The USGBC-LA Green Building Corps delivers a structured intern engagement program that provides participants with valuable experience, relationships, and contributions towards green building projects that benefit the greater Los Angeles region. Green Building Corps participants commit to a minimum 6 month term of 10–20 hours per week, on either a volunteer or hourly rate basis, and will receive a certificate of completion at the end of their program experience.
Program Overview
Green Building Corps participants will provide project support for the USGBC-LA Annual Legacy Project, Green Schools microgrant projects, Chapter initiatives, and committees. Additionally, green building projects will be sourced across Architecture, Engineering, and Construction firms as well as sustainability consultants, public agencies, and community partners. The intent is for these projects to provide a public or community benefit, allowing unemployed or underemployed people to gain experience, build relationships, and better position themselves for future employment.
Mentorship
USGBC-LA will match participants with mentors from USGBC-LA’s Mentor Network with a requirement of at least one-hour per month meeting, either in-person or virtual, focused on career development.
Resources
Green Building Corps members will be provided with USGBC-LA memberships at no charge and access to USGBC-LA’s training, recorded content, and events at no cost wherever possible.
Now accepting applications for Spring 2022!
Corporate Engagement
Companies can purchase bundles of hours from the Green Building Corps for support on projects, back-office work, event support, data entry, and more. All hourly payments will go directly to support the Green Building Corps.
Bring in GBC support for your company today! Contact us at info@usgbc-la.org.
Download our brochure for more information on our Green Building Corps Hourly Packages!
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Green Building Corps Members
Corey Ly
Corey graduated from UCLA in 2019 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and minors in Environmental Systems & Society and Geographic Information Systems & Technology. He has an expansive background in research and consulting. Since graduating, he has worked with LA Sanitation and Environment as an Environmental Project Assistant, where he helped increase urban tree canopy, and with Soil/Water/Air Protection Enterprise as an Assistant Environmental Analyst providing CEQA and environmental impact consulting services. He currently works as a Sustainability and ESG Analyst with Third Economy, where he contributes his corporate sustainability research and consulting expertise.
Debbie Solorzano
Debbie received a B.S. in civil engineering at the University of Central Florida and has been working for a planning and design consultant firm for 3 years now. She is passionate about incorporating sustainability in her practice and enforcing principles to help relieve our environmental consequences. She has recently moved from Florida and wants to embrace California’s achievements and steps towards reducing the environmental footprint. She hopes to incorporate the experience and knowledge she learns from this program to her career and help others within her sphere of influence to move into sustainable development and awareness.
Emma Kurihara
Emma works as a sustainability consultant in the new construction industry, with a focus on affordable multi-family housing. She attended Brown University, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Development Studies. During this time, she also spent a semester studying Sustainable Development in Denmark, where she was impressed with the country's adoption of environmental practices and technologies. Raised in Los Angeles, Emma is excited to learn more about LA's environmental policy landscape, particularly as it relates to healthy and affordable housing.
Jane Richards
Jane Richards has been a passionate advocate for sustainability for many years, showcased by her environmental blog Green Eatz. She has been involved in environmental activism for over a decade, starting with her support for the Carbon Tax in Australia in 2011.
After moving to California, Jane volunteered as an ambassador for the non-profit Cleantech Open, a startup accelerator for cleantech entrepreneurs. There, she mentored in sustainability and pitch techniques, organized tours and clinics, and recruited and interviewed startups. She also worked as an administrator at Sustainable San Mateo County, an advocacy group for sustainable living. In 2017, Jane graduated with distinction with a Sustainability Certificate from UCLA Extension, specializing in Green Buildings and Renewable Energy.
At USGBC-LA, Jane is hoping to become a stronger advocate for sustainable personal and community living, as well as gain in-depth knowledge of 'greening' the built environment.
Safa Bari
Safa is an alumni from the University of California, Riverside with a B.S. in Sustainability Studies. She is eager to apply her knowledge of sustainability towards green building, renewable energy, and environmental issues. Safa is focusing on conducting research grants, letter of inquiries, and implementation of renewable energy practices as a consultant at Seed Consulting Group. Through the opportunities of the Green Building Corps, she is looking to use her experience as a means to broaden her knowledge, contribute to green projects, and form connections with top professionals in the field. Safa is looking to pursue a career in sustainability consulting, with the intent of taking action towards a more healthier and sustainable future. In her free time, she enjoys going on hikes, taking pictures, and discovering new foods to try.
Tamsyn Hunnewell
Tamsyn is a LEED AP, WELL AP and TRUE Advisor with over ten years of experience in environmental consulting and sustainable resource management. Areas of particular interest include the relationships between the built environment and natural systems. Tamsyn is dedicated to working creatively with others to solve urban development challenges with focus on the environment, human health and wellbeing of communities. She holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from Syracuse University.
Cheng Peng
Cheng Peng is a Master of Urban Planning student at the University of Southern California Price School with a concentration in Design of the Built Environment and pursuing a Certificate in Sustainable Policy and Planning. During her undergraduate time, Cheng received a Bachelor of Engineering Degree at China Agricultural University, majoring in Agricultural Structure, Environment and Energy Engineering, which aroused her interests in environmental planning and landscape architecture. She is always willing to learn and practice. In the future, Cheng hopes to be exposed to more knowledge and strategies about urban landscape development, taking part in projects and making some impact to communities to better people’s living conditions around the world. At school, Cheng is a student assistant of Price School Global Engagement Office, helping organize and advertise events, run social media accounts, and communicate with Price international students and scholars.When she is not glued to school and work, Cheng enjoys travel and photography, basketball, and tennis.
