EcoRise Makes Commitment to Growing Green Career Pathways in New York City

At the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, EcoRise committed to placing 30 New York City high school students in paid green career internships by summer 2027.

In September, EcoRise announced its Commitment to Action, Expanding Green Career Pathways for NYC Frontline Youth, at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York, joining a global community of organizations making measurable public commitments. The commitment builds on a model proven in Texas and Massachusetts that has reached about 600 students since 2019. To date, we’ve put more than $280,000 directly into students’ hands.

In summer 2025, five students from Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School spent six weeks in the South Bronx working with The Black Feminist Project, a community organization growing food and neighborhood connections through urban agriculture. They supported farm operations, helped run community events, and were paid for their time.

This past summer, five more students worked with The Black Feminist Project and five worked with JJ Grant, a Bronx streetwear brand. At JJ Grant, they worked on material sourcing, apparel production, and operations, a pathway into sustainable supply chains and circular fashion. In 2027, our goal is 30.

New York City projects nearly 400,000 green economy jobs by 2040, and the young people in the neighborhoods facing the worst heat, flooding, and air quality are the least likely to reach them. These are the young people with the most at stake, and given the chance, the most to contribute.

Proven Solutions Grown in Texas, Harvested for New York

Our Green Careers Academy began in Austin in 2019 as a pilot with Austin ISD, the University of Texas at Austin, and BLGY Architects. Since then, working with partners including the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), we have placed more than 140 paid interns across six cities, recruiting from schools and communities underrepresented in sustainability careers.

Green Careers Academy interns build a compost bioreactor from repurposed materials at Urban Roots in Austin.

The projects are not simulations. One Austin intern tracked air quality at five sites and helped the city understand how wind and construction were affecting local air. Interns at the San Antonio Food Bank helped harvest more than 50,000 pounds of produce. Others have maintained trails at Lady Bird Lake and used GIS to design school gardens.

“I changed my major because of this experience.”

2023 Green Careers Academy intern, Texas

Across our NOAA-funded, four-year Building a Green Texas project, which reached 591 high school students and placed 61 in paid internships, every participating student said they were more aware of green career pathways, better prepared to enter the workforce, and more confident at work. Among interns, 91% said they were more interested in pursuing a green career.

Our model is featured in the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Educating for Climate Action and Justice: Guidelines for Excellence. A two-year grant from the NASEM Gulf Research Program is expanding our Texas Green Careers Academy with 90 more paid clean energy internships through 2027. Our goal is to bring this work to New York City next.

What a Paid Green Career Internship Looks Like

Every internship works the same way. Six weeks. 110 hours. A $2,500 stipend, a mentor already working in the field, and workshops on communication, resumes, interviewing, and project management. Interns take on real projects for their host, visit green businesses across the city, and present their work at a public showcase. We treat interns as colleagues, and their ideas shape the work.

The benefit runs both ways. Small grassroots organizations rarely have time to spare for teaching, and hosts consistently tell us interns help them take on work they couldn’t otherwise. Several have signed up year after year. In New York, up to five community organizations will host interns, each receiving mentor training, ongoing coaching from our team, and up to $5,000 to fund their time and organizational capacity. The program also complements the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program with deep exposure to green careers.

Help Us Deliver on Our Commitment

Zakhia Grant and Tara Cardone at EcoRise’s table outside the Mainstage at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting.

During Climate Week, our Commitment to Action was featured in Clinton Global Initiative‘s What’s Working Way showcase. CGI doesn’t fund the commitments it recruits. It provides a global platform, a network of peers, and annual progress reporting that holds us accountable. Delivering it is up to us, and that’s where you come in.

Sponsor Student Interns

$2,500 covers one student’s stipend. About $6,000 funds a full internship, including mentorship and host organization funding. $180,000 funds the entire 2027 New York City cohort.

Host or Mentor an Intern

We’re looking for city agencies, community organizations, and green businesses to host 2027 interns in New York City, Austin, and San Antonio. We co-design the role, train the mentor, and fund your team’s time.

Ready to partner? Connect with us at ecorise.org/support-youth-programs.

With Gratitude

BNY, our first major partner in New York City, together with The Pinkerton Foundation, provided the seed funding that launched Green Career Pathways in New York City. We are also grateful to Teacher Ambassador Garth Marchant and Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School, and to Tanya Fields and her team at The Black Feminist Project for hosting our first two cohorts. In Texas, our internships have been sponsored by the Green Workforce Collaborative, NASEM Gulf Research Program, NOAA, and the Wayne Hollomon Price Foundation.