On a Saturday morning in a South Side Chicago church, more than a hundred graduates in caps and gowns celebrated completing a solar workforce training program run by the 548 Foundation. The nonprofit, founded by A.J. Patton, a former public-housing resident, aims to open the clean energy economy to lower-income African American and Latino communities that have largely been left out of it. Patton grew up in a Terre Haute, Indiana, public-housing unit numbered 548, and has said his commitment to energy justice was shaped by a year his family spent boiling water on an electric stove because they could not afford a gas bill.
The foundation began after Patton, who cofounded the affordable-housing startup 548 Capital with Erica Johnson, pushed contractors to hire more local residents for solar and efficiency work. When he heard dismissive comments about Black workers' reliability, he decided to create his own training pipeline. The program now runs 51 three-month sessions in Chicago and nearby suburbs, teaching solar installation, electrical and carpentry skills, plus math, resume-writing, and conflict mediation. Students receive stipends and ongoing support for child care, transportation, housing, and mental health needs, which instructors say are key to helping trainees get and keep jobs.
Illinois' 2021 clean energy law, which set equity goals for the workforce and provided funding for training programs, helped the foundation expand. Patton says the program is on track to reach 700 graduates by the end of the year. At the recent graduation, he emphasized that the results have disproved stereotypes about Chicago's Black communities, pointing to trainees who have built careers and are now part of a more diverse solar industry. The foundation's model shows how targeted support, not just technical instruction, can make clean energy jobs accessible to those historically shut out of the sector.