Serve Learn Earn coalition asks legislature to fund paid youth workforce programs tied to conservation and clean-energy jobs

Serve Learn Earn coalition leaders told the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee on Jan. 15 that steady state support has scaled paid, cohort-based training across trades, green jobs and outdoor recreation and urged the Legislature to keep the program in the Forests, Parks & Recreation base budget.

The coalition’s presenters — identified in testimony as Rex (presenter) and Kate Wapman, director of Serve Learn Earn — described a four-organization partnership that has enrolled roughly 1,500 participants over three years and served about 600 people in the most recent year. They said roughly 70% of this year’s 600 participants are under age 24 and that many trainees face barriers including poverty, addiction or justice involvement.

Rex said the coalition’s design emphasizes cohort-based training and community building rather than isolated, one-off placements. “Programs don’t save lives, relationships do,” he told the committee. He added…