On a Saturday in early December, several of our Emerging Professionals participated in a Career Panel with the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Outdoor Youth Corps. The Outdoor Youth Corps program is an education and workforce development program that connects St. Louis region youth ages 16 to 24 with environmental stewardship projects, community engagement opportunities, and potential environmental careers. The program provides career mentorship to participants by introducing participants to a wide variety of career paths, training opportunities, and paid work experiences – that includes introductions to our members!
Missouri Gateway GBC participants included:
- Jake Banton – an architect at Mackey Mitchell with a passion for design, sustainability, community engagement, and planning. Jake serves on the Planning Commission for the City of St. Louis and the Forest Park Advisory Board.
- Rebecca Schultz – a national sales executive for Apricot Solar and a channel partner with Azimuth Energy, Rebecca has over 15 years of sales and people first experience.
- Rajiv Ravulapati – Senior Manager of Government Relations at the Institute for Market Transformation. Rajiv has been involved with energy efficiency policy his entire career and serves on the Building Energy Exchange St. Louis Advisory Board.
Conversation during the panel focused on whether participants are happy with their career choices, whether they travel for work and how to determine where to go to college. Rajiv reflected on the conversation: “As someone who felt they were on a predetermined path after high school, I really enjoy talking to students and giving them space to talk through their anxieties, questions, and decision making process after high school. It’s completely ok to not know what you wanna do with life after high school. I enjoyed working with OYC because exposure to people’s livelihoods, and more importantly, their life journeys, is what can help students think more about their own lives.”
Another group of members met with OYC participants last summer. And we look forward to a workday with OYC’s Spring Weekend Work Series in 2023! Know any 16 – 24 year old’s that might like to join the Spring crew? Applications are now open!
Want to get involved with our Emerging Professionals? Join us for a monthly happy hour at 4:30 pm on the first Thursday at a Green Dining Alliance Restaurant.! We’ll meet at the Side Project on January 5, 2023.