Electric Vehicle Workforce Internship

The 480,000 school buses in the United States account for 80% of all buses nationwide, yet less than 1% are electrified. School bus electrification represents a unique opportunity to accelerate decarbonization while bringing direct, tangible benefits to every community in the United States. This transition can help make electric mobility the new normal for an entire generation. Through the U.S. Electric School Bus Initiative, funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, WRI’s aim is to create unstoppable momentum over the next five years on a path toward electrifying the entire fleet of U.S. school buses by 2030. Overcoming the cost, infrastructure and policy barriers to mass adoption will require a systemic approach that engages an entire ecosystem of actors and prioritizes inclusive planning with impacted communities. WRI will achieve this by partnering with key stakeholders and project partners to work on five key pillars: 1) aggregate demand, 2) scale manufacturing, 3) develop innovative financing models, 4) influence federal and state policy, and 5) galvanize communities and stakeholders to push for an equitable and comprehensive shift towards electric school buses.

Just Transitions and Equitable Climate Action Resource Center Overview: 

Working towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and addressing the impacts of climate change will require an unprecedented transition to a net-zero economy. A transition of the necessary scale has the potential to offer significant social and economic benefits. However, an economy-wide transition poses significant risk to vulnerable communities, regions, and sectors. WRI is focused on helping to create an equitable transition that helps those who are most vulnerable both participate and thrive in a net-zero economy. The Just Transitions and Equitable Climate Action team works across different sectors, regions, and types of projects to produce research, resources, and data to drive a more equitable future. This includes work focused on communities impacted by the transition away from fossil fuels, workers impacted by electric vehicles, and other examples at a local, regional, and global level. To enable a just energy transition, challenges related to new and emerging jobs that may not have previously existed and jobs that may be lost must be addressed. Part of this team’s work focuses on workforce development challenges, needs, and solutions as they relate to an economy-wide transition. One of the projects underway focuses on EV-related workforce issues including identifying transferable skills, the types of roles in demand, and the training programs in place to meet that demand.

What you will do:

As an Electric Vehicle (EV) Workforce Intern, you will play a key role on both the WRI Electric School Bus Initiative and Just Transition and Equitable Climate Action Resource Center. You will do work focused on light and medium-duty vehicles (LMDVs) and heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) such as school buses. As part of ongoing work focused on EV-related skills and jobs, you will contribute to the expansion of a current database tracking relevant training programs. In this role, you will help identify, research, and map relevant training programs across the US focused on different parts of the electric vehicle industry which may include manufacturing, maintenance, repair, and charging infrastructure. You will support the development of external-facing knowledge products and communications materials and may also assist with stakeholder working groups.

Internship Learning Outcomes: