What SHINE is all about.
About the SHINE Coalition
Solar Helping Ignite Neighborhood Economies (SHINE) unites a coalition of organizations to bring clean energy and economic development to Boston’s historically marginalized areas. By linking community economic development with greenhouse gas reduction, SHINE, in collaboration with Boston’s leading anti-poverty agency, Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), and other local partners, aims to deliver tangible benefits to environmental justice communities while supporting federal, state, and municipal climate goals.
SHINE supports environmental justice communities in Boston, focusing on high-poverty and minority areas such as Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park. Our solar training facility is on Chauncy Street in downtown Boston, and our Community Powerhouse solar sites are spread across Greater Boston.
SHINE addresses equity through two streams of work:
1
Solar Careers
SHINE recruits, trains, and supports underemployed and unemployed residents in Massachusetts, helping them pursue technical solar careers.
2
Solar Development
SHINE supports the development of community solar systems, also known as shared solar, on the roofs of local nonprofits. SHINE also ensures the nonprofit hosts and qualifying low-income households share the system’s financial benefits.
Diversifying and growing the U.S. solar workforce
The solar industry faces a shortage of workers and lacks diversity. In this video, explore how SHINE addresses this by recruiting, training, and supporting underemployed and unemployed residents in Massachusetts, helping them pursue technical solar careers and build their capacity to overcome the barriers that perpetuate poverty while reducing emissions. The program combines a strong culture of care with rigorous, hands-on technical and safety training, ensuring participants are well-prepared for success in the growing solar workforce.
Meet The Team
Joanna da Cunha-Semedo
Environmental Justice Program Manager at
Resonant Energy
Travis Niles
Sr. Manager, US Climate Equity at Rare
Carlos Antunes
Solar trainer (independent contractor)
Our differentiator
SHINE is an initiative of Rare whose mission is to inspire change so people and nature thrive.
Rare leverages over 50 years of experience working with communities worldwide to drive social and societal change. SHINE uniquely combines Rare’s expertise in climate change and green energy, community engagement, applied behavioral science, and targeted philanthropic investment to guide its efforts effectively. Through SHINE, Rare and its partners build the capacity of environmental justice communities to overcome the barriers that perpetuate poverty while reducing emissions.
Unlike programs that focus solely on training individuals for the green workforce, SHINE implements a comprehensive community intervention that integrates multiple strategies within the same community. This approach engages local social service organizations — trusted community institutions often new to climate work — as key partners, helping to create a lasting solution.
Our Partners
The SHINE coalition comprises local solar businesses, community organizations seeking to address environmental justice, organizations hosting solar projects on their roofs, and solar workforce trainees and the organizations who support and train them.
