April 16, 2021

Bethesda Green’s Innovation Lab Incubator program supports new entrepreneurs through the hurdles of early-stage business development. Leaders in Energy has a number of its community members pitching their companies at the upcoming 4/29 event. Our very own Circular Economy Working Group (CWEG) Chair, Lara Ilao, is participating in the program with her company, PlasticTree, which is a circular logistics company based in DC whose core mission is to reduce production of new plastic through reuse. Her cohorts, who recently presented at our March CEWG meeting, include Jesse Owens, Founder and CEO of Greenlist which enables peer-to-peer returns, and Shawn Hutchinson, the CEO, and founder of Universal Schedule, developing ways to buy local through a platform that supports local businesses.

During this event on April 29th, participants will have a chance to network with Innovation Lab members and hear about the great companies they are building to address environmental and social challenges. US Senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland, who has sponsored the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act on carbon trading and supports a Green New Deal, will provide opening remarks.

Nivruti (Niv) Sridhar is a sustainability enthusiast - she has had extensive experience in the energy and sustainable construction sectors and has been an enthusiastic follower of Leaders in Energy since 2015. As a child, she lived in India - one of the world's fastest-growing economies - and has witnessed firsthand the negative environmental impact of rapid urbanization and development, which prompted her to dedicate her career to sustainable development. Her academic and professional pursuits have always embodied the concept of sustainability and resource efficiency. Over the past 6 years, she has enabled several global construction teams to become more sustainable and has led a large energy transformation program in India, and envisions continuing her passion for sustainable transformation through her role as the Vice Chair for the Circular Economy Working Group. She is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and graduates next month.

We are very appreciative of Gabriella (Gaby) Seltzer for all of her contributions to the CEWG as the former Vice-Chair as well as her excellent facilitation at a number of our annual events including our Green Jobs Forum and Four Generations of Leaders Awards. We wish her the best of luck with her graduate studies in San Francisco and related pursuits.

Gaby states: "I am sad to leave my position as Vice Chair of the CEWG, which has provided me with so much learning, connecting, and community. I am choosing to focus more on my work with DC Central Kitchen's Healthy Corners program as we expand our community involvement (just this week we launched the first-ever WIC-authorized corner stores in DC!). This summer I will also be moving to San Franciso for graduate school. I will be pursuing Presidio Graduate School's dual MBA and MPA degree in sustainable solutions, focusing on multisector coalition building. I am so grateful to Leaders in Energy for all the professional development opportunities, which I will carry with me into the future."

CEWG's next meeting is on April 28th, from 6-8 pm EDT! We will announce our speaker(s) shortly on our CEWG and event pages. We will be focusing on food waste and zero-waste cooking!

We had an amazing Climate/Green Finance Working Group meeting on March 25th. The purpose of the group is to further collaborate on opportunities to develop financing frameworks, tools, and platforms focused on increasing investment in renewable energy and sustainability to the Mid-Atlantic region. At the meeting, we discussed the topic of ESG investing and opportunity zones.

The next Climate Finance Working Group Meeting is on April 29th, from 5-6 pm EDT where we will be discussing the topic of "Bank Initiatives", that target servicing and financing renewable energy/sustainability projects and companies. Please join us.

Please join OEP for its upcoming webinar, "The State of Energy Finance." The event is co-hosted by Citi and will feature an expert panel discussing how the project finance market is evolving and the relevant policy issues. Speakers are Edward Morse (Moderator), Managing Director, Global Head of Commodity Research, Citigroup, Jonathan Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Direct Catherine L. Mann, Global Chief Economist, and Citigroup Inosi Nyatta, Co-Head, Global Project Development & Finance Group, Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP.

On April 20th and 21st, the Association of Energy Engineers is back with a new conference! Participants will be able to choose tracks based on their interests. You can learn more about anything from the energy basics to Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development! On April 21st, the Council on Women in Energy and Environmental Leadership (CWEEL) has two sessions: a keynote address and a focus on women-owned businesses in energy!

Join White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, World Resources Institute, the Blue Green Alliance, AFL-CIO, Ørsted and E2 on April 19th for a lively conversation about the urgent need for big investments in our clean energy infrastructure to put Americans to work and ensure everyone is lifted up in a transition to a prosperous, 21st century economy.

From April 20th through 21st, the conference will focus on the recent changes in the US energy space with a renewed focus on mitigating climate change. Speakers will focus on meeting net-zero goals, challenges with energy forecasting, the fossil fuel industry, and energy sector resilience.

Fairfax's Unitarian Universalist Congregation's Climate Action Group is hosting a fourth climate conversation with youth activists! The event is sponsored by environmental groups like 350 Fairfax and the Climate Reality Project. Join at 1:30 PM EST on April 18th to learn from these amazing changemakers!

Marketing and Research Intern, Energy Shrink

Director - Energy Security and Climate Change Program, Center For Strategic And International Studies

Program Coordinator, Global Climate, Environmental Defense Fund