When Newo started installing solar PV, we quickly realized it makes no sense to complete a project in a community without empowering the people within it to participate in this emerging industry. With that in mind, we aim to train and ultimately hire people with barriers to employment.
Former and ongoing projects
Bissell Centre — Wêyôtan training and solar installation
In September 2023, Newo completed a seven-week training program through a partnership with Relay Education and Iron & Earth. Five weeks of in-class learning culminated in hands-on experience installing a 30-kW system on the roof of the Bissell Centre Thrift Shoppe, a Wêyôtan pilot project in collaboration with SPICE. Three Bissell-client trainees participated.
Pecamu Makoce — solar-PV and life-skills training
Pecamu Makoce emerged from a desire, expressed by Joby Yellowdirt to the Newo team, to develop a training program in Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation that would help break the cycles of trauma and give Nation members a pathway to employment in the green-energy industry. From 2022 to 2023, seven trainees participated in hands-on training and experience completing energy retrofits and solar installations.
Bissell Centre — training and solar installation
In 2018, Newo and the Bissell Centre were awarded an EcoCity Edmonton grant to train Bissell program participants and install a 24.96 kW solar system (completed March 2020) with a live solar training array that can be dismantled and reassembled for hands-on installation experience. This system and training program provides people with barriers to employment an opportunity to be trained and enter the emerging green-energy industry.
iHuman Youth Society — training and solar installation
In August 2020, seven iHuman Youth Society trainees took part in a five-day solar training program that included hands-on experience on the Bissell Centre training array. Two trainees were then selected for employment on the 55-kW rooftop solar installation at iHuman, an organization that has helped hundreds of youth beat the odds and become contributing members of society.
Métis Nation of Alberta — energy-efficiency education presentations
In the summer of 2019, Newo partnered with the Métis Nation of Alberta to deliver energy-efficiency education to Métis Nation citizens. Newo travelled to 18 communities, from Fort Vermilion to Lethbridge, within the six MNA regions of Alberta to deliver energy-efficiency tips within a Métis context. This meant incorporating stories of cultural significance and connecting energy reductions with positive outcomes to local ecology.
Yellowhead Tribal Council Development Foundation — training and solar installation
Newo partnered with Yellowhead Tribal Council Development Foundation to offer a 10-day solar PV training workshop for Indigenous youth in 2018, and provided a three-month training program for professionals in 2019. Newo provided four participants of these programs with summer employment, and continues to work with Yellowhead to develop programming and green-economy employment opportunities.