DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is launching the Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize under the umbrella of the American-Made Challenges Program.
Donor Name: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Awards and Prizes
Deadline: 01/31/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize (Prize) is designed to encourage the formation of place-based coalitions focused on creating good jobs in clean energy.
The focus of this Prize is on quality and access in both employment and workforce development. It is based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) priorities to support the creation of good-paying, union jobs in clean energy and to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) in the transition to a clean energy economy. These priorities set a goal for “strengthening prosperity by expanding good-paying, secure, and safe union jobs accessible to all workers.” In addition, this Prize will adhere to the goal of the Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments—including but not limited to investments in training and workforce development—to flow to disadvantaged communities.
The Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize encourages building new and newly focused placed-based coalitions to create quality, accessible jobs and training partnerships in their community. Each coalition is required to include, at a minimum, one coalition representative from each of the five key stakeholder groups below:
- Labor organizations
- Clean energy employers
- Community-based organizations
- Public agencies
- Education and workforce providers
These competing coalitions will develop and implement Coalition Action Plans that improve the quality of and expand access to good jobs in clean energy.
Competitors participate in three prize phases designed to increase the long-term engagement of place-based coalitions to ensure that the clean energy jobs created nationwide are high quality and accessible to target populations. Coalitions must compete and win in Phase One of the prize to qualify to compete in Phase Two and Phase Three of the prize. Qualified coalitions will have the chance to win part of $3,375,000 prize pool to help them develop plans and accelerate the implementation of their solutions.
Funding Information
The three-phase competition catalyzes coalition building to understand, plan, and improve job quality and job access within the clean energy economy for target populations.
The Three Phases
- Phase One: Coalition Formation
- Up to 15 winning coalitions / $50,000 cash prize each
- Winning coalitions are selected for:
- Identifying a clean energy employment opportunity and workforce challenge in a specific sector and target community, and
- Displaying robust partnerships that include at least one organization from each of the five stakeholder types: labor organization, clean energy employer, community-based organization, public agency, and education and workforce provider.
- Phase Two: Coalition Action Plan
- Up to 10 winning coalitions / $100,000 each
- Competing coalitions participate in a virtual U.S. Department of Energy-led training on High Road economic and workforce development strategies for clean energy and develop a robust Coalition Action Plan to create quality, accessible jobs, and training partnerships.
- Phase Three: Implementation and Impact
- Up to 10 winning coalitions. First place: $300,000 / Second place: $250,000 / Third place: $200,000 / Seven runner-up coalitions: $125,000
- Competing coalitions implement their Phase Two Coalition Action Plans and participate in community-of-practice activities and quarterly check-ins with prize administrators.
Eligibility Criteria
Coalitions must be five-member partnerships, at minimum, consisting of at least one entity from each of the following:
- Labor Organization: A single or multiple union local(s), an association of labor unions (e.g., a local or state Building and Construction Trades Council, a local or regional Central Labor Council, or a State Federation of Labor), or a combination of different labor organizations.
- Clean energy employer: Any public or private entity that employs workers in a clean energy sector.
- Community-based organization: A membership-based, non-governmental organization that represents the target population or a non-governmental organization with a track record of working with and serving the target population.
- Public agency: A governmental entity involved in implementing clean energy programs (e.g., a city or county sustainability office or a state energy office), a governmental entity involved in economic and workforce development (e.g., a local or state workforce investment/development board), a governmental entity involved in delivering public assistance programs (e.g., a county or state social service agency that provides financial assistance for food, housing, childcare, etc.).
- Education and workforce training provider: A public or private institution or organization that delivers workforce education and training services focused on middle-skill occupations (e.g., community colleges, adult high schools, registered apprenticeship programs, or apprenticeship readiness programs).
For more information, visit EERE.
