In an op-ed on BETtv.com Maudine R. Cooper, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Urban League and Christine Todd Whitman, former EPA Administrator and Co-Chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, describe the importance of clean energy development and the growing support in many communities across the United States:
There is a broad coalition ready to support nuclear expansion and leverage the benefits derived from more nuclear energy plants. We recently joined more than 50 leaders from business and academia from within the Hispanic and African-American communities along with labor and industry representatives to focus on how safe, reliable nuclear energy facilities can benefit minority communities. The open dialogue, hosted in Washington D.C. by the Clean and Safe Energy (CASEnergy) Coalition, focused on workforce development, educational partnerships and supplier opportunities for minority communities and businesses.
AREVA representatives attended this CASEnergy discussion in November and continued this dialogue with other attendees and members of our Community Advisory Council.
Natalie Martin-Smith, director of talent acquisition at AREVA, was one of those representatives at the roundtable and described the event as:
“a great opportunity to have open, honest dialog around our industry, and more importantly, our future workforce.
I look forward to the outcomes of this and future discussions. We truly share a common priority that focuses on helping Minority businesses and professionals build their networks, identify and take advantage of development/feeder programs, achieve success, and ultimately see their value and future in the nuclear industry.
One of the many benefits of this effort is to advance awareness of the benefits of diversity and provide educational opportunities to understand, leverage, and capitalize on our differences while fostering inclusive leadership and culture while creating a company that represents diversity.”
AREVA is actively engaged with grassroots and minority organizations through the Community Advisory Council to educate them on clean energy and the opportunities this sector offers – hundreds and thousands of jobs. AREVA has established in-house training classes and works with universities and colleges to grow the workforce of the future. We look forward to continuing this discussion throughout 2011 and beyond.
Read the rest of the op-ed here.
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