GreenSkills is a local green jobs program that employs high school students and adults with employment barriers to plant street trees free-of-charge for New Haven residents. Any resident can request a free tree to be planted in the curb strip in front of their home or business, provided they commit to watering it for three years. The program began in 2007 to address a backlog of tree planting requests and offer green jobs to underrepresented groups. Since then, over 7,000 trees have been planted for more than 3,000 residents and businesses.

During my tenure with GreenSkills, I oversaw career development and education programming for 24 formerly incarcerated individuals and 10 youth, through the planting and stewardship of 900 street trees in New Haven, Connecticut