When organizers at Carnegie Mellon University and Phipps Conservatory began planning an event to help students learn about the spectrum of jobs involved in sustainability, they wanted it to be different than a career fair.
“We wanted to create an environment where employers can take a little more time, talk about their own experiences, their advice and what opportunities they may have available,” said Aleena Siddiqui, Programming Intern with CMU’s Sustainability Initiative, which co-hosted Careers for a Changing Climate with Phipps’ Youth Climate Advocacy Committee. “I think a career fair is a more formal setting where I’m going to get dressed up, get my resume printed, and go pitch myself.”
Planning an agenda with broad appeal is a tall order, particularly with attendees ranging from high school to college and graduate students. Feedback so far, however, suggests the planners’ instincts were spot on. The February event was barely over when the high schoolers from her program told Jennifer Torrance, Coordinator of Phipps’ Youth Climate Advocacy Committee “how much they really liked it.”
“They loved that they could choose the different sessions and go to the ones that felt most relevant to them,” she said. “And they loved getting to talk to employers and hear about what sorts of career opportunities were available in Pittsburgh.”
Some 17 employers participated and registrations overshot capacity by more than 50. A little more than a third of the 115 students whose registrations could be accommodated were in high school. The rest were from the region’s colleges and universities, including CMU.
Held at Phipps, the event kicked off with a keynote from the Green Building Alliance’s Vice President of Education, Leslie Montgomery, and featured three breakout sessions followed by table discussions where students and employers talked informally. The breakouts delved into what sustainability careers might look like in disciplines ranging from communications to international engagement, university student engagement, research, environmental law, education, and government. Students in the Phipps Climate Advocacy Program also offered a breakout on their own work in climate advocacy and action as well as the partnerships they’ve built to do it.
Torrance said her students were thrilled to host one of the breakouts. Presenting alongside established professionals “was really a unique experience for them—it was awesome.”
The event built on one CMU hosted on its own last year. The 2025 event, Pathways to Impact, was for college and graduate students only. Partnering with Phipps brought high schoolers into the mix this year. Phipps and CMU are already beginning planning for another in 2027, Torrance said.
Siddiqui, who graduates this spring from CMU’s College of Engineering, said she was delighted to help them get career exposure before they graduate. “I think it’s great that they can have conversations so early to learn more about what careers could look like and what opportunities are even available,” she said. “For me as a high schooler, that’s not something that really existed.”
