Elmer Gálvez, Class of 2015, worked many Green Jobs Corps placements, including on the farm, with site crew, and with CitySeed. He is now a “student worker” in the counseling office at Gateway, where he assists other students with classes, financial aid, or other concerns — while also studying full time himself. He says that he still uses the leadership skills that he developed in Green Jobs Corps in his current job, where he is seen as a community leader.
Elmer Galvez,, at the blender, helps to lead a youth program for New Haven Farms while in Green Jobs Corps.
Sustained commitment.
“The one experience that especially stood out for me was working for CitySeed. I was there for about a year and a half—quite a time for a student—and it really spoke to me, with the amount of time that passed, what it would look like as an adult spending so much time there and getting to know so many more people. It was sort of an example of what adult life would look like.”
The value of paid work experience.
“When I first started in Green Jobs Corps I was excited not only to get a paycheck but to just get that experience under my belt, and from there on, when I was looking towards future employers, they were really impressed with the amount of experience I had under my belt, so frankly I was overjoyed and grateful for the amount of time I was in green jobs corps”
Transferable leadership skills.
“During Green Jobs Corps I had a lot of opportunities to step up as a leader, whether it be that my supervisor isn’t there and I have to help a customer at CitySeed or whether the site manager isn’t there and I have to do a little bit of work at the site, just doing things by yourself and knowing what to do, being given those opportunities to practice that, really helped me later down the line to effectively use that. Even in my job today, people look to me as a leader, so I’m really happy about that.”
This Green Jobs Corps alumni profile is written by Marisa Vargas-Morawetz, who worked as a Yale Presidential Public Service Intern with Common Ground in summer 2017. Read more about what Marisa learned by talking to Green Jobs Corps program alumni, and meet other program alumni.
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