A2ZERO Ambassadors are vital to achieving community wide carbon neutrality
The A2ZERO Ambassador Program provides an opportunity for interested individuals to dive deeply into pathways for advancing local sustainability initiatives, resilience, and carbon neutrality. The A2ZERO Ambassador program is a consecutive weekly 12-session training program that brings together 15-25 community members to explore what it takes to equitably transition to a carbon neutral community. Training sessions are held on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 pm – 8:30 EDT in a hybrid format.
Ambassadors will leave with increased knowledge, tools, and resources to discuss sustainability broadly and specific actions they and their communities can begin implementing to advance carbon neutrality. There are no previous experience requirements and all who are interested in sustainability are encouraged to apply.
During their training A
2ZERO Ambassadors learn about topics such as:
- Equity and environmental justice
- Community sustainability, climate change, and climate action
- Energy principles, beneficial electrification, and renewable energy
- Water efficiency, water quality, stormwater, and our watershed
- Transportation and our choices about moving around our community
- How to get to a circular economy through waste reduction, composting, recycling, sustainable purchasing, and material reuse
- Local food: how to grow it, eat it, and find it
- Personal and community resilience and emergency preparedness
- What Ambassadors can do to advance carbon neutrality
Upon acceptance into the program A2ZERO Ambassadors pledge to attend and engage in all 12 training sessions and commit to upholding the values of A2ZERO and the Office of Sustainability and Innovations (OSI) as a long-term partner in achieving an equitable transition to community wide carbon neutrality.
Ambassadors are also expected to engage with at least one OSI annual or seasonal event such as:
- A2ZERO Week (First week of June annually)
- Local Food Fest (Annually in the Fall)
- A2ZERO Green Fair (Annually in the Fall)
- Home Electrification Expo (Annually in the summer)
- 10,000 Tree Giveaways
- Neighborhood Swap Days
- And Other community sustainability events
Applicants to the Ambassador program will have a choice of applying to one of two pathways to become an A2ZERO Ambassador:
Pathway #1: Ambassadors commit to attending all training sessions and upon completion of their training pledge to complete at least one outreach activity, such as: giving a presentation to a group they are part of about a current Office of Sustainability and Innovation priority.
Pathway #2: Ambassadors commit to attending all training sessions and to assisting on a sustainability related project with other members of their cohort supported by Office of Sustainability and Innovation staff or community partner. Project lengths can vary depending on scope and interest.
Applications for our 6th Cohort are now CLOSED
Our 6th cohort trainings will take place on the following Wednesdays from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm EDT:
March 27th
April 3rd
April 10th
April 17th
April 24th
May 1st
May 8th
May 15th
May 22nd
May 29th
June 5th
June 26th
Ambassador Projects are having an impact on our community
Green Energy Neighbors
Whether it’s a home energy audit, energy recovery ventilator, electric appliance, heat pump, solar panel, storage batteries, electric vehicles and chargers, or even insulating your home, making energy efficiency changes to your home can be a time-consuming and confusing process. Luckily, we have friendly neighbors who can share their experiences and lessons learned to help you get started!
The Green Energy Neighbors, developed and administered by a dedicated group of A²ZERO Ambassadors, is a no-cost service to connect individuals considering energy efficiency improvements (we call these folks “Learners”) with people in the community who have already made some of these changes (we call these folks “Mentors”).
