A pioneer in Minnesota’s solar industry is attempting to replicate a green economic justice blueprint in the state’s largest African American community.
Ralph Jacobson founded the solar firm Impact Power Solutions (IPS) in 1991 and was its CEO until 2019, when he shifted into a role focused on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. Jacobson, who is white, has been working with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians for a few years on a crowdfunded solar, microgrid and jobs training project in northern Minnesota.
