On the 18th and 19th of October 2012, The Emerald Cities Collaborative, a DC based national non-profit organization committed to building a new green economy for America, participated in a series of panel discussions hosted by Berkeley City College. Charles Neal, Energy and Environmental Sustainability Manager for the Peralta School District was instrumental in reaching out to this exciting collaborative, and the event was a huge success thanks to the hard work of the organizers and the informed speakers, including key note speaker Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.