BOSTON - Friday, April 4, 2025 - Yesterday, Mayor Michelle Wu celebrated the graduation of PowerCorps Boston's fourth cohort. PowerCorps Boston is the City’s green industry workforce development program that prepares young adults for careers addressing Boston’s most pressing environmental challenges. The 22 graduates spent the past ten months learning about various green industries and acquiring skills in urban forestry, urban greening, and energy-efficient building operations and maintenance.
“You’ve done so much to make our neighborhoods more vibrant, more beautiful and more resilient places for all of our communities,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “PowerCorps is one of the programs that we are most proud of.”
Led by the Worker Empowerment Cabinet in partnership with the Environment Department, PowerCorps Boston is a “learn and earn” program that pays Boston’s young adults aged 18-30 to participate in hands-on training while providing career readiness support and connections to employers in the green industry. The program prioritizes marginalized groups, including residents from environmental justice communities, returning citizens, court-involved residents, youth who have experienced homelessness or housing instability, and youth who have been in foster care.
"PowerCorpsBOS is building Boston’s green workforce while investing in our young people,” said Brian Swett, Chief Climate Officer. “Expanding to ten months means deeper skills, more diverse career pathways, and greater impact. These graduates are helping make Boston more resilient and sustainable, and I look forward to seeing their contributions grow."
“I am incredibly proud of our graduates,” said Davo Jefferson, Executive Director of PowerCorps Boston. “This marks the first cohort to graduate under PowerCorps Boston’s 10-month model — a significant accomplishment that speaks to their commitment to improving their lives and their city. These successes were made possible thanks to the support of our green industry partners, who not only helped train this skilled group of young adults but also went on to employ many of them. PowerCorps Boston will continue to create these opportunities that foster economic mobility for our residents while creating a climate-resilient city.”
Last year, the program was expanded from six months to 10 months to offer Corps members a more comprehensive and immersive experience. This new format includes two phases:
- The first phase, Foundations, is a four-month training program where participants focus on workforce-readiness skills, are introduced to green industry careers, and receive necessary support services to complete the program. This phase combines training in soft skills and environmental hard skills applicable for employment in the green industry and beyond.
- The second phase, Industry Academy, is a six-month training where participants choose to specialize in one of the three tracks:
- Urban Forestry: The study of arboriculture, including topics like soils, urban tree stressors, and pruning techniques.
- Building Operations: A hybrid training model of college-level courses and on-the-job training about operating and maintaining buildings at peak efficiency..
- Urban Greening: A focus on green infrastructure, urban agriculture, and natural resource management.
To create a climate-ready city, we must cultivate a climate-ready workforce. To advance this mission, PowerCorps Boston collaborates with over 60 non-profits, higher education institutions, and private sector organizations in Boston’s green industry to offer participants high-quality, hands-on training opportunities along with classroom learning. These partnerships enable participants to gain valuable experience and education while addressing various projects that enhance Boston’s climate resilience.
”As we celebrate today’s graduates, we extend our gratitude to Mayor Wu for her vision and leadership, to the PowerCorps team for their partnership, and to our member companies and institutions for their commitment,” said Yve Torrie, Director of Climate, Energy, and Resilience at A Better City. “The PowerCorpsBOS Building Operations program, which trains Boston residents to maintain energy-efficient buildings crucial to the city's climate goals, directly addresses immediate workforce gaps and creates a pipeline for the green jobs of tomorrow. Together, we have developed and updated the curriculum, shared lessons learned, and collaborated with members and partners to provide paid, in-service learning opportunities that lead to employment. Thanks to A Better City members and partners, five of the 12 participants in the current cohort have secured jobs, and three have extended internships aimed at full-time employment.
The participants in Urban Greening and Urban Forestry have enhanced 233 acres of public land, removed 248 bags of invasive materials to improve the health of local ecosystems, planted 43 trees to increase urban greening and improve air quality, and assisted the Food Project in growing 25,000 lbs of produce to support local food security.
The Building Operations participants have interned at 13 large building sites over six months, working on energy-efficient general maintenance and operations, including HVAC, electrical, and plumbing work.
Urban Greening and Urban Forestry participants have earned three college credits in Arboriculture from UMass Amherst’s Mount Ida campus and the Building Operations participants have earned multiple industry-recognized credentials including OSHA 10 Construction Safety & Health Certification, Building Science Principles (BPI) Certification, Green Professional Training (GPRO) Certification, EPA Section 608 Certification, ‘Hot Works’ Certification for MA, and Fundamentals of Energy Efficient Building Operations (FEEBO) Certification.
“Whether it was sitting through 10 hours of OSHA classes, spending long days in the sun or rain clearing Japanese knotweed, or learning valuable life skills in class—Power Corps Boston has transformed my mindset and my trajectory,” said PowerCorps Boston Participant, Lagene Jones-Richardson. “I hope to use this transformation to create real change, not just in myself, but in the world around me.”
As employers actively recruit from PowerCorps Boston's skilled, diverse talent pool, they fill vacant jobs in emerging industries and create new opportunities for the participants. Of the 22 graduates, 17 have secured green industry job placements with employers like the City of Boston, Zoo New England, Barrett Tree Services, Parterre Gardens, Forge, BXP, WS Development, C&W Services, Equity Residential, Northeastern University, Schneider Electric, and L.C. Anderson.
They will be undertaking various roles as Tree Equipment Operators, Plant Health Care Technicians, HVAC Apprentices, Facilities Technicians, and more with competitive wages that reflect the value they bring to their respective organizations. Participants of the Urban Forestry and Urban Greening track have secured job placements with an average salary of $21.85/hr. Participants of the Building Operations track have an average salary of $27.20/hr.
“We’ve had good days, we’ve had tough days, but through it all, we’ve stood together as a family,” said PowerCorps Boston Participant Rasaun Harris. “More than anything, we share a common goal: to make the city of Boston a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable place.”
PowerCorpsBoston is now accepting applications. Training begins May 2025. To be eligible for this program, you must: - be 18-30 years old;
- be a Boston resident;
- have your high school diploma or its equivalent (GED/HiSET);
- be unemployed or underemployed and not in college or on a career track
- have an interest in outdoor, and/or hands-on training.
Learn more and apply at boston.gov/powercorps. | 
