NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — New Orleans Entrepreneur Week began Monday with a series called “In Your Neighborhood”. The program exposed scholars at Carver Senior Highschool, to green infrastructure careers.
Rashida Ferdinand with the Sankofa Community Development Corp. asked students, what jobs are available in the future, around green infrastructure, science, and technology.
“I want to do real estate, so the construction part caught my attention because I want to be my own landlord. I feel like that part caught me,” said student Javan Anderson.
Construction jobs, engineering, and a host of paths in the green industry were at the center of the discussion among students, as well as other opportunities for training and certifications. The head of Sankofa says, through students, they hope to build a more resilient community from the ground up.
“And for them to understand that this is part of a movement that they need to be engaged in and leaders of,” said Sankofa Community Development Corp. CEO, Rashida Ferdinand.
Panelists expressed the importance of exposing students to the economic opportunities of the field. The idea opened the eyes of some scholars.
“You can be young like 18 to do stuff like help the community, and help build stuff and help our people around us and our community,” said student Ni’khia Burfect.
Director of the Thrive 9 Ward Community Center, Oscar Brown, says as long as the kids are earning, they won’t be distracted by other things in the community.
“They are our future when it comes to this climate crisis. They are the ones, unfortunately, to deal with the impact,” said Mary I. Williams, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.
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