NYPA is helping under-resourced communities throughout New York participate in the state’s growing clean energy economy. By offering energy education programming to New Yorkers, the Power Authority is creating a more equitable and diverse utility industry. - BY SHARON ROSS

The New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) Environmental Justice (EJ) program maintains a deep commitment to the historically underserved communities located near its statewide assets. New York State’s energy landscape is in the midst of a historic transformation, and as one of the State’s leading energy agencies, NYPA is front and center in ensuring that communities fully share in the benefits and opportunities provided by the clean energy economy.

DiversityPlus Magazine was honored to speak with two NYPA leaders who have developed and implemented an enterprise-wide Environmental Justice program—an immersive community outreach initiative that connects under resourced communities with educational programing. One of its key elements is a STEM program for students from elementary school to college. These interactive programs are designed to spark curiosity and confidence in STEM in the lower grades with the goal of cultivating a diverse pipeline of youth with the potential to become future energy leaders.

Journeying from Youth to Fulfilling the “S” in ESG

NYPA’s Environmental Justice program is advancing the Power Authority’s commitment to lead in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles. The EJ team leverages NYPAs expertise in clean energy to engage the community in four strategic areas: STEM education, adult energy literacy, community engagement, and community energy projects.

Leading a team of 10 community educators, is Kaela Mainsah, NYPA’s Vice President of Environmental Justice. Mainsah embraces her responsibility as a role model and advocate for the young people who reside in under-resourced communities. Born in Africa, scholarships fueled her educational journey from Zambia to the United Kingdom and then to the United States. Mainsah, a Black female engineer, joined NYPA to help the authority advance its environmental justice efforts to benefit local communities throughout New York.

“I saw the opportunity to bring resources and education to communities that look like the community that I came from and to be able to benefit communities in the way that I had received a benefit,” notes Mainsah.

Her team member, Alexandra Lauderdale, NYPA Environmental Justice Manager, is taking the effort directly to schools. Lauderdale manages the STEM programs for youth, teaching them about energy generation and transmission, renewable energy and technology. The program seeks to make students aware of the vast array of jobs available in the energy industry. “It’s exciting to see students’ surprise when they learn they could work in so many different and interesting areas, including cybersecurity, drones, electric vehicles, and much more.

Lauderdale was a student when she, encouraged by her parents, developed an interest in environmental justice issues. Sheinterned at the Department of Environmental Conservation and Riverkeeper. Joining NYPA was an opportunity to integrate her knowledge, skills and personal commitment to advance social and environmental justice.

“Many of our students do not have easy access to high-quality educational opportunities, so we are trying to remove the barriers that prevent students from achieving academic success. It has always been our intention to provide exposure to the industry and then support students with internships and scholarships,” said Lauderdale.

This path from school to a career in environmental justice inspires her work to ensure New York’s transition to a clean energy state is inclusive and equitable. Lauderdale’s story further demonstrates the importance of early education and role modeling in developing the STEM workforce.

Defining Environmental Justice

One of the unique features of the program is that it is driven by the needs of the communities hosting NYPA facilities. That requires ongoing collaboration and building trusting relationships with community leaders. The program, which was launched in 2016, aims to help NYPA be a good neighbor to communities located near the Power Authority’s generation and transmission assets.

“There are many ways to explain Environmental Justice and how it shows up in communities,” said Mainsah. “For the purpose of a shared understanding, the US Environmental Protection Agency defines EJ as ‘ensuring that all people, regardless of race, color, income, or socioeconomic status, can participate in environmental processes, including creating policies and laws.”

Mainsah added, “For me, the meaning of environmental justice is about supporting community led solutions and providing underserved communities with knowledge about how the changing energy infrastructure and the impacts of climate change, will affect them. That’s why I incorporated a large public education component to our programs. For example, at community centers’ open houses and workshops, NYPA uses everyday language to ensure communities relate directly to resiliency, sustainability, climate change, renewable energy, and advance energy technology. We also provide multilingual options to reach the largest number of neighbors.”

Historically low-income and communities of color are most affected by environmental burdens and energy infrastructure. Mainsah believes such communities should be first in line to get the benefits of a clean energy economy, like access to clean energy and jobs. The education foundation of NYPA’s programs is the cornerstone of achieving environmental justice.

