Mentorship Program
To advance the diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) objectives of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (Public Act 102-0662 or “CEJA”), and reflecting the Illinois Power Agency’s own commitment to DEI, CEJA directed the Agency to establish an Equity Accountability System, which established:
In addition, CEJA established several monitoring, reporting, and facilitation requirements to support the assessment of the Equity Accountability System. One such requirement is providing training, guidance, and support for Approved Vendors and Designees to meet the requirements of the MES and participate in the EEC category.
In order to help Approved Vendors and Designees meet these requirements and successfully participate in the Illinois Shines program, a Mentorship Program is offered annually. The Mentorship Program provides participants, or mentees, with training and presentations covering Program processes and requirements. It also facilitates opportunities to network with other market stakeholders.
Approved Vendors and Designees that are certified as Equity Eligible Contractors and/or are minority-owned, woman-owned, veteran-owned, disability-owned, or are considered small businesses are encouraged to apply.
A project category hub provides additional information and resources for Equity Eligible Contractors, and additional Illinois Shines support can be accessed by contacting Conner Rettig, Equity Eligible Contractor Sector Strategist, at [email protected] or the Program Administrator team at [email protected].
Small & Emerging Business Guide
The Illinois Power Agency launched the Small & Emerging Business Hub as an effort to centralize key resources, tools, and information in one place to help small businesses navigate the clean energy landscape seamlessly. A Small and Emerging Business’s Guide to Participating with Illinois Shines and Illinois Solar for All is available.
Mentorship Program Details & Resources
Program Year 2024-25 Mentorship Program
The Mentorship Program for the 2024-25 Program Year was held from January 6 to March 3, 2025 for 20 Approved Vendors and Designees participating as mentees. In addition, 11 experienced Approved Vendors and Designees participated as mentors by sharing insights on solar industry topics with mentees during virtual trainings. A final report will be published on this Program Year’s Mentorship Program by May 2025. The following resources from the Program Year 2024-25 Mentorship Program are available here:
| Course | Lesson | Date | Recording | Slide Deck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Shines Program Overview | History of Illinois Shines | January 13, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| How Illinois Shines Works | January 13, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Program Participant Roles | January 13, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Approved Vendor (AV) Registration and Renewal | January 13, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Designee Registration and Renewal | January 13, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Program Categories | January 13, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Application Processes and Portal Deep Dive Part 1 | Part I and II Application Timeline | January 27, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| Application Review Process | January 27, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| REC Contracting and Re-Batching | January 27, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Creating a Batch | January 27, 2025 | Recording | N/A | |
| Creating a Disclosure Form | January 27, 2025 | Recording | N/A | |
| Submitting a Part I Application | January 27, 2025 | Recording | N/A | |
| Expansions, Co-Locations, and Size Changes | January 27, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Application Processes and Portal Deep Dive Part 2 | Block Capacity Dashboard and Waitlist Procedures | February 3, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| Energization and Extensions | February 3, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| TCS and CDCS Scoring | February 3, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Submitting a Part II Application | February 3, 2025 | Recording | N/A | |
| Requesting an Advance of Capital | February 3, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Ongoing Program Requirements Part 1 | Minimum Equity Standard (MES) | February 10, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| Annual Reporting and REC Performance Evaluation | February 10, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Prevailing Wage Requirements | February 10, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Overview of SharePoint | February 10, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Ongoing Program Requirements Part 2 | Inspection Process | February 17, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| Community Solar Subscriber Verification | February 17, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Designee Management Plan | February 17, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Marketing Best Practices and Consumer Protection | Consumer Protection Overview | February 24, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| Marketing Overview | February 24, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck | |
| Program Resources and Ongoing Support | Website Overview | March 3, 2025 | Recording | N/A |
| Ongoing Support | March 3, 2025 | Recording | Slide Deck |
Program Year 2023-24 Mentorship Pilot Program
In 2023, the IPA developed a Mentorship Plan for Approved Vendors (AVs) and Designees that are Equity Eligible Contractors (EECs) and/or woman-owned, veteran-owned, disability-owned, or are considered small businesses with the goal of supporting new Program participants in understanding Program requirements and application procedures.
In October 2023 the Program launched a mentorship pilot to a cohort of 12 mentees, offering eight weeks of Program training that concluded in December 2023. Please see the Mentorship Pilot Program Final Report (March 1, 2024) for details. The following resources from the Program Year 2023 Mentorship Pilot Program are made available here:
| Presentation | Date | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 1. Illinois Shines Program Overview Part 1 | October 23, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 2. Illinois Shines Program Overview Part 2 | October 30, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 3. Application Processing & Portal Deep Dive Part 1 | November 6, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 3.1 Expansions, Co-Locations & Size Changes | November 6, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 3.2 REC Contracting | November 6, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 4. Application Processing & Portal Deep Dive Part 2 | November 13, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 4.1 Part II Project Submission Tutorial | November 13, 2023 | Recording | |
| 5. Ongoing Program Requirements Part 1 | November 27, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 6. Ongoing Program Requirements Part 2 | December 4, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 6.1 Navigating SharePoint | December 4, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 7. Marketing Best Practices and Consumer Protection | December 11, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
| 8. Program Resources and Ongoing Opportunities | December 18, 2023 | Recording | Slide Deck |
