April 30, 2021

Leaders in Energy (LE) events have provided a vital forum for more than 80 businesses--including 18 Arlington businesses to further their economic viability. This includes displaying their sustainable products at our Clean Energy & Sustainability Extravaganzas, meeting with other businesses, consumers, and members of our community to help expand the green economy; facilitating their efforts to find green talent at our Job Forums; and providing a platform for presenting to our community about their products/services or advances in the field of sustainability.

The unique ecosystem that is Arlington County reinforces the values that our organization represents, enabling us to connect with a diverse range of individuals and organizations across our expansive field of sustainability, from technology companies to fellow nonprofit organizations, from government agencies to international bodies. These connections are invaluable to us in both continuing to build our membership and enhance the impact of our programs.

We are excited that we are continuing to bring in new talent and creativity to our LE team!

Katherine (Kathy) Manger is joining Leaders in Energy as its Deputy Director for Training and Development. Kathy’s passion is promoting energy efficiency and sustainability in addressing climate change. She is motivated by and takes pride that the Earth is a little better off with each project she completes. She brings over 30 years of experience conducting and managing projects for public and private sector clients. Integrating geologic, engineering, economics, and public policy, these projects evaluated energy and environmental issues related to implementing energy, environmental, and climate change policy. Ms. Manger most recently worked in the

private sector leading teams that developed energy efficiency projects in the Mid-Atlantic and South (PA, MD, NC, GA). These resulted in more than $2M in annual utility savings for institutions of higher education, and state and local governments.

Francois Giraud is joining Leaders in Energy as its Digital Marketing Director and Chair of its Social Media Committee. Born and educated in France, he was working on his doctorate in the Physics and Chemistry of Air Pollution when he moved away from science to pursue a Masters in marketing. This was a calculated decision to bring a scientific mindset to a creative industry that had fascinated him for as long as he had appreciated the value of a strong brand. Twenty-five years later, that decision has been repaid with the opportunity to live and work in several countries (France, the Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom and the US), applying his marketing skills to industries as diverse as telecommunications, IT, energy and professional services. After fifteen years spent in London, Francois and his family settled down in Bethesda, Maryland in early 2019, when his wife was offered a great career opportunity in an international organization. Since living here, Francois has been refocusing his career path back to his first interest, i.e. sustainability and climate change.

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 first session is on May 5th at 3:30 PM EDT and will feature several dynamic speakers:

Panelists:

The decline of biodiversity is a major threat to our survival on Earth, affecting, for example, our ability to feed the growing world population. Please join a panel of guest speakers at a Climate Conversation Sunday: Biodiversity on May 16, 2021, 2:00 PM EDT who will discuss this critical topic: Dr. Tom Lovejoy of George Mason University, the world-famous biologist and environmental advocate and educator who coined the term “biological diversity;” and Mr. Kevin Coyle, counsel to the President and CEO at the National Wildlife Federation and a long-time environmental educator.

RCC Fellows become leaders and active participants in the RCC’s national campus program with over 5,000 active faculty, students, staff and administrators at 57 campuses. As part of the RCC team, Fellows also help build RCC’s network of active students and faculty and publish and speak on behalf of a respected national organization.

RCC Fellows receive a $2,000 stipend for their work during the academic year and attend a 2–3-day summer training program with their cohort hosted by RCC staff to sharpen their writing, advocacy and organizing skills. RCC Fellows will also develop critical contacts and experience, joining an RCC alumni network as they look forward to careers as engaged environmental leaders.

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. We have a great group of people who are enthusiastic about contributing to circular economy initiatives, and we hope to keep the group engaged through various types of sessions and social events in the future (for example, happy hours, river clean-ups, tours of facilities, are all activities this group has done or planned in the past.) 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.

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

Terra.do is offering a four-week course on hydrogen and the energy transition!

There are three main reasons to participate!

1) The program is for all energy professionals.

2) The program will help you expand your energy transition network

3) The program will allow you to uncover real business opportunities in a new and exciting market!

In a new LinkedIn article, George Anders analyzes the 9.5 million people that work in the United States' green economy and finds that much of the growth is in "nontraditional" green jobs like customer service representative or sales specialist. That is because being able to support the business success of a green company "doesn't necessarily require a degree in environmental science." There are many pathways into the green economy!

Nature Based Solutions & Climate Private Sector Lead, World Resources Institute

Policy Specialist - Energy and Climate, AFL-CIO

Deputy Climate and Environment Editor (Finance), The Washington Post

Sustainability Program Manager, Carbon, Facebook