Earlier this month our team brought together Tribal members and employees from the Port Gamble S’Klallam and Nooksack Indian Tribes and Remote Energy for a 2-day mock-roof solar install at Northwest Indian College.

Over two intensive days, participants immersed themselves in a hands-on curriculum where they assembled systems on prebuilt mock-roof installations and grappled with real-world challenges. This workshop is part of our long-term engagement to build foundational renewable energy understanding, knowledge and capacity so that Tribal communities can direct their own energy transition.

Our Tribal program is a joint effort between Spark Northwest and the Department of Energy. As a regional partner of its Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP), our goal is to support communities that are just starting off on their clean energy journey. Watch this short video to see just how we do this.

Spark Northwest engages in community-based coalition-building on several issues in our region. This summer we spoke with people at ten local Tribal Nations to identify energy policy issues of highest importance and are now designing new advocacy goals in response.

We are working with grassroots groups serving low-income and BIPOC communities to develop a system of “energy ambassadors,” that will create new jobs housed in community-facing host organizations.

And we are exploring with Shift Zero coalition members, how to design a campaign focused on low-income residents’ concerns about having safe, affordable and healthy homes that use less fossil fuels.

Please welcome Lindsey Bear, who joins Spark Northwest as a Project Manager! Lindsey holds an Energy Policy and Management degree from Western Washington University and an Energy Technology degree from Bellingham Technical College. Outside of work, you’ll find Lindsey exploring local trails, skiing, playing music, and traveling. Welcome Lindsey!

We are thrilled to announce a new collaboration with Google’s Cloud Supply Chain & Operations Group. We are grateful for Google’s commitment to investing in key community efforts and honored to begin our work together.