This Week in MCJ (11/14/20)
This Week in MCJ (11/14/20)
Things are darkest just before the dawn.
Hey everyone,
Well, it’s a pretty weird time in the US right now!
COVID cases are skyrocketing. The country is incredibly polarized. There is a massive disinformation campaign going on. Main Street is suffering, and is in for more economic pain as the pandemic continues to ravage us. And we have two divergent paths. On the one hand, we have a President-elect poised to put us on a better one…
And on the other, we have a potential constitutional crisis looming, with a sitting President who clearly lost, is refusing to concede, and a meaningful percentage of the GOP and the population at-large who somehow still support him. While I can’t rule it out, I feel pretty good that Trump is not going to retain power. But I am extremely worried about the place we are in as a country, and the path forward from here.
While only tangentially related, I can’t help but draw parallels between the pickle we are in as a country and the pickle we are in as a species. We have been living in a way that is out of balance with the planet, which is putting the fates of all of us humans in jeopardy. But each of us is so wrapped up in looking out for our own short-term self interest that we are having trouble taking the bold moves we need to take collectively to put us on a better path overall. And just like what is happening with Trump and the GOP, the people that are reaping the most rewards from the unsustainable path we are on and have the most to lose are the ones who are fighting the hardest to avoid allowing us to get on a better one.
I am really not sure how all of this plays out. But no matter what happens, our work has never been more important. In any scenario, we just need to keep kicking really hard, and doing the best we can. With more tailwind, we still have our work cut out for us. And with more headwind, we still have our work cut out for us. All we can do is leave it all out on the field.
I am an optimist that things will get better, and I can feel the winds of change. But I am also eager to get out of this limbo we are in and start marching more assertively on the path of progress. I guess you can argue this turmoil is progress, as it is the natural turbulence that comes as the system starts to digest the inevitable change that is coming. But it will sure feel great when we are around the corner and starting to accelerate once again.
It feels less lonely to be on this journey with all of you, so thank you. I have great optimism that, in any scenario, the MCJ community can/will be a major force of change and progress. You already are!
Jason
📼Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
Episode 130: David Hardy, CEO of Offshore NA at Ørsted
This week’s guest is David Hardy, CEO of Offshore NA at Ørsted.
A Danish energy company, Ørsted is the world's largest developer of offshore wind power. Having served as President and COO, David was recently appointed CEO of Offshore NA, leading its mission to expand offshore wind industry in North America.
Before joining Ørsted, David was in the US Navy and worked at General Electric in sales. In the late 2000s, David started working in wind energy and power in sales at Vestas in the US and then at Senvion in Germany. In 2018, he was appointed Executive Director of Senvion. Moving back to the US this year, David found his next position at Ørsted where he was President & COO of Offshore Wind US. In late October 2020, David assumed the role of CEO of Offshore NA at Ørsted. He has dedicated most of career to wind energy and production in Europe but is eager to create a thriving industry in the US.
We have a great discussion in this episode about the history of offshore wind, its penetration to date, the differences between the markets in Europe and the US, the path forwards, and an in-depth discussion about how these projects work and what goes into making them happen.
Enjoy the show!
📼Climate Tech Startup Series (CTSS)
CTSS is a series for members, where we feature founders of early-stage companies, sharing their startup’s business and mission. Members can check out our recent episode below and find an updated list here.
🎧 This week we are testing an audio option for the Climate Tech Startup Series. You’ll be able to watch or listen to the episode. Let us know what you think!
CTSS Episode 17: MilkRun with CEO & Founder, Julia Niiro
MilkRun is a weekly-subscription service for local produce, breads, meats, dairy, and eggs to be delivered directly from local farmers to your door. Currently, food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it gets to a grocery store in the U.S., and farmers only see 10% of every dollar. MilkRun's goal is to redistribute money to farmers and keep food local. They are making it easy for consumers to support their community farmers and provide a better and easier way to shop.
MilkRun CEO & Founder, Julia Niiro, walks me through her farming origins and how MilkRun got started. We talk about the problem of food waste, the struggles of local farmers, and MilkRun’s vision for a better way.
MilkRun's delivery service is available in Seattle, Portland, & Austin. It’s coming soon to Dallas, Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, and New York. I can’t wait for it to come to Boston!
🔨 MCJ Make-a-thon
A group of MCJers recently had its first planning meeting to discuss organizing a “Make-a-thon.” The intent is to foster new ideas, projects and collaboration within the community. We invite fellow members to participate in the planning; if you’re interested, feel free to join the ongoing conversation in the #make-a-thon channel. You can also find the notes from the meeting here and a recording here.
👋 Welcome New MCJers!
Below are new members who joined the community and introduced themselves in the past week. You can learn more about them on #introductions, where you can welcome them to the community.
A warm welcome to the MCJ Community!
Dan Myers: Currently, running Flair, a company that focuses on lowering residential energy consumption, electrification and DR/DSM through HVAC control. He looking to connect with potential customers, partners, and investors.
Frederic Clerc: Currently a Program Director at Carbon to Value. He founded the non-profit, Climatable. He is Boston based and is looking forward to connecting with members.
Kelson Reiss: Currently a Project Manager at DropBox, Kelson recently graduated Vanderbilt where he studied Computer Science and Philosophy. Kelson is looking forward to the hackathon and to get involved with MCJ projects.
