Southern California Edison (SCE) has launched a $1 million Green Jobs Education Initiative to fund sustainable or “green” education and job training at 10 California community colleges, solidifying a commitment to its core philanthropic priorities – education and the environment.

“The Green Jobs Education Initiative holds the triple crown in our philanthropic portfolio. It will support education programs for college students, encourage environmental sustainability efforts and prepare skilled employees for the growing green jobs workforce,” said SCE President John R. Fielder. “It also has the additional economic benefit of supporting students and colleges facing crippling financial pressures.”

SCE will provide $100,000 to each of 10 selected colleges. Each college can then invest these funds in the California Community College Scholarship Endowment to receive an additional $50,000 match from the endowment’s lead benefactor, The Bernard Osher Foundation. As a result, this match to SCE’s gift will total $500,000 and be put to work supporting community college students in need across the state.

The 10 community colleges selected for Green Job Education Initiative funding are:

• Cerritos College, Norwalk
• Cerro Coso Community College, Ridgecrest
• El Camino College, Torrance
• Golden West College, Huntington Beach
• Long Beach City College, Long Beach
• Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles
• Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, Los Angeles
• Rio Hondo College, Whittier
• San Bernardino Valley College, San Bernardino
• Ventura College, Ventura

The Green Jobs Education Initiative funding is designed to provide scholarships for dozens of students, each of whom will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship each year for a minimum of two years. The funding will support students with financial need who are enrolled in green job workforce preparation. This includes training programs or study of solar panel installation, water and wastewater management, transportation and alternative fuels, biofuels production and farming, environmental compliance or sustainability planning.

“Green jobs are an important emerging sector in our state,” said California Community Colleges Vice Chancellor of Economic Development and Workforce Preparation Jose Millan. “This public-private partnership is a great example of what the private sector can do to help the state at a time when public funding and resources are scarce. Southern California Edison is helping hundreds of community college students receive valuable training, which will put them in jobs, pump up the state’s economy, and make our planet cleaner. We strongly commend this organization for its leadership in the educational and environmental areas.”