May 14, 2021

Leaders in Energy (LE) is committed to developing and guiding leaders for “The Big Green Shift.” We recognize that leadership has many faces and can exist in many places—at home, in the workplace, in our communities; leadership occurs on public stages and in our private lives.  We are delighted to welcome Jesse Colman as our first Leadership Program Director. 

Jesse is the founder of Impact Coaching, which brings sustainability to leadership and leadership to sustainability. He supports creative, energetic leaders to rise above the pressures around them to design their lives, companies and careers for the long term. His with individuals and teams focuses on making the planet and its inhabitants healthier, wealthier, and wiser.

Prior to working as a coach, he led high-impact consulting teams in demanding environments. He ensured financial due diligence for the U.S. Government’s largest purchase of renewable energy, worth over $300 million. Jesse structured and executed the U.S. Navy’s plan to meet presidential energy targets. He managed a portfolio of Department of Defense energy investments worth $150 million annually. Jesse was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 2006 to 2008. At other times, he drove an ambulance, taught first grade, and he studied in Kenya. He enjoys skiing, SCUBA diving, and hiking long distances in far-flung places. He holds a Master's degree in environmental management from Duke University and a Bachelor's degree in economics from McGill University.

CWEEL's Career Advancement Four-Part Webinar Series (May 5, May 19, June 5, and June 16) will examine emerging initiatives and trends in technology, policy, etc. including the Biden Administration, e.g. American Jobs Plan, American Rescue Plan, and other efforts to help guide people in their prospective career moves and opportunities in the future.

The second session is focuses on opportunities related to transportation including electric vehicles, public transit, and more on May 19th at 3:30 PM EDT and will feature several dynamic speakers:

Panelists:

At our next Circular Economy Working Group (CEWG) on Wednesday, May 26th, from 6-8 pm EDT, we will examine case studies on other cities that are developing circularity programs. This information will be used as input in formulating a Building Back Circular roadmap for the DMV.

City case studies and CWEG presenters are:

Charlotte, North Carolina - Marty Silber, LE Development and Fundraising Director and Chair of the Green Finance Pillar/Working Group

Phoenix, Arizona - Linda Mansdorf, LE Director of Volunteers

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Nivruti Sridhar, Vice-Chair of the LE Circular Economy Group

Glasgow, Scotland - Lara Ilao, Chair of LE CWEG

Paris, France - Janine Finnell, LE Executive Director

The Circular Economy Working Group (CEWG) is currently working on expanding its presence in the DMV region and is planning on instituting the following three committees to help accelerate its goals. We would ideally like to have 8-10 members per committee, and would love for more volunteers to sign up!

The purpose of this committee is to contribute to the planning and implementation of future CEWG meetings. The Planning Committee will also responsible for helping to identify prominent speakers and coming up with creative discussion topics for our future sessions.

Leaders in Energy recently received a grant from Siemens Energy towards developing a circular economy roadmap for the DMV region. This committee will be responsible for conducting research on circular economy implementation models in other global cities, applying that know-how to the DMV region, conducting technical and financial analyses, and eventually presenting our findings to local governmental bodies and municipalities to engage external stakeholders in this effort.

This committee will be involved in exploring the five basic circular economy business models (i.e., circular supplies, resource recovery, product life extension, sharing platforms, and product as a service) in greater detail, and will work to develop small scale circular economy projects of interest for CEWG members. This group will also be instrumental in accelerating the implementation of these models within the DMV region.

Send a note to Nivruti (Niv) Sridhar, our CEWG Vice Chair, to let her know which committee or committees you are interested in serving on.

We had a great Climate/Green Finance Working Group meeting on April 29th with guest speaker Holly Andreozzi from Bank of America. 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.

The next Working Group Meeting is on June 17th from 5 to 6 pm EDT where we will be discussing the topic of ESG Reporting Frameworks. Please join us. To sign-up for the meeting, contact Marty Silber, Leaders in Energy, Chair of the Climate Finance Working Group.

The past year’s COVID experiences have highlighted the need for inclusive resiliency plans that integrate health, social, and economic concerns with ever-increasing climate change impacts. This conference, from Resilient Virginia, will bring national and local perspectives on solutions being formulated to address vulnerabilities while moving forward to create a more economically sound and equitable future.

LE is partnering with Resilient Virginia to conduct the Green Jobs Forum and Career Fair at the conference. Sponsor, Exhibitor, and Career Fair Opportunities are now open!

Director, Energy and Sustainability Programs, ICF

Principal, Renewable Energy Partnerships, Amazon Web Services

Director - Energy Security and Climate Change Program, The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Director Operational Systems, American Forest Foundation