For decades, Rick Held has been instigating visionary and practical leadership at the intersection of economic, environmental, and racial justice and equity, primarily in Knoxville, but also across Tennessee and Appalachia. After years as a community organizer and executive director at various economic justice organizations, Rick went back to school to get a “real job.” He taught U.S. Government and Economics at inner-city Knoxville schools, until Great Recession cutbacks put him back on Knoxville’s streets. Rick returned to work with at-risk youth, building outreach programs to increase energy affordability and climate resilience in disadvantaged communities. Through his consulting practice, RealTime Strategies, Rick has engaged labor unions, inner city churches and the University of Tennessee, to partner with frontline community-based organizations, culminating in 2024 with Knoxville RESET – an historic coalition developing justice-informed economic development and clean energy projects. Rick is presently the Program Director for Knoxville RESET Apprenticeship Readiness Program, which just graduated and placed its first cohort into union building trades apprenticeships, to stand up a skilled, well-compensated workforce embedded in Knoxville’s disadvantaged communities.