The Cypress Freeway collapse in West Oakland killed 42 people and devastated a neighborhood that had long opposed the overpass. In the aftermath, residents lobbied to relocate the freeway and build Mandela Parkway in its footprint, and they established the training center to ensure local residents could participate in the rebuilding and secure well-paying jobs.

Today, the center offers a free, four-month pre-apprenticeship program that teaches the basics of construction, plumbing, carpentry, concrete, and electricity. Cohorts of 40 to 80 participants come from as far as Sacramento and Salinas, and range from recent high school graduates to formerly incarcerated individuals. The program runs like a bootcamp: participants wear khaki uniforms and hard-toed boots, begin each day with an hourlong workout, and face push-ups for infractions like an untucked shirt or dozing in class.

"Lines are straight. Everything is neat," said Charles E. Simmons Jr., the center's executive director. "We have a saying here: We don't build suffice, we build superior. I don't want your half, I want your best."

The tough-love approach is intentional, reflecting the real-world dangers of trades that have some of the highest injury and fatality rates in California. "This is not a game. You're dealing with life and death situations here," Simmons said.

California is expected to add roughly 12,000 electrician jobs by 2034, a 15% increase, many driven by the state's transition away from fossil fuels. Workforce programs like Cypress Mandela are essential for bringing low-income and minority trainees into the fold, experts say, to avoid repeating historical patterns of disparity.

"The patterns of disparity and inequity are basically going to be reproduced when we do anything clean energy-wise, unless we approach it differently," said Shrayas Jatkar, who worked for the U.S. Department of Energy under the Biden administration.

For graduates interested in becoming electricians, one path is an apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 595. Each year, roughly 3,000 people apply for 50 to 75 slots, said Jason Bates, who directs the training. But Cypress Mandela participants get a leg up: they skip the math and reading comprehension test and receive interview training.

"It's just like riding a bike. The first time you ride a bike, you're not very good. But when you practice riding a bike, you get better and better until your training wheels are off," Bates said.

The center also partners with PG&E, East Bay Municipal Utility District, BART, and local contractors. Roughly one-third of the most recent cohort was employed before the program finished, said Crystal McDowell, the center's office manager.

Jessie Hammerling, director of the Green Economy Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, said successful green workforce programs teach a wide range of skills, respond to market demands, and educate students about job quality and union representation. In construction, "most of the jobs are really bifurcated" between family-sustaining work and jobs that barely make ends meet, she said.

For trainees like Alejandro Ramos, who discovered a love for hands-on work after reassembling a desk to fit his gaming system, the program has been transformative. "It really pushes you to do better for yourself," he said.

As California ramps up its clean energy buildout, the Cypress Mandela Training Center stands as a model for how to ensure the transition creates good jobs for the communities that need them most.