WorkingNation Overheard: Kristy Drutman on working in the green space

“I think that we are just scratching the surface of the beginning of a boom of so many sustainability jobs across every single sector, across every single region of the world,” says Kristy Drutman, founder of Browngirl Green and co-CEO of Green Jobs Board.
“Climate change is very ever-present on everyone's minds, especially with the recent wildfires, floods around the world, island nations slowly worrying about going underwater. The tension is there. What are we going to do about it?”
WorkingNation sat down with Drutman at JFF Horizons in New Orleans.
As co-CEO of the Green Jobs Board, Drutman says finding a job was not easy despite her B.A. in environmental policy and city planning from the University of California, Berkeley. As a Filipino-American, Drutman says, “I felt like there wasn't great representation of Black, indigenous, and people of color in the environmental space.”
She continues, “It really woke me up at a very young age that things need to be different. If we really want to get people to take action, we have to realize it's not enough to bring people of color into the room.”
“There has to be an environment that they want to thrive in, that they want to feel good in. And that requires an analysis talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the gaps that exist.”
Learn more about Browngirl Green: www.browngirlgreen.com/
Learn more about Green Jobs Board: www.browngirlgreen.com/greenjobs
Our #WorkingNationOverheard interview series lets you listen in on conversations and discussions about employment and education taking place at major conferences around the country. You can find past installments at workingnation.org/overheard/.
Check out what they are saying at JFF Horizons - Without Limits 2023 in New Orleans: • Horizons 2023 Presente...
You can read more about this year's conference at horizons.jff.org/ and learn more about Jobs for the Future - JFF at www.jff.org/.
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For stories about solutions to the jobs skills gap disrupting our economy and the future of work, visit WorkingNation at workingnation.org/.
For stories about solutions to the jobs skills gap disrupting our economy and the future of work, visit WorkingNation at workingnation.org/.
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