Solar Austin, a local nonprofit organization, has been able to keep its internship program alive during the pandemic because of a $50,000 grant last year from A Community Thrives, a program by Gannett, the parent company of the Austin American-Statesman.
The $50,000 grant has paid for a staff person to organize the internship program, which puts interns into local clean energy companies and provides training on equity, inclusion and diversity, said Solar Austin President Kaiba White. Solar Austin also received two $5,000 grants from the program.
“Our work with those companies is around helping develop those internships, making sure they have a good process for engaging with the students and making it a meaningful internship,” White said.
Without the grant, White said, the position might not have been secured for 2021.
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Last year, Solar Austin won one of the national-level grants, and 10 other Austin nonprofits were each awarded a $5,000 grant: Affordable Central Texas Inc., for people in public housing; Austin Area Art from the Streets, a homeless artists program; PUMA, or People United for Mobility Action, for transportation assistance; Austin Voices for Education and Youth, a neighborhood schools initiative; Beyond the Grade, an afterschool music program; Dress for Success Austin, a skills-building program for women; Fruitful Commons, a local gardening program; Project…
