From sorting to strategy: Aaron Backs named Metro CERT Coordinator

Before his time in clean energy, college, and long before he’d heard of CERTs, Backs was a teenager in Pennsylvania looking for what came next.

“I was like, ‘Well, I don't know if I really want to go to college.’ So I figured I’d try working for a year,” he recalls.

Backs landed a job at a waste and recycling center in Manchester Township. He started out sorting recycled materials by hand and quickly moved up to operating forklifts, running the baler, and managing heavy machinery.

“It was hard manual labor and I was working nights. I think I knew within a week that I wanted to go to college,” he laughs.

During his year in recycling, Backs says he worked with people from all walks of life.

“It was such an eye-opening experience,” he recalls. “The majority of the people I worked with had been formerly incarcerated, and everyone was incredibly kind. They kept encouraging me to go to college.”

The experience didn’t just nudge him toward education, it instilled a lasting appreciation for the way systems work, and a deep respect for the people at the heart of those systems.

After being accepted to Macalester College, Backs moved to Minnesota and earned a degree in environmental studies and minored in political science.

“I just felt kind of embraced here,” he says. “In Minnesota there’s such an emphasis on community. Not just at work, but in how people live. That really keeps me here.”

Supported through his network at Macalester, he brought that sense of community into his work, gaining experience through community-based internships with Frogtown Green, Native Sun Community Power Development, and the Office of Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan.

When he applied to join GPI and CERTs as an AmeriCorps member nearly three years ago, CERTs Co-Director Diana McKeown, who has led the Metro region since 2007, saw something special.

“He had done internships with several clean energy organizations we partner with,” McKeown recalls. “He understood the energy landscape, had the smarts, and it was clear early on that he was deeply invested in this work.”

“Because of AmeriCorps, I was able to work with an amazing organization like CERTs and meet Diana,” Backs says. “She has been my mentor and is an incredible community champion.”

Backs officially joined the Great Plains Institute as Metro CERT’s Program Associate in July 2023 and never missed a beat.

“We hired him the day after his AmeriCorps service ended because he had become such a valuable part of our team,” McKeown says.