A celebration of African American pioneers in science and technology was held in Sacramento. It comes at a time when there’s a growing demand for more workers with high-tech skills.
Sean Jefferson wants to be among the next generation of high-tech workers. The 19-year-old has graduated from high school and is now getting job training.
“I have all the options so I can do whatever,” Jefferson said. “I just have to put the time and the energy into it.”
Local nonprofit organizations like Green Tech are working to make sure young adults get the skills they need to succeed in emerging careers like artificial technology, robotics and bio sciences.
“These are really good-paying jobs,” said George Suarez, vice president of Aura Planning. “It’s such a broader spectrum of things that you can enter, and so we’re trying to introduce people to not just the technical side, but what those supporting roles can look like.”
Kamiron Belton, a Green Tech administrator, said the main goal “is to spark that next mind that changes everything — the next Thomas Edison, the next George Washington Carver.”
Carver, who was a pioneering African American scientist in the early 20th century, is one of the people being recognized during a Black History Month ceremony at the UC Davis Aggie Square.
“He paved the way, I feel like, for myself and opened up the doors for many more scientists and for the idea that even if you’re a minority, you can still do really big things,” Belton said.
Local companies like SMUD and Seimans attended the ceremony and say they’re looking for workers with these types of science and engineering skills.
Jefferson said he’s looking forward to joining the local tech workforce. It’s just a question of where.
“I don’t know where I’m going to go yet because there’s so many options,” he said.
Green Tech offers training programs for youth between the ages of 12 and 21 with a focus on clean energy.