BlackOak Collective

January Job Board Alert! Start the new year with opportunities that matter. The BlackOak Collective's job board is live, featuring positions tailored for change makers passionate about equity, innovation, and impact. Explore roles across industries. Take your career to the next level and a difference where it counts! https://lnkd.in/eCMszKi5

🌱✨ Green Gateways is empowering Black students to become tomorrow’s climate leaders! 🌍 Through career development, coaching, and pathways to internships, we’re here to help you thrive in sustainability industries. 🚀💼 Join us in creating a greener, brighter future! 🌿

Congratulations are in order to BlackOak Collective and Okovate Sustainable Energy’s Co-Founder / Senior Advisor, Miles Q. Braxton, for being named to the 2025 Forbes’ 30 under 30 list. We are beyond proud of you and grateful for your continued commitment to uplifting Black voices within this space. 🎉 #Forbes30under30 #CleanTech #Agrivoltaics #EnergyInnovation #Okovate #BlackOakCollective Feature: https://lnkd.in/gueAccij

This Giving Tuesday: Support the Growth of BlackOak Collective Today, as we celebrate generosity and community, we invite you to support BlackOak Collective in our mission to empower Black professionals in the Environmental and Sustainability sectors. Your contributions directly impact the resources, programs, and connections that help us create a thriving network of changemakers. Under the current status quo, less than 2% of charitable dollars are donated to the environmental sector, and only a fraction of that is invested in environmental justice organizations. For BlackOak Collective and our members, the days since the election have been a time of reconnecting with our community, revisiting our values, and refocusing on our strategic goals. We know what lies ahead: a decrease in support for climate and equity from the public sector and less research, training, and opportunities in the environmental industry for our members. Our solution is to do what we have always done – provide our membership of Black professionals with free direct support, resources, and connections to place them in leadership positions in the environmental industry. Looking to the near future, this mission will be more crucial than ever. With your support, we can: - Provide membership services, including weekly office hours to discuss a potential career change, update their resume, or prepare for a job interview. - Host community-based networking events to raise awareness about possibilities for employment and leadership available through our partners. - Present to soon-to-be matriculated students at historically Black colleges and universities based in the DMV region through our Green Gateways program Join us in building a brighter, more inclusive future by contributing today. Click https://lnkd.in/e5pv9Bph to donate to BlackOak Collective (please list “BlackOak Collective” in the notes) and share any open positions on our Budding Opportunities job board (https://lnkd.in/dMZvVbNb) Together, let’s make a lasting difference. 💚

Over the weekend, BlackOak members had a chance to get exposure to a community solar farm through a private site visit hosted by Summit Ridge Energy. Participants learned more about how solar farms work, obstacles of solar development, and the importance of each stakeholder in the process, especially the interconnecting utility. We conducted a survey before the event that showed 93% of registrants had not been to a solar farm before, despite working in or studying a sustainability field. The more exposure diverse groups get to touch (but don’t touch) assets like these, the more representation we’ll see in those industries. Thank you to Dennis Brown, M.E, Ryan Lackey, and Kathryn Alexander, SHRM-CP for making this possible! We’re looking forward to the next opportunity to collaborate with SRE. #DiversityinCleanEnergy #BlackOak #CommunitySolar #SiteVisit

Come join BlackOak Collective and Summit Ridge Energy on Saturday, 11/23 for an educational tour of one of their local community solar farms followed by lunch at Milk and Honey. We have limited tickets available, so please register promptly here: Bit.ly/BlackOakSolar24 Transportation is available from D.C. to the site, but if interested in meeting us there, contact us directly. #SolarSite #CommunitySolar #CleanEnergy

Calm before the storm. Getting ready for an action-packed NY Climate Week #NYCW Wednesday (9/25) Morning: Catch me speaking about Agrivoltaics with American Farmland Trust and BlueWave at Food Tank’s Climate Resilience through Agriculture event in WNYC-NPR Studios’ The Green Room. The event is at capacity, but tune into the live stream here: https://lnkd.in/gKiTczDq Wednesday Afternoon: Starting at 3:30, I’ll be hosting BlackOak Collective office hours at Bluestone Lane (55 Hudson Yards, New York, NY). Ask me anything about membership, entrepreneurship, or clean energy careers! Thursday (9/26): I’ll be posted at the BIPOC Green Career Summit hosted by BlackOak Collective, Green Jobs Board, and Black Girl Environmentalist. I’ll be sharing insights on salary negotiations at 1pm during the event. RSVP for Free: https://bit.ly/4gxjvvl

Blessed to share that I’ve been named a 2024 USBC Power 50 Under 40 Honoree, presented by Walmart and Molson Coors Beverage Company! I am honored to be alongside such inspiring leaders and visionaries. BlackOak Collective has continued to thrive over the years because of organizations who support and uplift our efforts to diversify the sustainability and environmental space with Black faces. Thank you to U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. for this recognition! #USBCPower50 #Power50Under40  #NextGenLeaders #BlackOakCollective

Come join us TODAY during NYC Climate week for pop-up career coaching office hours where you can meet with Semi Cole, Director of Partnerships and Miles Braxton, Senior Advisor & Co-Founder. Can’t wait to see you there!🌱❤️

Still beaming with joy after celebrating the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 53rd Annual Legislative Conference this past week! It's always a full circle moment returning to support the foundation's events, especially being an alumna of the Emerging Leader Program. Grateful for the start CBCF provided me in DC. Simultaneously, representing Capital One at ALC events we sponsored was an amazing experience. Concluding the week, BlackOak Collective marked our 4th anniversary with a fantastic 100+ person brunch at The Gathering Spot DC. So immensely proud to have the opportunity to reflect on all of our work we’ve done, lives we’ve touched, and systems we’ve changed. Our team is a family of brilliant individuals who continue to bring our vision to life daily. Gratitude to CBCF for connecting me with my dear friend and co-founder, Wes Gobar, leading us, along side Miles Braxton and Kiera Givens, to establish one of the most notable Black environmental networking organizations in the DMV area. #cbcf #alc53 #blackoakcollective