NEW ORLEANS – A local partnership between Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit transforming education and workforce systems, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) has significantly helped New Orleans tackle two of its most pressing challenges: flooding and economic mobility. JFF and GNOF presented these outcomes at the recent 2025 Horizons Summit: “Dare to be Brave”.
The Quality Green Jobs Regional Challenge
Only six months after winning the JFF Quality Green Jobs Regional Challenge, GNOF has already made a big difference in the region.
“Drawn from a pool of over 100 applicants nationwide, GNOF’s proposal stood out for its innovative approach to creating green jobs in New Orleans—particularly in response to the growing challenge of water management,” said Sara Vander Zanden, a director at Jobs for the Future.
According to JFF, there is significant potential for green economy growth across the region. “GNOF is currently working with regional partners to map the full landscape of employment opportunities across green industries, including energy, construction, green infrastructure, water management, and waste management,” said Vander Zanden. “As federal and state resilience investments are finalized, we expect to have more concrete data on specific job projections and employer engagement.”
JFF estimates that the Greater New Orleans region could see $5.3 billion in resilience investments creating more than 12,000 green jobs. According to JFF, by engaging with industry partners, GNOF builds trust which translates into real-life training. The acquired skills then translate into job opportunities in construction and green infrastructure.
“Equally important is GNOF’s commitment to breaking down systemic barriers that have excluded Black, Indigenous, justice-impacted, and rural individuals from economic opportunity,” said Vander Zanden. “The GNOF team also recognizes that these communities are living on the front lines of climate change and are most likely to experience its most severe consequences.”
Working with Local Partners
Over the past few months GNOF and JFF have worked with community-based groups like Thrive New Orleans, Groundwork New Orleans, and Louisiana Green Corps, to train local, underrepresented residents for high-quality green jobs in stormwater management.
Groundwork New Orleans
Groundwork New Orleans, one of the GNOF partners, is a productive local nonprofit engaging residents, volunteers, businesses, and local organizations in practical projects that enhance quality of life, restore environmental function, and support sustainable development. These projects transform the living environment and include stormwater management, tree planting, and solar installations.
Louisiana Green Corps
“Our partners at Louisiana Green Corps provide specialized training in green infrastructure and construction, with a particular focus on opportunity youth,” said Vander Zanden. “Their model integrates workforce training with environmental restoration and community resilience building.”
Thrive New Orleans
Thrive New Orleans is a training provider in the green construction and infrastructure workforce ecosystem, focusing on underrepresented populations including justice-impacted individuals. Their programs emphasize both durable and technical green skills development.
“With a strong track record of launching job placement initiatives and deep expertise in disaster response and philanthropic innovation, GNOF have demonstrated the capacity to execute complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives effectively. We’re fortunate to be working alongside them,” said Vander Zanden.
“Dare to Be Brave” 2025 Horizons Summit
The 2025 Horizons Summit, “Dare to Be Brave”, was held in New Orleans June 10–11 and hosted by Jobs for the Future. Since its inception in 2018, this annual gathering has grown into a major national event.
This year around 2,000 leaders in education, workforce, philanthropy, policy, and industry sectors discussed workforce and economic development opportunities, showcasing local partnerships as a model for equitable climate adaptation.
Andy Kopplin, President and CEO of GNOF, was a key panelist on the main stage event “Rebuilding for the Future: Workforce Resilience in the Gulf Coast”. Other panelists included Lauren Alexander Augustine, Executive Director, Gulf Research Project, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and Rachel Wolfe, Economics Reporter with The Wall Street Journal.
GNOF and the Gulf Research Program (GRP) have complementary approaches: GNOF focuses on community engagement and resilience-building while the GRP provides research and strategic insights to guide long-term workforce development.
Another session at the Summit covered “Building Resilient Regional Economies: Tools for Assessing Risk, Readiness, and Workforce Agility” with Sarah Bennett of Jobs for the Future, Anne McHugh of Portland General Electric, Jacob Robinson of GNOF, and Stacey Johnson of SUNY Buffalo.
The session introduced a practical framework and interactive data tool designed to help regions assess their economic risk, readiness, and capacity for workforce resilience and ability to grow jobs for infrastructure growth and energy efficiency.
“The coordination across construction, green infrastructure, energy, and coastal restoration sectors demonstrates how regions can build comprehensive green economy ecosystems, rather than isolated training programs,” said Vander Zanden. “We believe this model is especially relevant for regions facing similar challenges—high incarceration rates, increased climate risks, significant rural and BIPOC populations, and the need to transition traditional industries toward more sustainable practices.”
