ILSR brought together advocates, practitioners, and policymakers for Advantage Local: How Communities Are Taking Control of Clean Energy to Maximize Benefits for All, a virtual event highlighting the importance of local and community ownership of clean energy.
Locally owned clean energy is the gold standard when it comes to job creation, bill savings, wealth equity, economic democracy, and more. But the question of who owns, controls, and benefits from clean energy projects is too often overlooked in public conversation and policy planning.
If you’re involved in climate, clean energy, or economic advocacy in your community – whether as part of a nonprofit organization, small business, labor union, residents’ association, or local government – this webinar is for you.
The webinar includes a presentation of ILSR’s findings on the economic and social benefits of locally owned clean energy, followed by a discussion among three grassroots leaders realizing locally owned projects in their own communities, and a moderated audience Q&A.
Panelists
Sachiko Graber – National Partnerships Lead, Cooperative Energy Futures
Sachiko Graber (Sachi, she/they) is the National Partnerships Lead for Cooperative Energy Futures in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sachi is also the founder of Waxwing Consulting LLC, which provides climate and equity support to mission-aligned organizations. She formerly served as the Associate Director for Climate with The Nature Conservancy’s Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota chapter, where she led the climate mitigation and climate policy programs and authored several papers on the mitigation potential of natural climate solutions. Sachi previously worked with RMI and the U.S. Peace Corps. She holds an M.S. from the University of Michigan’s School for Natural Resources and Environment and a B.A. in Physics from Grinnell College.
Crystal Huang – Co-Founder and CEO, People Power Solar Cooperative
Yesenia Rivera – Vice President of Solar Access and Affordability, Solar United Neighbors
Yesenia has been a community organizer from the start of her career, working alongside climate-impacted communities with a passion for energy justice. Yesenia has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey and a J.D. from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. She has worked as a tenant organizer, a housing counselor and led SUN’s Solar for All work in DC. Her experience growing up in Puerto Rico and first-hand knowledge of energy insecurities led her to work in solar adoption and eliminate barriers faced when accessing clean and affordable energy. Yesenia is an outspoken advocate for a just transition and eliminating barriers to clean energy.
As Vice President of Solar Access and Affordability she leads Solar United Neighbors’s team of energy advocates in expanding access to solar for all communities across the country.
Moderator
Katie Kienbaum – Senior Researcher, Energy Democracy Initiative, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
Katie Kienbaum is a Senior Researcher with ILSR’s Energy Democracy initiative, where she researches and writes about equitable and decentralized clean energy and its impact on communities across the country. Before joining the Energy Democracy initiative, she was a Research Associate with the Community Broadband Networks initiative.