Giselle Birkett

OVERVIEW: Green City Force (GCF) is an AmeriCorps program that engages young adults from low income communities across NYC in national service related to the environment. In doing so, we prepare them for sustainable careers, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building the green city we want to see. Since our founding in 2009, we have engaged more than 700 young adults in our signature Service Corps program, constructed 6 urban farms in NYC public housing developments, and educated tens of thousands of New Yorkers on issues related to food, waste, water and energy. MISSION: Green City Force trains young leaders to power a green and inclusive economy, through service. Our model corps in New York City enlists and trains young people from low-income housing communities for a new and more equitable economy. We equip them with the tools to change the trajectory of their lives and access good jobs. Corps Members develop a passion for sustainability and service through driving large-scale environmental and health initiatives in public housing and other frontline communities. We design service as a path to greater well being and means to enlist young people to become contributors and leaders in the movement to build a greener, fairer and more just world. Graduates go on to jobs or college, directly or through alumni initiatives that build towards sectoral jobs and apprenticeships, via social enterprise contracts or advanced training developed with employers. RECOGNITION: - Received 2016 Community Impact Competition Project of the Year Award at 43rd annual New York Housing Conference - Received 2015 Environmental Champion Award from Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 - Awarded 2014 Advocates Award honoree by Environmental Advocates of NY - Recognized by Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg as NYC’s Most Innovative Nonprofit, under the first Innovation Awards administered by the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity in 2013