This Week in MCJ (1/16/21)
This Week in MCJ (1/16/21)
Helping more people work on climate, CarbonPlan’s carbon dioxide removal primer, and more!
Hey everyone,
We did our kick-off call for the people in the #climate-careers slack channel on Friday. To refresh your memory, this is a working group for people interested in transitioning their careers into climate, and the purpose of the call was to help inform the MCJ roadmap and product direction in this area. There were ~40 attendees, and it was a lively and productive discussion. The recording of that session is here.
Some key takeaways:
Lots of people want to transition their careers into climate, and it isn’t easy.
People want to be able to index all relevant materials on a topic, both within MCJ and externally.
People want to hear from and learn from others that have successfully made this transition (both on the show, and via mentorship opportunities).
People want to find ways to get a better sense of “a day in the life”, whether it be about industries, companies, and/or specific job functions.
People want help better navigating the MCJ member directory, to make valuable connections for all, without being intrusive or spammy.
People are hungry for other tools to help them build a bridge and make this transition more effectively.
We don’t know yet what we will do with all of this great input, but will surely do something! It is becoming more clear that building these bridges for more people and more effectively should be a central tenet of the MCJ platform, membership offering, and content and community roadmaps. If you have any feedback or ideas on this topic, we’d love to hear from you.
We also had a great response to our recent Q4 quarterly member survey, so thanks to the many people that took the time to share your thoughts and feedback.
Some key takeaways:
~93% of members surveyed are active in the MCJ Slack each month, underscoring how the community is one of the central benefits of membership.
Programs and events continue to be the leading request from members for what we prioritize in the future, selected by ~65% of respondents.
Our Net Promoter Score is currently +60, which signals to us a high satisfaction among members, and represents a marginal improvement over Q3’s score of +58.
Have a good week, everyone!
Jason
🎧 Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
CarbonPlan is a new non-profit that focuses on improving the transparency and scientific integrity of carbon removal and climate solutions through open data and tools. Their work involves analyzing carbon removal opportunities based on the best available science and data, and helping organizations make specific decisions towards their carbon removal goals. They also work collaboratively to build open tools and resources for the evaluation and deployment of carbon removal and other climate solutions.
Jeremy, Danny, and I have a great discussion in this episode about carbon markets, why they matter, what is broken about them, the best ways to fix it, and how CarbonPlan is setting out to help. They have a unique perch in the market, and this is a must listen for anyone with carbon markets on your mind!
Check out their most recent launch, a Primer on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), which walks through the fundamentals of carbon dioxide removal and its role in addressing the climate crisis.
🗃Startup Series: From the Archives
As the MCJ team works through refreshing our longer-term content strategy, we will be releasing the audio from some of the prior Startup Series episodes on Thursdays, which have previously only been available via video to paying MCJ members.
Startup Series Episode 15: Camus Energy, with Co-Founder and CEO, Astrid Atkinson
Camus Energy focuses on decarbonization through grid management and transformation. Co-Founder & CEO, Astrid Atkinson, chats with me about her transition from working as a longtime Google employee to focusing on climate tech, what they do at Camus Energy and why it matters, their long vision, and their progress to date.
I enjoyed our conversation, and it is a great one for anyone who is hoping to follow down a similar path!
🚪MCJ Office Hours
As an outcome of the earlier-mentioned “climate careers” meeting, we’re experimenting with weekly “office hours” to provide a high-touch opportunity to offer advice and support to members seeking help to transition their careers into working in climate. Thai will be hosting them, initially each Friday at 5 PM EST; he will send a reminder the day before with a link to either a Zoom or Discord audio room.
📌Community News
Climate Map - Following the Make-a-thon, Will Jackowitz created the #climate-map channel. If anyone is interested in contributing and becoming part of the Climate Map team, please fill out this survey.
Lyndall Schreiner at Earthrise.School is looking to build a coaching program to support leaders in the climate space who are struggling with communication, talent, and funding, focus on their mission, and bringing regenerative practices into their organization. She is looking for volunteers who fit this description to participate in a 30-minute interview and in return will provide a 30-minute leadership coaching session. Learn more here!
Check out ClimateRaise, a new network that connects investors with female-led climate tech companies, created by women in the MCJ community!
🎓Alumni News
Two MCJ Alums have been tapped to join the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. Maggie Thomas, former climate advisor to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, was named Chief of Staff. And Sonia Aggarwal, co-founder of Energy Innovation, will serve as senior adviser for climate policy and innovation. To learn more about them and the rest of the team, check out this article. And if you haven’t already, you can listen to Jason’s conversations with Maggie Thomas (Ep. 111) and Sonia Aggarwal (Ep. 107) on the show. We are proud to know both of them, and excited for them and our Country!
📚Startup Resources
Climate Tech Action Network is seeking applicants for their “How Can I Help?” Climate Mentorshipship program. Applicants in engineering and hard sciences who are working in tech or students within 1 year of graduating who want to transition into climate tech, apply here.
Cisco is awarding $1M in prizes for its 2021 innovation challenge, including a $50k greenhouse gas solutions prize. Applications are due by January 29th at 5 pm PT. To learn more or apply: Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge 2021!
