In 2024, we received a $500,000 grant from the California Opportunity Youth Apprenticeship (COYA) initiative, allowing us to take a significant step toward developing a registered youth apprenticeship program for students from age 16 to 24. These apprenticeships will provide students with structured industry training and certifications, helping them transition from high school to careers in the green economy.

CAPS was one of three nonprofits featured on a recent SunCast podcast episode focused on the growing clean energy sector. Listen to the full podcast discussion for more details on how CAPS partners with school districts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money, and prepare students for green careers through paid internships and project-based learning.

In this collection of reflections from past CAPS interns, alumnx share the most important things they’ve learned as interns, how CAPS inspired them, and the continued impact of their experiences as interns. From developing leadership and communication skills to building a deeper understanding of sustainability and community action, CAPS alumnx demonstrate the importance of equipping young people with the tools they need to reclaim their future from climate change.

As a Valley Girl, I’ve gotten so much more out of my experience with CAPS than just another internship. It’s transformed the way I see the world around me—from recognizing the types of lights in a room to changing my habits to reduce my energy consumption. It’s also changed my perspective, not just on climate action, but on the potential of what I can do as an engineer in my community and beyond.

With student-guided projects focused on energy use, waste management, and air quality, CAPS is partnering with Modesto City Schools and Petaluma City Schools to create a more sustainable future. To support this work, CAPS recently added Juli Miller to the team as the Program Manager for Northern California school districts.

CAPS has welcomed its first-ever Alumnx Board Members, who will help bring student voices to CAPS’s leadership. In this Q&A, former interns Raymond Wang and Taylor Simonich share their insights on how they envision working with other Board Members to amplify CAPS’s mission, their goals for expanding the program’s reach, and their advice for current CAPS interns aspiring to leadership roles.

CAPS is proud to announce the release of the “Driving the Future” report, co-developed with electric vehicle company Rivian, which examines how California’s CTE programs can help prepare high school students for careers in the state’s growing green transportation sector.

The rapidly growing green economy offers career opportunities of all kinds, ranging from engineering and civic planning to HVAC, construction, electric vehicles, and more. In this article, we share a few steps you can take to kick-start your career in the green economy.

Join us in welcoming our new team member, Rory Brown! Rory is excited to join the CAPS Team in the newly created Development Director role. With 21 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising and leadership, she will implement strategies and systems to achieve CAPS goals of diversifying and growing its income model.

In this Q&A, new CAPS board members Kevin Schwartz and Laura Rodriguez share how their unique backgrounds and skills will contribute to furthering CAPS’s mission, what compelled them to join the board, and what they hope for the future of CAPS and its impact on schools and communities.

Green transportation is a rapidly growing career field with a variety of roles that contribute to vehicles, fuels, and design that reduce the sector’s impact on the human and natural environment. This article is part of CAPS’s Green Job series, examining the growing green economy.

CAPS is thrilled to announce it has been selected to receive $500,000 from the California Opportunity Youth Apprenticeship (COYA) Grant, awarded by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). This funding will enable CAPS to expand its innovative programs that provide paid internships to students from under-resourced high schools to tackle climate change and prepare for careers in the growing green economy.

Thanks to the support of our growing community, over the past year CAPS has rapidly expanded from our pilot program in Porterville Unified School District into seven school districts, enabling our organization to provide hands-on, paid learning opportunities in green careers to high school students across California. In this article, we spotlight Modesto City Schools, one of the recent districts to join our growing community and the site of an exciting approach to collaboration and community that is providing opportunities for the next generation of climate leaders.

As part of their overarching climate action plan, the Porterville Unified School District is bridging the gap between local farms and school cafeterias, bringing fresh, sustainable ingredients to students' plates while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

At Porterville Unified School District, student leaders are guiding school infrastructure upgrades thanks partly to the Renew America’s Schools Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

My 16-year-old son, Eli, came into my bedroom the other night to share a story that was upsetting him. He had been on the phone with Everett, one of his closest friends. They were talking about marketing strategies for Eli’s streetwear business.

In a significant milestone, the Porterville Unified School District has received a major boost in its “String to be 1st to 0” project in its effort to have a transportation fleet with zero emissions.

Green building design and construction is a rapidly growing career field with a variety of roles that contribute to processes, technologies, and materials that reduce the sector’s impact on the human and natural environment.