Our Story

The Ecological Workforce Initiative originated from Hanford ARC's philanthropy, a civil construction company focused on environmental restoration. Hanford ARC has always supported environmental nonprofits and local communities, including a Donor Advised Fund at Community Foundation Sonoma County. In 2019, Hanford realized the most impactful way to benefit humans and nature was to make environmental compliance training publicly available.

THE BEGINNING

Hanford leadership saw a pressing need for high-quality, standardized training for equipment operators and laborers to meet the growing demand for skilled workers on ecological restoration projects, and established the Ecological Workforce Initiative as an independent, fiscally-sponsored non-profit in 2020. Our founders believed that with the right kind of training opportunity, we could help new workers enter the field, uplevel the skills of current workers, and ultimately see restoration projects happen at a faster pace with better outcomes.

TAKING INITIATIVE

From our decades of experience in the field, we know that it is possible to do good and do well at the same time. We can have a restoration sector of the economy that improves ecological health while enabling people to benefit economically from the work in a way that sustains families and communities. We want to see the restoration sector celebrated both for the economic benefit it provides to communities, and for the multitude of ecological benefits it provides from restoring degraded natural habitats

OUR goals

  • Provide a pipeline for new workers to enter the restoration sector

  • Train and uplevel the skills of current restoration laborers and equipment operators

  • Improve restoration project outcomes through a trained workforce

  • Foster greater awareness and recognition of and among these workers and the value that they bring to the environmental field

  • Equitably bring all members of the restoration sector together to recognize our shared goals, aligned values, and economic impact

Our Impact to Date

  • We have developed the 10-hour Ecological Workforce Awareness and Compliance training to equip new and current workers with skills to work effectively in the field.

  • We have trained over 325 workers in Sonoma, Napa, and Marin Counties.

  • We’ve expanded partnerships with local conservation organizations and restoration employers, resulting in full-time job placement for some of our most underserved trainees.

  • We have become respected thought leaders on workforce development and equity in the environmental field and regularly present at conferences throughout the state.

  • We are advancing equitable workforce development with the California Landscape Stewardship Network, the California Biodiversity Network, and the California Ecological Restoration Business Association.

  • We are scaling our training program in Marin County and into new regions of California in the coming year.

And we’re just getting started!

We invite you to join us in creating pathways to family-sustaining jobs for greater community well-being and ecological health.