Kate Buchanan
An electrified future, powered by worker diversity
Today’s fossil-fueled economy—powered mostly by coal, oil, and natural gas—creates an unsettling amount of pollution. Tomorrow’s electrified economy, on the other hand, embraces cleaner, renewable energy sources and also holds the potential to expand the labor market in unprecedented ways. Rather than relying on the energy-intensive extraction of Earth’s resources to fuel automobiles, for example, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure enables the transportation of people and goods using power from the grid—and the Sun. And according to an analysis, clean energy investments, including those in the burgeoning EV industry, will create nearly 537,000 jobs annually in the next decade.
Embracing electric transportation
We’re years away from a fully electrified economy, but recent investments into renewable infrastructure bode well for the future of EV transportation. President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act granted the US Department of Transportation $7.5 billion to invest in building a national EV charging network.
Automakers like Ford and Tesla are producing EVs at a feverish pace. There’s only one problem: the new infrastructure requires investment in those who will be responsible for building, operating, and maintaining it. There’s a unique opportunity to train workers to maintain EV charging stations while creating a diverse, skilled workforce with equitable access to living-wage jobs at the heart of America’s low-carbon infrastructure.
Why ChargerHelp!?
We’re proud to invest in and support ChargerHelp!, the only national operations and maintenance service provider dedicated to EV supply equipment (EVSE) with a technology-first approach to providing clients with reliable and predictable EV charging. Founded by two women of color, Kameale Terry and Evette Ellis, the Los Angeles-based company works with station operators, utilities, software firms, and manufacturers so that drivers can charge up as seamlessly as filling their gas tanks. The company is unique in that it offers “reliability as a service,” a labor subscription model that gives charging station owners and operators peace of mind by ensuring consistent, fast, and reliable operation and maintenance service.
“ChargerHelp! is overcoming the existing skills gap by recruiting quality, underutilized, reliable, high-performing professionals to meet the needs this growing industry demands.”
— Kameale Terry, CEO & Co-Founder, ChargerHelp!
ChargerHelp! simultaneously works with workforce development organizations to train reliable, high-performing professionals looking to start a sustainable career. Many trainees come from oil and gas, internet service providers, and cable companies and are eager to enter into purpose-driven technology careers. ChargerHelp!’s model has evolved, and it now offers three distinct workforce pathways, including a Community Training track offered to organizations looking to acquire basic knowledge about EV charging station operations and maintenance.
ChargerHelp!’s Reskill Track is offered to organizations that seek to identify potential EVSE technicians in their community that can upskill to maintain EV charging infrastructure. Lastly, ChargerHelp! offers a Certified EVSE Technician track to organizations that seek to identify EVSE technicians in their community that can maintain EV charging infrastructure and achieve certification. To date, ChargerHelp! has trained more than 500 technicians across seventeen states in the US.
“Trusting that a charging station will work and be fixed in a timely manner is essential to EV drivers and vital to the success and mass expansion of the industry,” said ChargerHelp! CEO and Co-Founder Kameale Terry.
ChargerHelp! has access to Autodesk software solutions, Autodesk pro bono consultants, and Autodesk industry networks. The Autodesk Foundation is excited to offer Autodesk resources to accelerate ChargerHelp!’s impact.
Learn more about how the Autodesk Foundation is ensuring workers thrive in the age of automation in the Autodesk Foundation impact report.