Terra.do’s 4-week course on Climate-Smart Buildings takes fellows through new technologies, best practices, and case study investigations in climate-smart and climate-positive buildings. It also covers strategies to decarbonize the built environment, designing climate positive buildings, as well as ways to realize deep energy emissions reductions in existing buildings. Apply for the program 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.
Guillaume de Dorlodot: Part of the Climate Reality Leaders started by Al Gore, Guillaume is looking to help founders connect with Silicon Valley experts and investors to scale and finance climate change solutions. He is excited to be part of MCJ.
Erik Lehr: A Portland, OR-based Chief Investment Officer at a wealth management company, Erik is interested in ways to leverage finance to develop and implement clean energy solutions. He is looking forward to learning more from the community.
Sebastien Douieb: Sebastien has a background in finance with a focus on traditional energy. He is looking for opportunities in the clean energy transition and is looking forward to connecting with like-minded folks.
Mike Boches: A product manager at an NH based startup, Mike is looking for opportunities to bring pre-commercial tech to market with a climate focus. He is excited to meet more MCJers in this space.
Yoann Berno: Yoann is a Berlin-based founder and former engineer who is looking to launch a European Climate Fund in 2021. He is excited to be part of the MCJ community.
Helen Hollyman: Helen is the founding EIC of Munchies from VICE Media, she is a journalist and brand strategist who is looking for new opportunities in the food waste, ag, and permaculture spaces.
Bela Hanratty: Founder of Blue Wave Innovation Capital, a company focused on financial infrastructure to accelerate climate solutions. Bela is excited to be part of MCJ.
Evan Jobin: Evan is a Consultant at West Monroe in Healthcare and Life Sciences but is actively looking to transition into Climate Tech at a fast-growing start-up. He is looking forward to learning from and connect with the community.
Vinayak Ranade: CEO at Drafted.us, a recruiting startup, Vinayakj is excited to learn more from the MCJ as he is just starting his climate journey.
Andria Ronne: Andria is a passionate marketer and design consultant. She is looking for opportunities to transition into a climate-focused startup or create one of her own. She is looking to connect with like-minded MCJers.
Elliot Gluck: Elliot works in marketing and growth for high tech SaaS companies. He is working on his own SaaS/platform passion project and is hoping to connect with any software folks who are interested in collaborating.
Barney Schauble: Barney is an MCJ Podcast Alum, Chairman of Nephila Climate, and Chair of the Board at Ceres. Barney is excited to be part of the community and learn more from MCJ.
Loren Klug: Loren is a recently retired banking executive. He is currently involved in a chemical testing start-up and is looking to get more involved in the climate fight.
Sydney Toth: working in marketing and creative for a winery, Syndey is new to her climate journey. She is interested in food waste and sustainable ag and looking forward to meeting more MCJers.
Halston Hales: Halston is a technical program manager in engineering at Uber but is looking for opportunities in the climate tech space. He is excited to be part of the community and get involved in the climate.
David Yocom: An associate at iSelect Fund, a venture fund focused on food, ag, and health, David is looking to connect with more like-minded folks and learn from fellow MCJers.
Harry Hantman: Harry previously worked in product and partnerships at Lockwood Strategy/Acronym. He is looking for opportunities to transition to climate.
💼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. Check out this google doc for the jobs from this week!
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
Upstream: “Norway oil sector braced for huge carbon tax hike as new climate plan hatched”
Greentech Media: “New York’s Latest Clean Energy Push Includes 2.5GW of Offshore Wind Contracts for Equinor and BP”
Bloomberg: “Too Many Companies Are Banking on Carbon Capture to Reach Net Zero”
🎟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.*
Previous
Climate Careers Kickoff Meeting
Following up on this month’s town hall, we’ve created a #climate-careers channel to organize efforts around supporting career transitions to climate. We had a well-attended zoom kickoff meeting where we discussed what the community would like to get out of the climate-careers channel. If you missed it, check out the recording here.
Upcoming
Climate Change and Built Environment Webinar (Monday, January 18th @ 9 am PT)
Buildings and their construction together account for more than a third of global energy use (~36%) as well as energy-related carbon dioxide emissions (~40% ). By some estimate, at the current rate, emissions from this sector are set to double by 2050. The webinar gives a sneak-peek into the Climate-Smart Buildings program starting Feb 1 on Terra.do. Register for the webinar here.
#Los-Angeles Slack Channel Meet Up (Wednesday, January 20th @ 7 pm PT)
Charlotte Mallo is leading the #los-angeles community and organizing a virtual hangout to kick off this new channel. The virtual hangout will provide a space for everyone to meet each other, share the results of the survey, and layout the foundations of the group for 2021.
Hydrogen: The Next Opportunity Webinar (Thursday, January 21st at 8 am PT)
The Energy Innovation Network has an upcoming panel event on green hydrogen, featuring panelists from the DOE, S&P Global Platts, and Agora Energiewende. Register for the event here.
The Nature Conservancy Webinar: The Journey to Understanding Climate Change with Jason Jacobs (Thursday, January 21st at 12 pm ET)
Join TNC for a Nature Connects webinar with Jason Jacobs (from MCJ!). He will be discussing his journey to shift his professional focus to helping address climate change, why he decided to head down this path, what he is building with MCJ, and advice for others looking to head down a similar path. You can register for the event here.
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