Who We Are
We’re deeply rooted at the intersection of equity, climate, and good, sustainable careers
In 1994, Rising Sun Center for Opportunity began as Rising Sun Energy Center in Santa Cruz, California. Much has changed as we’ve adapted and innovated to respond to the needs of our participants and communities, but today, we remain rooted in our origins, preparing people throughout the Bay Area and rural Central California who have been locked out of prosperity for good jobs and green pathways that offer economic equity and mobility while building a climate-resilient future for all.
Our Mission
Building career pathways for economic equity and climate resilience.
Our Vision
A just and sustainable future for all people and our planet.
To achieve our mission and vision, we operate two main programs
Climate Careers and Opportunity Build are our flagship initiatives. Since 1994, we’ve trained over 3,000 youth and adults while helping more than 60,000 households reduce their carbon footprint. We’ve also become a model for what holistic, high-road workforce development looks like. Our graduates are building our region’s climate infrastructure and diversifying the energy space.
Share our work:
In 2000, Climate Careers was built by and for young Californians. Today, it employs youth from low-income families and serves residents with the highest energy burden across 22 counties in the Bay Area and Central California. Youth leave Climate Careers understanding how to protect the planet while pursuing their dreams—and with the connections, experience, and networks to access life-changing opportunities.
We build hope. Our grads build futures. Opportunity Build started as a green jobs training program in 2009 and evolved to focus on union construction careers providing pathways to the middle class in 2014. Today, it includes one-on-one mental health and substance use counseling, childcare stipends, and financial coaching to support participants’ longterm success—and it works.
When we treat good jobs and climate resilience as a single goal, workers, employers, and communities all win. As a community-based service provider, we’re trusted by labor unions, workforce groups, environmental advocates, and government agencies. Our programs and policy reinforce each other to turn shared goals into common ground for transformational outcomes.
Learn more about what we do:
Our Advocacy
The Bay Area Residential Decarbonization High Road Training Partnership
We believe that green jobs should be good jobs. A rising floor in industries like residential decarbonization means more, better-paying opportunities for Rising Sun’s program graduates to build their careers, their communities, and a sustainable future.
Our Impact
Explore our 30th Anniversary Report
Learn more about our history, what we do, and where we’re going from program graduates, staff, and past leaders.
Our Team
Meet the people who make our work possible
Our staff, Board, and Advisory Council are the backbone of Rising Sun, and we’re committed to developing and maintaining internal advancement opportunities. Ten (and counting!) staff members are program alumni. Two Board members are program alumni—and one is former staff.