Tsung Xu: Co-Founder of a stealth EdTech startup in the interview prep space. Tsung previously was working in UX research. He’s looking forward to meeting others especially people interested in building GHG-reducing solutions that don’t require behavior change.
Ravi Mulani: Currently working in Corporate Development and Strategy Finance at Credit Karma. His background is in investment banking, investing, and tech strategy. Ravi is looking to dive into climate work. He’s interested in the intersection of climate and finance and connecting with people in that space.
Mike Kelly: Mike’s background is in fund investing at VC and PEs. He is looking for opportunities in the impact and sustainable investing. Mike is hoping to connect with MCJers who are focused on climate investing.
Conner Lachenbruch: Currently working at an impact investing venture capital firm based in Africa. Through MCJ, he is hoping to better understand and support solutions to help preserve the environment.
Jamie Alexander: Currently the Director of Drawdown Labs at Project Drawdown. Jamie’s expertise is in corporate GHG target setting, climate policy advocacy and employee activism. She is looking forward to connecting with MCJers.
🌲 What You’re Building
Merrill Feather is working on helping more folks work on climate. Through MCJ, she found her partner Kristen Winzent and started The Regenerates, a marketing consulting company focused on building awareness and traction for climate solutions. She’s taken pen to paper and written a Medium article. Check out her full slack post here.
Check out Mark Tercek’s The Instigator newsletter. This week is about how to Take the Leap: How to Launch Your Own Personal Environmental Game Plan, and it includes a great shout-out to MCH (thank you, Mark!).
📚 Startup Resources
The annual MIT ClimateTech & Energy Prize (CEP) just opened its application window. Student ventures compete for a $100K cash prize. See the CEP website for details: https://cep.mit.edu/ (PDF) Besides student venture applicants, the CEP hopes to find judges, mentors, and sponsors among the MCJ community.
The LA Cleantech Incubator (LACI) is recruiting for Cohort 2 of their Incubation Program. If you’re a clean tech start up in Southern California with solutions for zero emissions transportation, clean energy or smart and sustainable cities, apply here!
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) released new funding focused on supporting small businesses in developing disruptive energy technologies! Check out the latest “Supporting Entrepreneurial Energy Discoveries” topic (or SEED) and apply before the January deadline.
💼Climate Jobs
Here are some jobs shared by members of the MCJ community that we think might be of interest to you. Many of these opportunities and the MCJers who shared them can be found in #climatejobs in the MCJ Slack.
Senior Product Designer at Overstory (Amsterdam) (job listing)
Various Software Engineer positions at David Energy (careers page)
Fellowship opportunity for angel investors, PhD students and young professionals interested in learning about the field of impact investing within angel investing and venture capital at Vectors Angel Fellowship (Remote) (Job listing & career page) (Applications due 11/24/20)
Media Volunteer opportunity at You Change Earth (Remote) (job listing)
Full Stack Developer at Bountiful.Work (Remote) (job listing)
Hiring about 50 positions across various departments at Voltus (careers page)
Director of Measurement and Impact at Climate Neutral (careers page)
Senior VP of Market Transformation at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) (careers page)
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
The Atlantic: "How Jeff Bezos is Spending His $10 Billion Earth Fund”
Vox: “How Joe Biden Plans to Executive Powers to Fight Climate Change”
Business Insider: “McDonald's reveals the McPlant, as the fast-food giant crafts plant-based burgers and 'chicken'“
The Engine: “Publication no. 6 - The Climate Issue”
Vox: “Why the Biden Administration Should Establish a Department of Climate”
Business Insider: “Any Hope of Keeping Earth Habitable Now Requires Sucking Carbon Back Out of the Atmosphere, a New Study Found”
Carbon180 on Medium.com: “In Search of Carbon Removal Offsets”
🎬 Watch List
Hulu released I Am Greta a documentary about Greta Thunberg and the climate crisis on October 23rd. Check it out on Hulu!
🎟Climate Events
As a reminder, we have a MCJ Events Calendar, where you can view and post events for the rest of the MCJ community to attend. When posting an event, please refer to this checklist.
*We’re highlighting a few upcoming events below; please refer to the events calendar for a complete list.*
Upcoming
Terra.do Presents: World's First Online Climate Jobs Fair (Wednesday, November 18th)
Terra.do is excited to invite you to the world’s first virtual climate jobs fair on Nov 18th! Terra.do is bringing together hundreds of mission-driven individuals and dozens of climate organizations under the same “virtual” roof so that they can find each other. As an individual, you will be able to expand your job search universe. Meet hiring managers from dozens of top climate organizations that have diverse roles to offer in a speed-dating format (learn more here). As a climate organization, connect with hundreds of individuals from across the world who are passionate about moving into climate work. If you would like to join as an employer, submit your information here (or contact saurabh@terra.do).
Meet-a-MCJer via Icebreaker (Friday, November 20th at noon EST)
Back by popular demand, we’re hosting an Icebreaker for members of the MCJ community. Come join us for several rounds of casual 1:1 conversations with a fellow MCJ Member whom you have not met. Each round of conversation is 10 minutes and there’s fun questions to help break the 🧊! RSVP by dropping us a note.
Petri’s Founder Speaker Series with Adam Behrens, CEO and Founder of Mori (Tuesday, December 1st @12pm ET)
Petri is hosting their second talk of their Founding Speaker Series. This event with feature Andy Behrens, CEO and Founder of Mori. Sign up for the event here.
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