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- By Chez Oxendine
- Economic Development
In a rural pocket of northern California, a group of tribes are doing more than generating clean energy — they’re generating electricians. A new pre-apprenticeship program, developed by the Karuk, Yurok, Hoopa Valley and Blue Lake Rancheria tribes, is training Native workers to power their own communities and careers, one wire at a time.
The tribes launched the program this week to create good-paying jobs and fill urgent local workforce gaps. At Blue Lake Rancheria, for example, a senior electrician is nearing retirement, said Heidi Moore-Guynup, the tribe’s director of tribal and government affairs — and the tribe doesn’t yet have anyone to take his place.
The effort addresses two needs at once: career pathways for tribal members and essential technical expertise for tribal utilities, Moore-Guynup said. With surging renewable energy efforts in the region, like wind and solar, the need has intensified.
“That led us to believe that we, as a region, needed to strengthen our workforce capacity in the low voltage electrician arena,” Moore-Guynup said. “We felt there were, in the future, some real, livable-wage job opportunities associated with this industry that people could pursue.”
The program drew 62 applicants and selected 26 students for its first cohort. It opens with four weeks of online instruction, led in part by trainers from the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki Nation), which operates a U.S. Department of Labor–recognized apprenticeship program. The program then moves to a three-day, in-person training August 15–17 that covers CPR, first aid, electrical drawings, pony walls, wiring, switches and lighting. A final week of online coursework follows. By the midpoint, all students will have completed OSHA’s 10-hour safety certification.
Participants receive a $5,000 stipend for completing the full program, along with a personal toolkit, safety equipment, and travel support. The program also includes a tour of Blue Lake Rancheria’s award-winning solar microgrid and hands-on electrical demonstrations during the in-person weekend.
To shape the curriculum, the tribes interviewed leaders from 10 other Native nations and two apprenticeship providers — including the Meskwaki Nation’s program, which has trained tradespeople for six years across disciplines like HVAC, carpentry, and plumbing.
“It’s a paycheck paired with education,” Matt Bear, apprenticeship director for the Meskwaki Nation, told Tribal Business News. “By training our own, we’re planting the seeds to cultivate local talent. We’re bringing that to this program and we hope to be a success story - showing it’s possible to run an apprenticeship, graduate folks, and bring those skill sets back into the community.”
The James Irvine Foundation awarded a competitive grant to fund the co-designed program, prioritizing gender parity, tribal representation, and equity. Students not selected in the first round have been waitlisted as organizers seek additional federal and philanthropic support to expand capacity and cover stipends.
Graduates will have “multiple pathways” into the workforce, Moore-Guynup said. The program is designed to help students qualify for entry into registered apprenticeships in the electrical field, laying the foundation for union careers with long-term earning potential. Options include joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), working for tribal utilities like Hoopa Public Utilities, or enrolling in a non-state-certified low-voltage apprenticeship through the College of the Redwoods. Instructors will help students navigate their next steps.
As a former educator and school district superintendent, Moore-Guynup praised the program as a model that could be adapted to other career fields.
“We want to make sure that there are ways for students to really connect to the material, and we're really proud of the job our team has accomplished,” she said. “You can change out the curricular focus, but we think this is a sustainable training model.”
The program is part of a broader effort by the four tribes to strengthen energy independence and infrastructure control through the Tribal Energy Resilience and Sovereignty (TERAS) initiative. By training their own workforce, the tribes aim to reduce reliance on external contractors and accelerate local clean energy development.
‘A Future for My Children — and My Community’
For Ralph Velasco, a descendant of the San Carlos Apache Tribe living in Hoopa Valley, the program is a chance to turn prior training into a career — and to inspire the next generation. Currently the tribe’s recreation supervisor, Velasco had already completed workshops in fiber internet and solar installation before enrolling.
Becoming an electrician would provide Velsaco with a sustainable career. More importantly, though, it would prove to his stepkids that building a life in the Hoopa Valley is possible, he said.
“My kids are all going to school here in Hoopa, and a big concern of mine is when I hear them speak, they say, ‘there’s no way out. We’re going to be stuck here because it’s such a small community,’” Velasco told Tribal Business News. “With all these technologies coming forward and all these programs offering these services, I just kind of want to lead by example, especially for my children and for the people around me, to prove we can do better for ourselves.”
Yurok tribal member Alexandrea Scott said providing tribal members with career opportunities could combat poverty, substance abuse, and other issues. Scott said she hopes to complete the class and then move on to join an electrician’s union.
“I’ve explored many union skilled trades, but my heart is set on this one,” Scott wrote in an email to Tribal Business News. “It feels good to know that one day I may support my family and secure a beautiful home with much to offer my five children, my nieces and nephews, and my extended family and friends.”
Velasco said seeing people like Scott in the class was a signal that young people were seeing the benefit in meeting tribal needs through careers.
“I’m 54, and I’ve always said, you know, I’m never too old to learn - I’m excited to start over,” Velasco said. “But there’s a lot of these younger ones, and I’m glad to see them step up and want better for their people.”
