FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2017
Brandy Jackson, Director of Marketing/Community Outreach
media@power52.org
Media Hotline: (410) 203-1255
The First Clean Energy Private Career School with a Specialty in Solar PV Installation Approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission
Power52 Foundation is the second non-profit to ever receive Private Career School approval by the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
Baltimore, Maryland—During the Maryland Higher Education Commission’s (MHEC) October 17, 2017 Board of Trustees meeting, private career school applicant—Power52 Foundation, was approved. This approval establishes Power52 Foundation as the first Clean Energy Private Career School specializing in Solar PV installation to be approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
Co-Founded by Cherie Brooks, Ray Lewis, and Rob Wallace, Power52’s mission is “to strengthen communities and inspire people to achieve their potential through hands-on job-training in the energy sector. Power52’s long-term community development strategy is designed to break the cycles of poverty, unemployment, under employment and incarceration in our Urban Communities across the nation while simultaneously advancing communities resilience through a sustainable strategy”.
Power52 Foundation in partnership with Living Classrooms launched their training in January 2017 bringing workforce development, resiliency, and clean energy solutions to low and medium income communities. In addition, Power52 Foundation is working with Living Classrooms to convert their community centers into resiliency hubs, offering disaster relief support to their neighboring communities. This project is forecast to be the first completed of its kind in the country.
Sharing a passion for Baltimore and the future of its youth, and in an effort to change the way the city is viewed by the outside world following the 2015 protests, Brooks, Lewis, and Wallace agreed that they had the means and the responsibility to impact the community. “The Power52 Foundation Career School will provide its trainees with credentials that will make them marketable in the energy sector”, says Cherie Brooks. “Power52 will not only give young people opportunities to successfully enter the workforce” notes Ray Lewis, “but it will also educate people so that they can understand the importance of energy independence.” Adds Rob Wallace, “We will train, we will place, we will provide scholarships. We will teach our students how to fish so that they can fish and in turn support their families and our community”.
Power52 Foundation has expressed its intention to open in Ellicott City, Maryland in the Winter of 2018. Power52 Foundation is committed to building a pool of talented, motivated individuals who are ready to change the dynamics of the world, starting with their local communities.
POWER52 is a Maryland based 501(c)(3) established to provide hands-on job-training in the energy sector for individuals in disadvantaged communities that are struggling financially. Power52’s long-term community development strategy is designed to break the cycles of poverty, unemployment, under employment and incarceration in our urban communities across the nation while simultaneously advancing communities resilience through a sustainable strategy. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
