The Toronto-based Trellis Fund has announced the latest in its annual series of grants to four women who are studying to enter Canada’s sustainability work force.

Now in its third year, Trellis is awarding $2,500 each to:

• Blessing Owama, pursuing a graduate diploma in social responsibility and sustainability at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, with a focus on building resilient, low-carbon communities by improving access to affordable and sustainable energy;

• Charlotte Maxwell, a Master of Applied Science candidate at the University of British Columbia, studying materials engineering to help decarbonize Canada’s aluminium, steel, and cement industries;

• Ellen McGuinty, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) candidate at Dalhousie University, combining marine research with environmental law and policy to support evidence-based decision-making and ocean ecosystem protection;

• Selamawit Cherye, pursuing a graduate certificate in insurance management at Toronto’s Humber Polytechnic to understand how climate change is reshaping risk, and the role of insurance in community adaptation.

“Women hold fewer than three in 10 jobs in Canada’s environmental and clean technology sector, even as demand for skilled workers continues to grow,” Trellis Fund founder Rebecca Black said in a release. The fund was created “to help increase that number—one student, one opportunity, and one career at a time.”

The release pointed to a recent research paper that “shows that without intentional changes towards inclusive work force systems—ones that recognize lived experience, redistribute opportunity, and embed care as a structural principle—the clean energy sector risks reproducing historical inequities that undermine both social legitimacy and the resilience of the work force needed for the energy transition.”

This year, Trellis is introducing a “bi-directional mentorship” program at next month’s Electricity Transformation Canada trade show in Toronto. The program will pair students and early-career professionals with experienced professionals for “a real conversation” on the show floor—not a tour, and not a workshop, the Trellis website says.