Megan Wang
Megan Wang was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She is currently a second year undergraduate at the University of Southern California with a major in Architecture and a minor in Health Innovation. She is always looking for opportunities to expand her knowledge on sustainable architecture solutions, while exploring the intersection of health and architecture. This past summer, she was involved in research on sustainable building materials and methods. Outside of architecture, Megan enjoys sharing her knowledge with others and she currently volunteers as an academic mentor. She is also involved in USC’s Habitat for Humanity, which helps provide housing to low-income families in the Greater Los Angeles area. In her free time, she loves to play with her cats, watch movies, and go to concerts. Megan is excited to be a contributing member of USGBC and hopes to learn more about creating a sustainability plan that is centered around environmental justice.
Alisanne Meyers
Alisanne Meyers is a Los Angeles native who recently graduated with a master’s in Urban Planning from USC. She believes sustainability can transform communities by elevating public health, distributed prosperity, and human achievement. As a Clean Cities fellow for The Southern California Association of Governments, she coordinated electric vehicle charging station permit streamlining across Southern California’s 191 jurisdictions and contributed to other accelerated electrification strategies. Prior to becoming a planner, she earned a master’s in Art History from The Courtauld Institute in London and worked in the contemporary art world for three years. This summer she participated in a work exchange near Taos, New Mexico to gain hands-on experience in off grid building. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and reading up on earth architecture.
tecture. This past summer, she was involved in research on sustainable building materials and methods. Outside of architecture, Megan enjoys sharing her knowledge with others and she currently volunteers as an academic mentor. She is also involved in USC’s Habitat for Humanity, which helps provide housing to low-income families in the Greater Los Angeles area. In her free time, she loves to play with her cats, watch movies, and go to concerts. Megan is excited to be a contributing member of USGBC and hopes to learn more about creating a sustainability plan that is centered around environmental justice.
Lydia Olivier
Lydia Olivier is a fourth generation Angeleno who has just graduated with a master’s degree in Regenerative Studies from the Lyle Center of Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. She has a certificate as a LEED AP BD+C, a professional degree in architecture, and hopes to continue her research in academia or in a science based approach in a research firm on regenerative and restorative practices in the building and urban planning sectors. She also volunteers her time as board chair to the Garden School Foundation, a non-profit who serves seven schools in LAUSD and teaches garden education and a Seed to Table curriculum. Lydia spends most of her social time in her California native and community gardens and playing competitive tennis in USTA. She hopes to be involved with USGBC committees and initiatives that build on social equity and environmental resilience for communities impacted by the effects of climate change in the urban built environment.
India Chand
India Chand is from Minneapolis, Minnesota who recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelors of Design in Architecture and minor in Public Interest Design. She is now studying at the Southern California Institute of Architecture working towards her master in Architecture.
During her undergraduate time, India joined the American Institute of Architecture students where she sat on the Social Justice Committee working towards advocacy within Architecture. India also joined the Inclusion and Diversity team within Apple during a five month career experience. While on this experience she worked as a Project Manager with Employee Resource Groups. She worked towards improving Slack communication, internal website redesign, as well as event planning. Lastly India has volunteered over a 100+ hours with students of color with the Page Education Foundation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, supporting teachers and helping students succeed.
India is very passionate about social justice as well as design. When she is not at school, she enjoys ice skating, hanging out with her cat, Nico, traveling and exploring as well as working on projects for school.
Heather Cruz
Heather is a fourth year student at Loyola Marymount University pursuing her degree in Environmental Studies. She felt a calling to directly address the climate crisis and soon obtained a job with Greenpeace Los Angeles where she gained her first experience in progressive climate action, campaign organizing, and community outreach. After working as a lead at Philz Coffee, Heather later acquired a fellowship through the Civilian Climate Action Corps with a particular interest in food waste. She worked with the City of Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment to research the city’s food recovery capacity as it related to SB 1383 and connected hundreds of food generators with food recovery organizations and services. She now continues her work with Community Organized Relief Efforts (CORE) for COVID-19 relief as well as facilitation support of the LA Food Bank. Heather’s passion for environmental justice also extends through her membership on the onboarding team of the Sunrise Movement where she recruits and leads new members through the Los Angeles chapter's campaign efforts. Heather loves everything she is discovering about her field of choice and hopes to continue reaching new heights in making meaningful change wherever and however she can.
John Cadiz
John graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and is pursuing a Master of Urban Planning degree at USC. He has done research and work on transportation planning issues, arsenic filtration, and sustainable development with the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce, the city of Berkeley, and Costa Rica which has developed his global perspective on sustainability. Currently, John is working as the Team Leader for USC’s inaugural Student Sustainability Committee, an advisory board providing student input to university-wide sustainability plans, goals, and projects. John sought to further his ambitions by becoming an active part of USGBC-LA to synergize his technical and social expertise to increase sustainability efforts as California fully transitions to a green economy. Besides academics, he loves to play piano, take care of plants, and visit national parks.
Victoria Dam
Vicky is currently a double master's student at USC (M.Arch, M.Building Science) where she is building on her undergraduate philosophy of creating sustainable buildings and high-performance built environments using research-based design. She has varied work experience, having previously interned at her local city Public Works, design-build architecture firms, and construction management/general contractors. With a keen interest in multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary relationships, she has taken many electives in urban planning, real estate development, building materials research, and social equity. Outside of school, she is currently learning how to generate meaningful data analytics using project metrics/design performance, and studying for her LEED AP and WELL AP. She also holds a BA Arch from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Quantic. A Los Angeles native, she is excited about the opportunity to learn more about different aspects of sustainability and seeing how all these pieces lead to sustainable and healthier built environments.
