Goodwill, Accenture Launch Green Jobs Training Initiative

Goodwill Industries International, in partnership with Accenture, has launched the Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator. The accelerator will "teach employability and technical skills for jobs involving solar and storage, electric vehicle charging, heat pumps and energy efficiency," the two companies said.

Key training partners include GRID Alternatives, ChargerHelp! and BlocPower.

Green Job Training: Goodwill and Accenture Executive Perspectives

Four accelerator locations will launch in 2024 in Atlanta, Houston, Nashville and Detroit. The program will scale to 20 cities by 2030 or so – thereby training an estimated 7,000 job seekers, the companies said.

In a prepared statement about the accelerator, Steve Preston, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, said: "As our labor market transitions, we see important opportunities for people to move into more promising roles with better pay. It is essential that we provide the training and other support needed to ensure people capture these opportunities. The Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator will open doors for people in an expanding industry and provide support to employers who are helping us transition to a more sustainable world."

Added Manish Sharma, CEO of Accenture North America: "The clean energy transition is demanding new sources of talent who understand clean tech and can apply that knowledge to achieve decarbonization. Through the Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator, we're proud to unlock skilling opportunities that are accessible to everyone, benefitting workers, industry and our local communities."

More Green Job Training Programs: Multiple businesses and government organizations are launching green job training programs. For instance, the White House in September 2023 unveiled the American Climate Corps., a new "workforce training and service initiative that will ensure more young people have access to the skills-based training necessary for good-paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy."

Goodwill and Accenture: Business Backgrounds

Goodwill positions itself as the largest nonprofit workforce development network in the United States. Moreover, Goodwill sells donated items in nearly 3,300 outlet and retail stores in the U.S. and Canada and online at shopgoodwill.com.

Accenture is perhaps best known for traditional IT and cloud consulting. But the company also has a growing focus on sustainability, renewable energy and green IT services. Key moves include:

• Investment: This involved Open Cosmos, a satellite startup that provides climate-oriented data to customers.
• Partnership: Working with Microsoft on cloud-based applications for energy companies.
• M&A: Acquiring sustainability consultancy Green Domus of Brazil.
• Partnership: Working with climate risk software provider Cervest.
• M&A: Acquiring industrial artificial intelligence consultancy Flutura.
• Partnership: Working with satellite data specialist Planet Labs.

The overall Accenture business has roughly 732,000 employees across 120 countries.