Nine Brandeis students have launched the pilot program for the Green, Opportunity, Action and Leadership Network, an organization the students created to fuel youth interest in the green business sector by providing them with an internship in a green business. The GOAL Network's pilot program is in a partnership with the Boston Latin School, a public high school in Boston. The pilot program, which is also known as the Inaugural Fellows Program, enables six rising juniors and seniors from the school to shadow an entrepreneur in the green business sector with which GOAL is in partnership for a summer. Sarah Levy '11, the GOAL director of business partnerships, said it is currently partnered with Zapotec Energy, a renewable energy firm, and Boston Green Buildings, a green building contracting company.

Paul Lyons, the president of Boston Green Buildings, which currently supplies 40 homes and small businesses throughout Boston with a solar electric system, said that the student will serve as an administrative assistant. "The student will shadow me and pitch in with general tasks, like taking notes for me at meetings and running errands."

Stephanie Sofer '09, Justin Kang '09, Faith Brigham '10, Becky Fisher '10, Sarah Levy '11, Graham Miller '09, Anwar Wahab '11, Jake Yarmus '10 and Benjamin Kramer '09 were the students who began the program. The program officially started at Brandeis on Jan. 5.

Kramer said that the program consists of two aspects: the "mentorship," in which the student from the Boston Latin School is paired up with a green business and shadows the head of the business; and career support for the fellows to help them advance in the green business sector. The advisory board, which consists of people experienced in environmental activism, such as Brandeis Profs. Carmen Sirianni (SOC) and Laura Goldin (AMST), will provide the bulk of this support. Prof. Goldin said that she intended to offer career support to the students in the mentorship by helping them find internships tailored to their interests.

"I will help the high school students very similarly to the way I help the students at Brandeis, by directly connecting them to environmental organizations that serve their interests, whether it be a green business, a non-profit organization, or a government agency," Goldin said.

The pilot program is set to begin this summer, Sofer said. The fellows will receive a stipend between $1,500 and $2,500, which will be jointly paid for by the program and the businesses. If the businesses cannot afford to pay, however, GOAL is willing to subsidize their portion with their own funding, which will come from various friends and individuals. "Hopefully, the fellows will ultimately create a strong alumni network that will enable old fellows to mentor new fellows," Sofer said.

The inaugural fellows program is only open to low-income students who will be juniors and seniors at the Boston Latin School in the fall after completing the program. Kramer, the program's communications director, said the Brandeis students chose to concentrate their efforts on this constituency because they felt that the program would have the biggest impact on this age group. "Being a rising junior or senior in high school is a critical moment in terms of career choice," he said. "We wanted to instill an interest in environmental business in the students. Hopefully, this experience will further these fellows' desire to become a vital member of the Boston green movement."

Although Brandeis students started GOAL, it is not a Brandeis-run organization and therefore does not receive any funding from Brandeis. "The Brandeis faculty has been invaluable, but we are trying to form a non-profit organization outside of Brandeis, and we are receiving funding outside of Brandeis as a result. We have received donations from outside friends and individuals, which we are unable to disclose, and are in the process of applying for grants like the Davis Peace Fund and the New England Grassroots Fund, which is for grassroots environmental initiatives in New England," said Levy. Levy also said she hopes the businesses with which GOAL is partnered will ultimately help provide some of the funding. "We hope the businesses can contribute. So far, in the current economic state, only some have, but hopefully if the economy strengthens and our program becomes more well-known, more businesses will provide the funding."

The students who created GOAL all had previous experience working as environmental activists through Brandeis organizations such as Students for Environmental Action, said Sofer, who, along with Kang, is now the executive director of GOAL.

The students collectively recognized that they wanted to increase low-income and minority communities' involvement in the environmental movement. "We wanted to give people firsthand experiences through green sector jobs, which the environmental movement typically does not focus on. Essentially, we are looking to create unique environmental opportunities for individuals who otherwise would not have them," Sofer said.

Sofer said they presented the program to the Boston Latin School on Thursday and said the students there have expressed "a lot of interest." Cate Arnold, the faculty adviser for the Boston Latin Youth Climate Network, said in an interview with the Justice that the students have shown a huge level of interest and that over 30 students attended the presentation on Thursday.

"This program is essentially a symbiotic relationship between the green business sector and the low-income communities, and we hope both will be strengthened by this partnership," Levy said.