BCC: $10k Grant Powers Bergen Renewable Energy Program

Ramsey NJ

28 March, 2022

10:51 PM

Description

Press release from Bergen Community College: March 28, 2022 PARAMUS, N.J. – The Infiniti Equity Fund, a renewable energy advocacy and development organization located in Howell, has selected Bergen Community College for its inaugural $10,000 grant available to New Jersey nonprofits. The grant will provide a cohort of Bergen STEM students with educational programs centered around environmental sustainability and equity. Students completing the "Environmental Justice and Sustainability Program" will earn certifications as Infiniti Scholars. "The support of partners like Infiniti Energy and their Infiniti Equity Fund, which value the creation of a stronger, more equitable energy workforce, is important in providing Bergen students with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions about environmental justice and workforce equity," Bergen STEM Program Director Luis De Abreu said. "The College looks forward to working with Infiniti in this powerful partnership." "The responses to the initial request for grant submittals made the award of this grant a tough decision," Infiniti Energy General Counsel Liz Conroy said. "Yet all on the team felt that Bergen's program best exemplified the grant criteria to advance environmental justice through educational initiatives. We look forward to seeing what these students accomplish." The Bergen Community College Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the priorities of the institution's strategic plan, alerted De Abreu to the opportunity with Infiniti. STEM education represents one of Bergen's major pipelines to industry – punctuated by the nation's only STEM Student Research Center of its kind at a community college. More than 2,000 students take advantage of programs such as engineering science, computer science and biology while completing research projects in- and outside the classroom. Projects have included converting a softball field house into a workshop, high-altitude balloon launches, retrofitting a gas combustion truck and motorcycle into electric vehicles and conducting experimental testing with wind turbines and solar panels. Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state. This press release was produced by Bergen Community College. The views expressed here are the author's own.