RPG Apprentice Makes Her Mark

by Linda Sullivan

“Dynamo” is how Illinois Chapter Chair Connie Schmidt described her. River Prairie Group Chair Jeffrey Gahris noted her poise. RPG was blessed to have apprentice Emilee Chaclas assigned to help organize support for the Clean Energy Jobs Act in DuPage County this fall. 

l-r Jeff Gahris, Linda Sullivan,
State Rep. Terra Costa Howard, and
Emilee Chaklas

Ms. Chaclas was one of seven apprentice organizers hired and deployed strategically throughout the state as a result of a grant to Illinois Sierra Club from Green Tech Action Fund with supplemental funds from Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Originally set to cover October through November, some apprentices, including Emilee, are extending their employment through mid-December.

At times, Ms. Chaclas seemed to be everywhere. She organized a Clean Energy Strategy Meeting at Helen Plum Library in Lombard that was attended by 40 volunteers, collected some 500 postcards in favor of CEJA, reached out to student groups at Elmhurst College and to students in high schools, and tabled at numerous farmers’ markets and clean energy events. Her organizing skills resulted in an overflowing bus of DuPage volunteers going to Clean Energy Lobby Day in Springfield on October 29^th.

In a world focused on job metrics, veteran RPG volunteers appreciated that Emilee focused on developing volunteers who would stay with the RPG long term. “I’m only here for a matter of months,” she commented. “It is important that new people connect with the volunteers that are the backbone of the RPG.”

A Pittsburgh native, Ms. Chaclas recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts major in Environmental Studies and a minor in Political Science.  She canceled plans to take the Law School Admissions Test and moved to Chicago when the chance to work for Sierra Club was offered. “I want to work in a field I care about," she said. “Working for Sierra Club and for the Clean Energy Jobs Act gives me a chance to do something meaningful.”

“We’re so grateful to have Emilee part of our team!” said Caroline Wooten, lead organizer with the Illinois Chapter. “She always brings a positive attitude that elevates the mood of people around her. She’s smart, focused, and motivated to build a strong climate movement that creates room for everyone.”