Margaret Nelson started Evergreen Valley College’s Automotive Program not long after high school. Five years later, she’s the one teaching Tesla technicians.
Her path ran through the Tesla START Program — an apprenticeship-style pipeline that took her from a second certificate directly into a technician role with Tesla in the Bay Area. From there, she kept climbing: additional certifications, a spot on an engineering team, and now a role as a technical instructor training the next generation of Tesla technicians.
This is exactly the kind of pathway BACCC works to strengthen regionally — a direct line from a community college certificate program, through an employer-run apprenticeship, into a durable, well-paying career in advanced transportation. The collaboration between Evergreen Valley College and the local workforce development board is part of what made that line as short and clear as it was for Margaret.
“Her drive and pleasant, positive attitude have opened the doors to her pathways to success,” says Mark Bernbeck, Automotive Faculty and Tesla START Program Coordinator at Evergreen Valley College. Margaret’s trajectory — student, technician, engineering team member, instructor — is a model of what a well-built apprenticeship pathway can do in just a few years.