How can other women get involved and become leaders in this field? And, can they do it without leaving their jobs?
A lot of my discourse over the past couple of years has been focused on redefining the climate tech operator. Historically operators have been identified as the product lead, engineer, or head of marketing. While all of these roles are key to climate innovation teams there are also a lof of other roles that people don’t think about and what I’ve coined as redefining the climate operator. These roles include procurement specialist, zoning experts, permit expediters, creatives, policy wonks, project financiers, storytellers, and so many more. This matters because while yes there is a need to support the workforce in learning about the space and there are groups and courses focused on this like
Work On Climate,
Terra.do,
Climatebase and
My Climate Journey, majority of the talent the industry needs has transferable skills and expertise that just need to be applied in our field. This of course includes women!
What is your one big idea of the moment that you’d love people to adopt?
My one big idea is the one I’m working on right now that I mentioned earlier in this interview but to expand more and be a bit more concrete.
The latter is important because it is one of the most challenging valley of deaths that founders building climatetech solutions have to navigate in large part due to the fact that the financing world has yet to catch up to the moment we’re in.
What does this mean for executives? As billions of dollars come online in the next couple of years with a goal to fund our way to net zero, it is important that we don’t miss the moment to advance first-of-its-kind funding vehicles and deployment models for technologies and thus all of our success. Data can inform the identification and use of existing infrastructure owned by the public and private sectors, the costs of development and ways that corporates and financiers can offset these costs while taking advantage of their upside.
What are you paying attention to this week, this month and this year.
All things IRA, this a huge moment for the massive scale, adoption and deployment solutions. Whether you are interstesed from a b2b or direct to consumer angle, the Inflation Reduction Act has something to offer everyone and every company. As the federal, state and local government gear up to deploy that capital make sure that you’re paying close attention to where your existing operations are and how to leverage the funding to cut costs while you simultaneous advance your sustainability goals.
What women do you admire around you who are changing how you think and work?
So many but to name a few: Amy Duffor at Azolla Ventures, Katie Hoffman and Olivia Dell at Regeneration VC, Nneka at Aligned Climate Capital who is also the founder of GreenTech Noir, Christina Wheatley at Generation and Mia Diawara.
Founders that inspire me in climatetech include Lacey Reddix, founder of Olokun Minerals, Tinia Pina, Founder & CEO of Re-Nuble, Wanona Satcher, CEO of Mākhers Studio, and Melissa Zhang, Co-founder of Rockfix. They are all women I’ve had the opportunity to support on their entrepreneurial journeys and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to keep cheering them on.
What is one product you cannot live without or would highly recommend?
My Stojo reusable water bottle. I know it’s on brand but also so convenient. The best part about is that it collapses and if you’re consistently on the go and changing bags frequently it’s nice to have a water bottle that can fit in almost any bag.
What is one word or idea you are focused on in the year ahead?
Creation, I’m aiming to spend a huge chunk of this year tapping into the right side of the brain. I think my left side has enough!
I started off 2023 in a painting class and am excited to see how I express myself with drawings, imagings, sculptures, pottery and whatever else I get my hands on outside of the science, technology and finance that I’m so used to. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know.