In total, we served over 1,500 people in 2024. Click below for a recap.
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