By: Iesha Baldwin and Isaac Harper  

Editors: Claire McGrath, Jenny Hirsch  

As climate change intensifies, communities across the Southeast and Caribbean face increasing human and economic threats from hurricanes, flooding, extreme heat, and other natural disasters. Preparing the next generation to respond to these challenges is essential. Workforce development in sustainability and resilience must evolve to meet this urgency, and mentorship is one of the most effective tools to create this change. 

The GROW Mentorship Program, led in partnership between the United Nations-affiliated RCE Greater Atlanta sustainability education network (RCE) and the Southeast and Caribbean Disaster Resilience Partnership (SCDRP), is a powerful example of how mentorship can bridge the gap between education and real-world impact. 

Developing a future-focused workforce requires more than technical training. It requires guidance, exposure, and connection. The GROW Mentorship Program meets this need by pairing mentees with experienced professionals across sectors including higher education, government, nonprofit, and private industry. Mentors then draw on their experience and networks to provide opportunities for mentees to learn, improve, and catalyze their careers and subsequent impact. 

At its core, GROW is designed to cultivate a diverse and skilled talent pipeline for careers in climate, sustainability, and disaster preparedness. It serves students, early-career professionals, and individuals pivoting into the field, recognizing that building resilience requires interdisciplinary thinking and inclusive participation.  

The GROW Mentorship Program Participates in SCDRP’s 10th Annual Meeting 

A key moment in expanding the reach and impact of the GROW Mentorship Program took place during the Southeast and Caribbean Disaster Resilience Partnership (SCDRP) 10th Anniversary Annual Meeting, held March 4–5 in Charleston, South Carolina. The conference was attended by 140 resilience and disaster preparedness, response, and recovery professionals from the Southeast and Caribbean across private, nonprofit, academic, and public sectors. This event was a chance to introduce GROW to a broader audience and build momentum around mentorship as a workforce development tool. 

Advisors of the program, including Claire McGrath, Isaac Harper, and Iesha Baldwin, played an active role throughout the event. Claire was the architect behind the conference itself, and Isaac and Iesha hosted a dedicated table to share information about the program and recruit new mentors with careers and expertise in climate, sustainability, and disaster preparedness. Over twenty new mentors were recruited, some of whom have offered to obtain additional mentors from their professional networks. Dr. Yonggang Liu, Associate Professor of Oceanography at University of South Florida, was our first new mentor and scored an RCE tote bag to celebrate!

Twelve members of the current mentorship cohort also participated in the conference. This included five GROW mentees who received full event registration scholarships, and four who received travel support to attend the meeting. This provided an enormous professional development opportunity as mentees were able to deepen their understanding of disaster resilience while exploring career pathways across sectors and industries and making in-person connections with luminaries of the field. 

One of the attending mentees, Subhashi Karunarathne, a young professional from the Chatham County Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, had an integral role at the conference. On a main-stage panel, she shared her goal to create safer, more liveable communities and discussed how her GROW mentor, Cassie Nichols from Alta Planning + Design, helped her build career clarity toward achieving this by bridging her joint passions of environmental science and urban planning. Subhashi’s firsthand perspective was both brilliantly delivered and a testament of the value of the program.

“Through the GROW Mentorship Program, I not only gained guidance and perspective as an early-career planner, but also had the opportunity to engage with the broader resilience community at SCDRP. Experiences like this highlight how important it is to support emerging professionals and create spaces where ideas, mentorship, and real-world challenges come together.” 

 -Subhashi Karunarathne / Urban Planner at Chatham County Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, GROW Mentorship Program Participant (Mentee) 

Watch Subhashi’s panel discussion highlighting the value of the GROW Mentorship Program 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osj89oHmyQM&list=PLN1Eo26yGEtC8u8bOQPazldbyfjWMK8Yi&index=1  

This convening created space for GROW mentors and mentees to strengthen their relationships in person. At one point during the event, a mentor discussed an upcoming job with their mentee from an organization in which they had a close contact. These moments of connection are essential for creating opportunities and transforming mentorship into a meaningful and lasting professional bond rooted in trust, shared learning, and professional growth.  

Conference Highlight: Resilience as Economic Development 

“One of the underlying themes that stuck out to me from the conference was the link between resilience and economic development. Among the first speakers was Manuel A.J. Laboy, who served as Secretary of Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce and then as Executive Director of Puerto Rico’s Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency. He emphasized that regions and their people cannot thrive if they are constantly rebuilding from the last disaster. In that sense, resilience is the necessary foundation from which to develop a prosperous community.

Dr. Ashley Ward, Director of Duke University’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub, added later on that translating climate risks and shocks into economic realities is critical for bringing all of our leaders and policymakers to the table. I’m excited to draw from the incredible wellspring of knowledge here in the Southeast to support our future changemakers in building flourishing careers that transform data into critical information, communicate research effectively, and ultimately influence the decisions that will bring about the prosperity we all strive for.”

- Isaac Harper / Program Manager, GA Cleantech Innovation Hub; Coordinator at Regional Center of Expertise for on Education for Sustainable Development, Atlanta; and GROW Mentorship Program Advisor   

“In my role as Spelman’s Sustainability Coordinator and a GROW Mentorship Program advisor, it was especially meaningful to see how students, academic researchers, and “great pivoters” transitioning into the sustainability sector are contributing to reimagining the natural disaster and resilience space. This convening reinforced the importance of cross-generational and interdisciplinary collaboration in developing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. I’m excited to bring these insights back to Spelman College, The RCE Network, and The GROW Mentorship Program.”

-Iesha Baldwin / Sustainability Coordinator at Spelman College, Coordinator at Regional Center of Expertise for on Education for Sustainable Development, Atlanta, GROW Mentorship Program Advisor

What’s Next, and How to Support 

This momentum continues to build. GROW advisor Iesha Baldwin and Spelman College’s Sustainability Coordinator will be hosting Careers Workshop for GROW mentees and other professionals, focusing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). The workshop is designed to provide deeper insight into career pathways, skill-building opportunities, and professional positioning within the climate, sustainability, and resilience sectors. This effort ensures that engagement extends beyond the convening and evolves into sustained professional development. 

The program’s long-term vision centers on creating intentional pathways into the workforce through mentorship, access, and community. As climate and environmental challenges grow more complex, so must the strategies used to prepare the workforce. The GROW Mentorship Program offers a human-centered approach that accelerates learning, builds confidence, and strengthens professional networks, shaping and supplying a new generation of future-focused leaders. It is a strong pipeline, a community, and a movement toward a more sustainable and resilient future for our communities.

Link to GROW Mentorship Program: https://rcega.org/rce-mentorship-program   

If you are interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, or in supporting the program’s growth, consider joining this expanding network of leaders committed to building resilience across the Southeast and Caribbean.

Link to Give: https://scdrp.app.neoncrm.com/campaigns/grow 

Continued support is essential to sustaining and expanding our impact. Donations to the GROW Mentorship Program help provide mentees with access to conferences and other professional development opportunities that are critical for stronger, more resilient, and better prepared communities.  

Special Thanks

We would like to extend appreciation to Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education for their support in advancing this work and helping to create opportunities for engagement and collaboration.

We would also like to thank the College of Charleston's School of Natural and Environmental Sciences for allocating space and time for GROW mentors and mentees and other guests to gather to learn more about ways we can collaborate to create stronger cities and communities.  

Finally, thanks to the generous donors who supported the GROW Mentorship Meeting Assistance Fund and helped procure accommodation for mentees. Their support made it possible for mentees to attend and capitalize on this marvelous event.