Celebrating Black History Month with NEWIEE Director and DEI Committee Co-Chair Tamika Jacques.

As we celebrate Black History Month, I am grateful to celebrate the people who are now part of Black History. I celebrate Harvard University’s first Black Women President, Claudine Gay; the first Black Woman Justice of the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown; and the 58 members who were sworn into the Congressional Black Caucus at the start of 2023. I also celebrate the positive data that shows Black Americans entering higher wage industries such as Transportation and Utilities.

Yet with all these achievements we still as a Country have more progress to make. Only 1% of Fortune 500 CEO’s are Black, Black Americans still have the highest unemployment rate in the United States and energy cost disparities are still prevalent in our Black communities. I often wonder what the most celebrated Black History Leader, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. would say about our present-day society and the work that is being done around a just and equitable clean energy transition.

I think Dr. King would encourage us to keep believing in what he said during his speech in 1963, “But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation, And so, we’ve come to cash this check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice”. Dr. King would encourage all of us to believe in and be ready for the “great vault of opportunity” because with all of the Black Achievements listed above that time is now! As I receive my opportunities, I must ask myself daily what I am doing in society to ensure that all African Americans have an opportunity to become part of Black History. I must bring others along with me as I “cash my own check”; meaning I must make it a priority to mentor other BIPOC individuals to join our energy and environment industry and be proactive in spreading the word of scholarships, internships, business grants and financing; and job opportunities so others become part of the just transition to clean energy and ensure they are part of their own Black History Month. I do this through my work, and with active participation in supportive organizations like NEWIEE. This will ensure that other generations can learn and speak about other clean energy leaders who were first, second and third, etc. I am proud to call myself a Cape-Verdean African-Woman and proud to be part of a small piece of Black History.

Tamika Jacques, Ed.D.
Director of Workforce Development and Supply Chain
Avangrid Renewables
NEWIEE Director & DEI Committee Co-Chair

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