Precision Employment

Precision Employment Workshop in Classroom

In partnership with Brooklyn-based climate technology company BlocPower, the City launched in July 2021 the Precision Employment Initiative (PEI) to connect over 1,500 individuals at risk of high involvement in gun/gang violence with green jobs. The program is run and managed by the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice as a first-of-its-kind innovative and unprecedented public/private partnership. Participants are recruited from neighborhoods most impacted by gun/gang violence and climate change, including Brownsville, Mott Haven, and South Jamaica (Queens) through referrals from the City's District Attorneys, Crisis Management System vendors, the Department of Correction, and local elected officials.

So far, over 1,700 New Yorkers in these communities have received paid training to lead a greener, safer future. Through place-based, individual-level targeted engagement they have trained in high-demand clean energy trades, including building efficiency, electrical, EV charging and HVAC, as well as in media, cultural arts, financial literacy and entrepreneurship. In partnership with grassroots, community-based nonprofits across the City, life coaches work with each participant to help develop their critical reasoning and conflict resolution skills and get them any psycho-social supports they need to be successful in the workplace. After completing foundational training and earning OSHA certification, participants – referred to as Civilian Climate Corps members - are connected to clean energy contractors for apprenticeships and full-time job opportunities. With over 80% of participants previously underemployed or unemployed, the program is empowering our communities to lead a greener, safer future. It's also making our communities safer.

Learn more about the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ)
Learn more about BlocPower
Mayor Adams, BlocPower Announce Significant Expansion of Precision Employment Initiative to Provide Green Jobs to New Yorkers Most Impacted by Gun Violence

For more information, contact Samantha Kleinfield, Executive Director of Strategic Operations, Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice at skleinfield@cityhall.nyc.gov.