Portfolio

Clean Energy Group

The nonprofit’s mission is to provide innovative technical, economic and policy solutions to enable communities to participate equitably in the clean energy transition.

In three years, Anna built relationships with over 100 communities across the US concerned about the climate crisis and committed to mitigating the worst of its immediate impacts. Many of the people Anna spoke with are already experiencing more frequent and severe weather events: hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and more. When a power outage occurs, people are left even more vulnerable. In Anna’s work to build awareness about solar and energy storage, she helps communities envision how local, distributed sources of clean and reliable backup power (supplied by solar and storage) can support community resilience and improve public health outcomes. She currently manages three small grant-funding programs: the Technical Assistance Fund, Resilient Power Leadership Initiative, and the Clean Energy Incentive Navigator Program. In all three roles, she provides dedicated one-on-one support, broad expertise and connections with public and private stakeholders, and predevelopment assistance when planning a solar and storage project.

Anna strives to follow the principles of a Just Transition in her work, centering marginalized voices and following the lead of the communities most impacted by extractive infrastructure, historical disinvestment, and environmental racism. This has meant supporting those communities as they build local “resilience hubs,” work within existing utility structures, or develop ways to expand community-ownership. Anna’s publications and public-facing advocacy is archived here. Some of the community-led projects Anna helped support are highlighted on this CEG page.

Clean Energy States Alliance

CESA is a leading bipartisan US coalition of state energy agencies working together to advance the rapid expansion of clean energy technologies and bring the benefits of clean energy to all.

At CESA, Anna coordinated with the US federal government, state agencies, national laboratories, academia, and community-based organizations to identify and address barriers to equitably deploying solar and battery storage. During this time, Anna primarily focused on residential solar, community solar, and commercial-scale energy storage applications. She built expertise on the topics of state-level program design, effective incentive structures, and community engagement strategies. Anna co-published a first-of-its-kind public-facing database of over 400 community organizations with a focus or interest in clean energy and hosted a monthly working group for 12 state agencies invested in advancing energy storage.

Collaborative Peacebuilding Program Design

Anna and 3 other Colombian and American students researched, designed, and proposed a project to partner with and expand upon the existing programming of the community organization, La Eskina del Barrio, in rural Colombia. Their intent was to increase the wellbeing of rural Colombian young women.

Anna proposes the project to prospective funders, representatives from the US Embassy in Colombia, and other stakeholders.

Solar Crowdfunding Campaign Coordinator

Anna coordinated the organization of a 6-week crowdfunding campaign for the nonprofit RE-volv and their community-supported solar energy projects. She worked with a team of 4 fellow students to plan a coordinated media campaign (local news, social media, newsletter to 300+ person email list), create and execute a raffle with 20 prizes, co-produce ethos reels, and host awareness raising events on Purdue University’s campus. They raised over $3,000 from small dollar donations.

Student Director of Purdue University’s Voting Coalition and Civic Engagement Initiatives

Anna served as Student Director on Purdue University’s campus wide nonpartisan voter participation coalition endorsed by the University President’s Office. Anna and her two-person team focused on sharing voting resources with students directly in their classrooms. They aimed to begin the groundwork of systematizing voter registration for all eligible voters on their 45,000 student campus. In a pilot program, Anna co-produced a 5-minute voter registration video and designed a 4-page companion voting resources packet specific to Purdue voters. These resources were disseminated and shared in over 150+ classrooms.

Conference Organizer

As University Chapter President of the Political Science Honor Society, Anna volunteered to help conceptualize and plan a virtual 3-day undergraduate research conference for over 400 local chapter organizations. Purdue University article about the conference.

Event Organization, Team Management, and Organizational Vision-Building

Anna created the conditions for the Political Science Honor Society to experience an unprecedented year of growth while adapting to virtual COVID-affected conditions. Under Anna’s leadership as President, her chapter doubled membership to 60 members and engaged over 20 members in their own leadership in this organization. She hosted 19 events with 20 guest speakers including: FBI Special Agents, founder of C-SPAN Brian Lamb, US Institute of Peace representatives, local West Lafayette Mayor Dennis, Indiana Statehouse Staffers, and state campaign representatives, for example.

Anna recorded and produced this “callout” introductory video to her student organization

Anna interned for the nonprofit RE-volv for three years. In her last year, she served as campus team lead for the five other student interns at Purdue University. One part of their work included reaching out to local nonprofits, setting up a time to meet, and presenting information about RE-volv’s solar financing option.

Anna applied for and received over $2,500 in grants from Purdue University and Pi Sigma Alpha National to host events and educational giveaways. For example, her organization bought and gave away 25 copies of the how-to guide, “Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It” by the climate activist Jamie Margolin. They also created “Sustainable Wellness Kits” comprised of unpackaged soap, unpackaged lotion, and a homemade soy candle.