The GE Foundation has announced a $1.5 million grant to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) to help people from diverse backgrounds pursue a career in the wind industry.
The foundation - an independent charitable organization funded by GE – will have its grant matched by the MMA to provide a total of $3 million to launch the ‘GE Fellows Program’.
The scheme includes ‘career exploration’ for middle and high school students, endowed scholarships for graduates and undergraduates, and training opportunities for adult learners.
Individual grants and scholarships vary from $500 to more than $6,000.
Its architects hope the programme will help build a “diverse pipeline” of students who wish to work in the clean energy sector including the offshore wind workforce of the future.
Since its launch in 2019, the charitable body said the scheme had connected hundreds of high school students and adults to the clean energy industry, of which 15% were women and more than half from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
“We are proud to work with the MMA Foundation in empowering diverse students to pursue higher education in clean energy,” said Linda Boff, president of GE Foundation. “GE is committed to building workforce capacity in the emerging offshore wind industry, and this scholarship program will also help to ensure the talent pipeline in the South Coast region is diverse and representative.”
.png)
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
