Cleantech is so white. Gilbert Campbell is making renewable energy look more like America.

Cleantech is so white.

Volt Energy does more than just finance and build green energy projects. A core tenet of Gilbert Campbell’s company is to provide “ladders of opportunity” in cleantech for people of color, who are drastically underrepresented in the field (last year, only 7 percent of solar workers were black). For Campbell and Volt, that means partnering with historically black colleges and universities, churches, and other black-owned businesses on clean energy installations and education initiatives.

[pullquote share=”true” tweet=”“When people with Gilbert’s acumen use their passion & skills for good, we all win” -@VanJones68″ hashtag=”#Grist50″ image=”363928″ cite=”Van Jones, CNN commentator & green jobs advocate” ]”When people with Gilbert’s business acumen use their passion and skills for good, all our communities win.”[/pullquote]

Take an ongoing Volt project at Howard University. In addition to working on the largest solar installation at a historically black college, Campbell and his team are offering a mix of workshops at the business, engineering, and communications schools, so the students get first-hand instruction on the ins and outs of the industry. As a result of this engagement, 27 Howard engineering students will now be attending the upcoming American Association of Blacks in Energy conference to network with energy executives.

“We’re equally excited engaging these students as we are with the business side,” Campbell says. That ethos is apparent in all Volt projects. Installing the largest church solar project in D.C. wasn’t enough, for example: Campbell’s team also worked with the church to coordinate a green literacy program for congregation members.

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