Micah Gold-Markel
building an on-ramp to the green collar economy in Philadelphia, developing education and opportunity in clean energy
Micah Gold-Markel founded Solar States with the mission of providing both solar installation and education.
Micah grew up in Philadelphia, going to the local public school district, and in 7th grade, he started going to a private school. This experience provided some of his first exposure to the disparities in class and race in his own neighborhood.
After high school, Micah worked in music production and software development. Looking for more fulfillment in his work, he found green energy. He was most inspired by Van Jones, a clean energy advocate brought in by the Sustainable Business Network of great Philadelphia. Van Jones, speaking on the Green Collar Economy, asked him personally why there weren't more diverse people in the clean energy movement and what he as a Philadelphia resident would do about it.
The founding ethos behind Micah's company, Solar States is that the company will be the on-ramp to the green collar economy for inner-city Philadelphians.
Micah says he found the right place at the right time and built partnerships in his community to make his mission possible.
Youth Build Philly is an innovative school that takes students who have dropped out of high school and trains them on a vocation. Micah became a teacher and built out the solar installation vocation program. After hiring some of his students post-graduation, Micah began to understand what he had to be aware of to employ low-income individuals.
Philadelphia Power Authority and Powercore PHL proved to be additional partners who provided a good employee base. Their partnership allowed Solar States to blossom further and run more training programs. Spencer Wright, who came through this program, currently runs the program.
Macha's advice for others looking to do similar work?
Don't recreate the wheel. There are partners out there who are doing similar work. Reach out, integrate yourself in the community, ask if a program is wanted, build partnerships to get started.
Also - don't be afraid of failure. And don't think because you've failed a bunch of times that it isn't going to work. If you are dedicated to it – don't allow yourself to fail.
Show Notes