Lauderdale also oversees a specialized paid internship program for students from underserved communities. “NYPA has traditionally had a developmental internship program, but it was the goal of my team to provide increased access to students from NYPA’s EJ communities. We are sensitive to the many challenges faced by our students—even something as basic as transportation to and from internships can be a barrier to participation. We work with students to overcome obstacles that could prevent them from getting the maximum value from their internship,” said Lauderdale.

Lauderdale manages the Power Authority’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) program. Funded in part by the NYS Education Department, it allows qualified students in the ninth grade to join the program and earn their associate's degree at no cost while in high school. Lauderdale and her team developed a series of skills-mapping initiatives that connect NYPA’s P-TECH scholars to energy related associate degrees. The initiative is supported by a series of workplace experiential learning including paid internships. Additionally, NYPA is partnering with community- based organizations to administer its Future Energy Leaders College Scholarship program, which provides scholarships to academically accomplished high school seniors from under-resourced communities enrolled in a four-year college.

United Around a Common Goal

The success of EJ programs at NYPA is attributed to the leadership skills of Mainsah and team members like Lauderdale. Mainsah sees her leadership strength as valuing diverse voices and diverse experiences. “We try to ensure that we have representative role models when we go into different communities. We try to make sure our staff reflect the communities we serve and can relate to some of the different challenges our communities face. I reflect on my own experiences to understand our students.”

Adopting Mainsah’ s leadership style, Lauderdale believes in walking the walk and talking the talk. She explains, “we travel around the state, but I would never ask our team members to do something I am not willing to do, like travel on Saturdays.” All of Mainsah’s team members work when the community is available, so they work evenings, nights, holidays, and weekends to be available to deliver programming that meets stakeholder needs.

The Power Authority’s Environmental Justice program has grown into a NYPA strategic initiative. She takes pride in people like Lauderdale, an early-stage career employee who is maturing the programs in a variety of ways, such as connecting the workplace programming to certifications. Aside from the internship program, Lauderdale also oversees NYPA’s electric vehicle (EV) donation program. The program donates retiring NYPA EVs and hybrid fleet vehicles to BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services) schools and auto tech CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs, giving students hands-on experience working on electric vehicles. She is also working on developing a training program for instructors.

Another program EJ promotes to engage NYPA and Canals employees in beneficial projects is their Environmental Justice Community Volunteer Corps initiative. The Environmental Justice Community Volunteer Corps gives NYPA and Canals employees opportunities to come together to serve and share their skill sets, expertise, and time within the diverse communities that make up NYPA and Canals host communities as well as around NYPA strategic projects. Opportunities consist of food drives and packing programs, community and canal clean up events, beautification and environmental stewardship projects within EJ communities nearby NYPA assets and within Canals communities.

This program enhances and creates spaces and times for NYPA and Canals employees to be active and engaged by participating in frequent community service opportunities that will directly benefit NYPA and Canals communities. In doing so, this initiative creates opportunities for NYPA and Canals stakeholder groups and local neighborhood residents to directly interact with NYPA and Canals staff.

As part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative, NYPA is committed to establishing an enterprise wide, employee volunteer initiative to help all staff engage with our communities and deepen their understanding of the social and economic inequities experienced by our historically marginalized neighbors.

Building the Diverse Workforce for the Future

“We focus on storytelling,” says Mainsah. Her team is diverse and impactful because representative role models share their stories about how they got to their current positions. “Having career role models who look like you and share your background can inspire belief in your own potential and create a clearer path to success. It has to be somebody who walks their journey, so we work hard to reflect our communities.” It is a strategy that works. Students from low income and communities of color experience low graduation rates, so the curriculum and the instructor are intentionally engaging and hands-on with a high component of experiential learning. Teachers tell Mainsah that they have never seen their students more engaged, and it is due to the learning environment carefully crafted to appeal to the students.

NYPA remains committed to building a workforce of diverse, future energy leaders. Thanks to the dedication of employees like Kaela Mainsah and Alexandra Lauderdale, that future will soon be a reality.