lis status ( in terms of size and amenities ), among the worst for “ inclusion ” — bringing together diverse and disparate groups and individuals to help chart the area ’ s future and simultaneously improve its residents ’ lives .
The program , one of the seemingly least technological initiatives in SMUD ’ s history , aims to better comprehend and respond to the needs of the various communities it ’ s served for decades , pinpointing , through a remarkably layered ( and , OK , somewhat high-tech ) map of its own invention , a way to identify and turn inside out the pockets of hardship among the ZIP codes it serves . There was an emphasis on education , financial literacy and the too often overlooked disbursement of genuine compassion .
The weight of the program was hoisted onto the athletic shoulders of Jose Bodipo-Memba , SMUD ’ s director of sustainable communities , who had firsthand experience with underserved communities , having worked as a teacher and basketball coach in what he calls “ a pretty rough section ” of Oakland . By the time Bodipo-Memba joined SMUD 11 years ago , his resume included several years as an environmental consultant and his current stint as chair of the advisory board of the Urban Land Institute ’ s Sacramento chapter .
“ The Brookings ( Institution ) study made us question how we could create true value in this community . … So we looked at what some Silicon Valley companies were doing under the umbrella of what they called social impact investing .”
ARLEN ORCHARD Former CEO , SMUD
Taking on urban issues was “ a moral imperative ,” says Orchard , when asked an indelicately phrased question about whether the new program represented a “ side hustle ” for the utility , whose main job had always been to keep the lights on . “ The Brookings study made us question how we could create true value in this community ,” says Orchard , who was SMUD ’ s general counsel for 13 years before becoming CEO seven years ago . “ Most of what we did was directed to the region ’ s middle class . So we looked at what some Silicon Valley companies were doing under the umbrella of what they called social impact investing . That became a model for us , starting with programs that offer 60 scholarships a year and 100 internships . The internships had a wonderful dual purpose : Many of the college students we chose , who came and come from definitely nonaffluent surroundings , are treated as entry-level engineers , and many have become SMUD employees .”
Orchard says SMUD also offers about $ 400,000 in community-based grants a year . “ We have the communities largely design them ,” he says . “ We ask , ‘ How can you make your neighborhood or nonprofit better ?’” In addition to having neighborhoods and organizations custom tailor their own solutions , SMUD has also
Rancho Seco , the nuclear plant SMUD opened in 1971 , was shuttered by voters in 1989 after many years of protests . It " was despised worldwide ," says Arlen Orchard , former CEO of SMUD . PHOTO COURTESY OF SMUD
busied itself writing curricula for high school teachers “ to help them instruct ( on ) contemporary science matters like climate change and renewable energy .”
The future seems especially well-lit . Bodipo-Memba , the Sustainable Communities czar , points to the company ’ s 20-year naming-rights sponsorship of the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity , due to open late this year , as an electrifying example of the company ’ s commitment to generations to come . “ We want to have kids from underserved communities like the southeastern portion of Sacramento County and all over the region to know that a publicly owned electric company really does belong to them ,” he says . “ Sustainable Communities now has about 1,000 partnerships with local groups and formalized multiyear agreements with 150 nonprofit organizations to provide educational and financial support and participate in cooperative projects . We want to provide power in many , many ways .”
Ed Goldman is a Sacramento freelance writer . He wrote the Working Lunch column for Comstock ’ s for 15 years and a daily column for the Sacramento Business Journal for eight years . His thrice-weekly column , The Goldman State , is online at goldmanstate . com .
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