Climate Careers: Gonzalo Filomeno

Gonzalo Filomeno knew he wanted to expand access to climate jobs but wasn’t sure how to break into the field. Based in Buenos Aires, Gonzalo observed significant expansion in the climate sector of the job market but noticed that Latin America was lagging behind other countries in terms of access to this growing sector. This inspired him to start Carreras En Clima (Careers in Climate), a platform designed to help match people with work opportunities in the climate sector. Gonzalo had been familiar with Idealist from its job opportunities postings, and realized that it could be a perfect fit for helping him with his idea. He said that because of Idealist’s wide-reaching network, he felt like it would be a big boost in getting this specific project off the ground.

Upon learning about our program, Gonzalo signed up and met with one of our coaches to help with his idea. He described his session as not only crucial to the project itself but also to his overall morale. He shared, “I didn’t know how to continue creating the project. I had a bit of experience developing projects, but not in the climate area.” During his session, he worked through the initial details of launching his program. He described the meeting as “inspiring” and shared that it provided him with a great deal of clarity about how to articulate his goals and get started. He said, “Basically, our conversation was ‘Well, how can I know if this is important or not?’ And ‘How can I make something valuable?’” His experience was so positive, in fact, that he ended up recommending it to several friends in similar stages of development with an initiative.

He said his goal for the organization remains to expand access to jobs in the climate sector, both by making global postings available in Spanish (to reduce language barrier issues) and by building an online database of local climate-centric opportunities in Latin America. He pitched the idea to several people and began expanding his plans, integrating his original concept with his professional background in product management. Gonzalo started “creating content” about climate jobs with a specific focus on products, all the while looking at some climate-focused groups to work with. He succeeded in his search and is now an ambassador for Climate Product Leaders. Discussing the experience, he said, “I joined them to translate their content from the U.S. or Europe, their playbook and tools, to Latin America. That is my professional area, so I’m mixing a bit of my professional life with this climate transition work.” He shared that what has brought him the most joy in his work is the sheer amount of interest the project has generated from potential collaborators, some of whom he had never met before.

When asked what advice he would give to people interested in community initiatives, Gonzalo said, “Look for an excuse to talk with people. Talk a lot. It’s not just about looking online for an open position; it’s all the small pieces of a lot of tasks.” Emphasizing the importance of preparation, he continued, “I was around one year just preparing the project, connecting with people. It was like a daily routine, looking for job positions, sharing, talking with people.” From where Gonzalo is sitting now, it is clear that all of that talking has paid off.

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Want to hear more stories about people making a difference? Here is the story of two dynamic individuals, Ismail and Roopal, who met, connected, and collaborated to establish a community organization in Uganda.