BSP Leaders Initiative
After receiving his certification through BSP's Green Janitors Education Program (GJEP) and Infectious Disease Certification (IDC), Daniel Diaz, a Service by Medallion property service worker (janitor) for Facebook in Mountain View became the first to participate and complete 22 hours of BSP's Leaders Initiative program to become a BSP Peer Trainer for both programs!
“The opportunity that BSP gave me to participate in the GJEP Leaders initiative and to teach classes in the future, has been very important for my professional development because it is a space to explore and advance my skills,” says Daniel.
In Daniel’s BSP Leaders Initiative, he will conduct peer-to-peer training with fellow workers in GJEP curriculum, addressing energy efficiency, recycling, waste management, water conservation and other sustainable and green cleaning practices.
In partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council-Los Angeles (USGBC-LA), the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles (BOMA-GLA), and the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW), BSP developed the Green Janitor Education Program in 2014. The program is a qualified USGBC program through which janitors are accredited in green building cleaning practices to help meet the latest energy, water, and environmental sustainability standards.
As a BSP Peer Trainer also overseeing the IDC curriculum, Daniel will help train program participants in a comprehensive certification program that recognizes the need for continuous training and upskilling of workers in the property service industry.
Through the guidance and advisory of its partners, the SEIU-USWW, responsible janitorial employers, and workers, BSP created the Infectious Disease Certification Program that equips property service workers with the knowledge to protect their own health and safety and that of building occupants. BSP engaged subject matter experts - UCLA LOSH, UC Berkeley LOHP and The Ashkin Group.
Daniel Diaz, BSP Peer Trainer for GJEP and IDC programs
“In addition to learning the methodology that is required when teaching and transmitting knowledge to other people, these types of projects help to promote talents and discover skills in each of the workers, so it is very important that these types of opportunities continue to exist so that other janitors can also have the opportunity to become peer trainers and we can contribute to amplify the knowledge of janitors in the industry,” said Daniel.
BSP programs are designed to develop high-road industry-driven partnerships that provide equity, sustainability, and job quality through skills strategies designed to support economically and resilient communities. BSP programs include infectious disease certification, environmentally sustainable cleaning program, financial capabilities courses, English as a second language (ESL), digital literacy, citizenship & civic engagement, health and wellness, and parenting engagement programming.
BSP’s high-road programs are part of the California Workforce Development Board’s High Road Training Partnership, which is funded through California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health, and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.