A Room Full of Green Futures
The room was small enough that no one could disappear into the back row.
A few dozen students sat in rolling chairs pulled into a loose half-circle, notebooks open on their laps. At the front, a handful of mentors sat close enough to be interrupted mid-sentence. Behind them, a wall-sized screen tiled with faces brought more voices into the room from wherever they were logging in that night.
It felt less like a staged panel and more like a working session — the kind where people can talk honestly about what they know, what they’ve tried, and what they’re still figuring out.
This was Many Paths, One Future: Green + Tech, hosted by The City Tutors and the Chinese-American Planning Council on the Lower East Side. The evening moved in one shared direction: a full-room conversation first, then smaller groups where students stayed seated and mentors rotated in, carrying different versions of the same question with them:
How do people actually find their way into climate- and tech-connected work while those paths are still being built?
Students, early-career professionals, and mentors filled the room to talk through real pathways into that work in real time. Guiding the evening was Thomas Gresham of Deloitte, the moderator, who opened the discussion with the panel and then helped transition the room into small-group conversations.
Over the course of the night, Thomas asked each mentor to strip their paths down to decisions, detours, and chances — the moments that shaped how they arrived where they are now.
Straight lines were rare. That, in many ways, was the point.
“There is no one singular, linear path”
Early in the evening, Angela N. Son, Founder of The Green Launchpad, gave language to what many learners feel but rarely hear said out loud:
“I hope the students took away that there is no one singular, linear path to working in clean energy & sustainability and that everyone has a skill/interest/talent that can contribute to the global movement. I also hope they took away that it's okay — and even necessary — to experiment and try different things to find their path and to not be afraid to ask for help!”
In her framing, clean energy is a wide field: policy, operations, outreach, data, finance, storytelling, design. It runs on many different kinds of contributors.
For many of the learners in the room — often first-generation students or those from low- to moderate-income families — that invitation to experiment and ask for help opened the door to trying, adjusting, and continuing forward.
Where systems meet people
Angela focused on possibility. Others turned toward the systems that shape those possibilities.
With Deloitte and Career Equity represented, the conversation moved into hiring channels, training programs, internal mobility, and the machinery of “talent” that influences who advances and who stalls.
Brandon Bates, Vice President of Technology & Partnerships at Career Equity, reflected on what he carried out of the room:
“The most significant takeaway for me was the paramount importance of mentorship for all individuals. Whether transitioning professionals or students still discovering their passions, we engaged in discussions on a topic that profoundly impacts everyone... climate. The room was highly receptive and eager to dive deeper into this rapidly evolving industry. Extremely grateful for the opportunity to connect and share my experiences.”
In his view, mentorship sits at the center of the transition: the human infrastructure that allows people to cross sectors, redirect careers, and enter spaces where they may not already have built-in networks.
Climate work, up close
With Con Edison in the mix, climate work took on the scale of infrastructure.
It appeared as grid reliability and upgrades, long-term planning, and the day-to-day coordination that keeps power flowing through the city. Sitting alongside a consulting firm, a climate startup, and a workforce-tech company, the utility presence underscored how many kinds of institutions are now touching the same transition from different angles.
For Emilio Gonzalez, Government and Community Affairs Specialist at Con Edison, the night felt strikingly familiar to the work he does every day — and yet newly personal.
“Similar to my role at Con Edison — where I work across internal and external stakeholders to ensure the City’s energy grid runs harmoniously — it often takes a village to ensure both professional and personal success,” Emilio reflected afterward. “The energy and expertise from different corners of the sector, combined with two phenomenal organizations and enthusiastic young professionals, created a vibrant mix of inspiration and learning for everyone in the room.”
What stayed with him most wasn’t just the content of the conversations, but the feeling in the room:
“The stories I heard and the passion I felt throughout the panel and breakout conversations reminded me of the importance of this work and the need to continually pay it forward.”
And it wasn’t just the panel. In the breakout conversations that followed, mentors like Angela, Brandon, Emilio from Con Edison, and longtime City Tutors mentor Henry Goodelman moved from table to table, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with learners and translating big systems into individual next steps.
The format kept everyone on the same path. After the panel, the whole room shifted into small groups. Mentors rotated while students stayed put, hearing the transition described from multiple vantage points:
Strategy and digital tools at a large firm
Products that connect learners to clean energy careers
Work that touches the physical grid that keeps the city running
Community outreach and workforce pathways into renewable energy
As the night went on, questions shifted. “What should I major in?” became “How did you move from one field to another?” and “What did your first real step look like?” The answers were specific, personal, sometimes messy — and therefore usable.
What learners carried out
By the next morning, emails from participants began to land.
For Moe Tayza, a Computer Systems and Information student at Queensborough Community College, the event clarified both mindset and next steps:
“The eye-opening approach in job applications from Angela and Henry's expression of thinking outside the box stuck with me from the event that night. I got the idea about what to do next in search of internships and the skills I should possess as a strong candidate.”
Sayeda Niger Sultana, an MSBA student at Baruch College, connected the conversations to how she wants to make decisions going forward:
“The conversations reminded us that the ability to learn is a crucial skill in a world that evolves so quickly. I was especially inspired by the ‘diamond diagram’ approach — starting broad in exploration and then narrowing my focus with laser-sharp intent once I recognize where my strengths and passion align. It gave me a clear next step for how I want to approach my career decisions.”
For Asa Rahman, a York College CUNY student studying Applied Mathematics, one of the most valuable moments came from Emilio of Con Edison:
“One of the most valuable insights of the night came from Emilio, who explained how to enter a field even without the ideal academic background. He highlighted two key principles: identifying the transferable skills your degree already equips you with, and understanding that success often comes from preparation meeting opportunity, supported by a strong willingness to learn.”
Together, those reflections sketch out exactly what the night aimed to offer: not a script, but a way of thinking about paths, skills, and timing.
Mentorship that keeps moving
For Henry, who first started advising City Tutors participants almost a decade ago, the night was also about what happens after everyone leaves the room.
He described the event as a space with “great energy throughout” — a strong intro, a focused panel, and breakouts that made it easy to connect with students and jobseekers “exploring where they fit into the green economy,” all inside a CPC venue that felt welcoming and grounded.
By the next day, he’d already made a job referral and a project proposal with attendees and was still working through follow-up messages — proof that when people feel invited in, they don’t just listen; they act.
The conversation after the conversation
The agenda listed a 7:30 p.m. end time. The ideas kept moving.
On his way home after moderating the event, Thomas ran into one of the learners again on the subway.
“We ended up having a wonderful 20-minute conversation about the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability,” he recalled. “It reminded me of the power of organizations like The City Tutors to bring curious, like-minded people together and of how mentorship is truly a two-way street. I often feel that I gain just as much, if not more, from these relationships as I give.”
No microphones. No slides. Just a mentor and a student in a moving train car, still working through the questions the room had opened up.
What the night was meant to leave behind
From his moderator’s chair, Thomas watched those threads come together. Later, he described what he hoped would stay with participants:
“I hope the learners walked away with the message that 1. there is no end to learning and education, 2. that careers are rarely linear and they should not lose sight of their goals, and 3. that they feel inspired to pursue a green career.”
Taken together, the messages from Angela, Brandon, Thomas, Henry, Emilio, and the learners read like a short playbook:
Careers bend, pause, and restart.
Learning stretches well beyond the classroom.
Mentorship is a shared practice that helps everyone involved see farther.
If the program showed what can happen when organizations like The Green Launchpad, Career Equity, Con Edison, Deloitte, CPC, and The City Tutors align around access, the emails, LinkedIn posts, referrals, and subway conversations that followed showed what it set in motion.