Climate Jobs: Building an Equitable, Resilient Clean Energy Economy

Zach Cunningham is a Training and Education Associate at the Cornell ILR Climate Jobs Institute. In this role, Mr. Cunningham works with labor partners and state-based climate jobs coalitions to develop educational programs and resources that engage union members and leaders in the fight to address climate change through the creation of high-quality union jobs. He is currently studying the role that pre-apprenticeship programs play in creating a diverse and equitable clean energy economy.

Prior to joining the Climate Jobs Institute, Mr. Cunningham was a high school teacher in Arkansas; he also worked as a labor educator with the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), Local 1000 AFSCME. Mr. Cunningham holds a Master’s of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell’s ILR School, and he currently sits on the board of the United Association for Labor Education.

Lara Skinner is the Executive Director of The Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell and Chair of the institute’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative. Her research, writing, and labor education work focuses on the engagement of workers and labor unions on issues of sustainability, climate protection, and economic alternatives. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in 2010 and began her career in labor working with Oregon’s Farmworkers Union (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste), the University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center, and as an active member of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, Local 3544. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in 2010.