Rebecca Black has enjoyed a long and successful career in the clean energy sector and she runs an eco-communications firm Black Current.Supplied
The organizer: Rebecca Black
The pitch: Launching Trellis Fund
The cause: Scholarships for women in the renewable energy field
Rebecca Black grew up admiring and drawing inspiration from her mother, a single parent who taught her daughters to love life and find time for others.
Veronica Gardner died in 2023 and Ms. Black wanted to do something to honour her memory and life’s work. “She just raised us with a really strong sense of community-building. And she really was a great listener and a great storyteller,” Ms. Black recalled from her home in Toronto.
Ms. Black, 59, has enjoyed a long and successful career in the clean energy sector and she runs an eco-communications firm Black Current. But she has always been troubled by the lack of women in the field. “It’s very male-dominated, very techie,” she said.
About 10 years ago she helped found an organization called Women In Renewable Energy, or WIRE, with the aim of promoting greater diversity. After her mother died, Ms. Black reached out to her connections in WIRE and suggested launching a scholarship for women studying any aspect of green energy. She provided $10,000 to get it started – which covered four initial scholarships worth $2,500 each – and created a non-profit organization called the Trellis Fund.
The name is a tribute to her mom who was a skilled gardener. “She took great pleasure in tending to her flower beds and hosting lively conversations in her garden,” Ms. Black said. “And a trellis is a nice, supportive element in a garden.”
The scholarships are open to any postsecondary student who identifies as female. The first recipients included women studying engineering, energy policy, construction and wind turbine technology.
Ms. Black and the fund’s advisory committee have raised $25,000 to cover more scholarships and they are hoping to find more donors. They’re also launching this year’s application opening with a gala event in Toronto on March 13.
“It’s starting to ramp up and it’s exciting,” she said. “It feels wonderful and I think my mom would be delighted.”
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