The Green Light

In this Green Light episode, Catherine speaks with Bri Hamilton, Stephanie Johnson, & Christy Searl, who were recently hired by Javelin Capital, Chesapeake Solar & Storage Association, & Leyline Renewable Capital, LLC. Catherine was grateful to have had the opportunity to help place these incredibly talented individuals at top clean energy companies, knowing that they all bring a lot o...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine is joined by Andrea Luecke, Executive Director of Cleantech Leaders Roundtable (CTLR) and former President and Executive Director at the Solar Foundation (now IREC). While at the Solar Foundation for ten years, Andrea grew it from zero staff & budget to a $6M organization at its peak, as well as initiated and implemented the first ever Solar Jobs Census....

In this Green Light episode, Catherine is joined by Heather Reams, President of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES). CRES is a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that engages Republican policymakers & the public about responsible, conservative solutions to address our nation’s energy, economic & environmental security while increasing America’s competitive edge. Heather speaks wi...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine is joined by Candice Michalowicz , COO of EDPR Distributed Generation, & Tom Weirich , Senior Marketing Manager at EDP Renewables North America. She speaks with these two brains behind the world’s 4th largest renewable energy producer about how EDPR’s Distributed Generation business unit - which now clocks over 50 employees - came to fruition just 3 years...

Why aren’t there more women CEOs & why don’t more women view themselves as “CEO-ready”? In this Green Light episode, Catherine is joined by Luann Abrams , CEO of CEOX , who is tackling these challenges every day. Almost 3 years ago, Luann founded CEOX, to focus exclusively on connecting highly qualified female CEO-ready candidates to CEO, board, and C-Suite roles. Luann speaks about her transi...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine is joined by Chante Harris, Director of Climate Investments & Partnerships at SecondMuse. SecondMuse is an impact & innovation company that builds resilient economies by supporting entrepreneurs & the ecosystems around them. Venture for ClimateTech is a non-profit global venture studio & accelerator program associated with SecondMuse, & it...

What was it like to found & lead a waste-to-value company in the middle of the pandemic? Catherine speaks with Janice Tran , CEO & Co-Founder of Kanin Energy , about this, why only 13% of venture capital goes to startups with women on the founding team & how Janice applied her experience from Generate at Kanin. Janice also speaks about the advice she has for those looking to break into...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Marisa Sweeney & Jessie Robbins , two of the brains driving some of Generate Capital’s exciting investment & tax equity initiatives forward, including investments in Amp Americas & Atlas Organics . Marisa & Jessie also speak about the work they’re most proud of & looking forward to in 2022, how they broke into cleantech, & c...

From working alongside then Senator John Kerry while fighting for better fuel standards to founding & leading the first ever trade organization to represent the entire cleantech industry, Heather Zichal , CEO of American Clean Power Association (ACP) , has a lot to be proud of. Catherine spoke with Heather about her career journey in policy & cleantech; ACP’s 1st anniversary; ACP’s ability...

Sunrun, the leading home solar panel and battery storage company in the U.S., successfully launched its internal upskilling program, PowerU, as well as recently became the first national solar company to achieve 100% pay parity. Catherine recently spoke with Sejal Patel Daswani , former CHRO & current Advisor to the Chief People Officer at Sunrun, about these accomplishments; the numerous dive...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine is joined by the Chief Product Officer of Voltus , Dana Guernsey. Voltus became the first DER monetization platform to be interconnected to every wholesale market in North America, all while increasing their female staff from 20% to 40%. Dana shares insights on her recent big-box retailer project, the value of male mentorship, and the importance of intentiona...

This week on The Green Light, Catherine is joined by the award-winning brains behind the largest onshore wind project to date - Orsted VP of Development, Jennifer Goodwillie & VP of Origination and Power Marketing, Melissa Peterson. The female duo shares the exciting details behind the 367 MW wind project in Texas and what it takes to succeed in energy development today. Touching on the value...

What is it like to be on the legal and development side of cleantech? In this episode, Catherine speaks with Becky Diffen, a Norton Rose Fulbrigh t Partner and former project developer to get an idea of what it’s like to oversee gigawatt size solar portfolios.  Becky reflects on the challenges and trends she has faced over the years with projects, some notable deals include 7X’s 9 GW portfolio of...

What role does hydrogen play in a fully decarbonized, electrified future for all? This is a question the Navajo Nation and its leaders have been increasingly focused on. This week, Catherine discusses the recent hydrogen project with Dory Peters of Big Navajo Energy & William McCabe of Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company. In partnership with Siemens & Power Innovations International Inc , th...

In this episode, Catherine speaks with Emilie Wangerman , Senior Vice President & Head of Business Development and M&A at Lightsource bp . Discussing how the company was able to double its solar power project development pipeline by supporting bp in acquiring an additional 9 GW pipeline of projects from 7X Energy, Inc.   Spread across 12 U.S states, the projects will generate enough clean...

How have diversity programs affected the cleantech industry? What organizations are expanding the conversation around equity and inclusion?   In this episode, we speak with Liz Lachowitzer of Mortenson, as she reflects on her newly launched program, 'Sisters of the Traveling Hard Hat', which was designed to spotlight women who are leading and developing projects in the cleantech space -...

What can your company learn from BlueWave Solar , which has been ranked alongside Patagonia as one of the most impactful companies in the world? From their B Corp status to their own initiative against racism and hate, BlueWave Solar is taking matters into their own hands and paving a path forward, towards a more equitable workplace.  In this episode, Catherine speaks with BlueWave’s CEO, Trevor H...

In this episode, we congratulate Katie Mehnert , CEO & Founder of ALLY Energy on becoming an Inaugural Member of Greentown Labs Houston. Greentown Labs is North America’s largest incubator for climate-focused startups & recently chose ALLY Energy, a rapidly growing, digital company focused on diversifying the clean energy & traditional energy workforces, as one of the first members of...

Did you know that women founders generate 1.5x more revenue than male founders, according to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) ? However, women only receive 2% of venture capital funding despite making up 42% of all entrepreneurs. Investing in women leaders would also return $4.4 trillion to the economy, according to Morgan Stanley 's Beyond the VC Funding Gap survey.  In this Green Light episo...

Did you know community solar capacity in the U.S. has doubled year over year in the past decade? Today, Catherine speaks with an incredible clean energy leader who is responsible for such growth and the expansion of community solar on the East Coast.  Kristal Hansley, a Howard University Alumna, is the first Black woman to found a community solar company. Kristal was recently featured in Fortune ,...

In this episode of The Green Light, we speak with an Astro scientist, economist, electrical engineer, renewable energy veteran, NASA ambassador & social entrepreneur. These are just a few ways to describe our guest, Isabelle Christensen, BSEE, Ph. D. of Doosan GridTech .  Catherine speaks with Isabelle about Doosan GridTech’s distributed energy resources aggregation software platform and her w...

Did you know women-led startups received just 2.3% of venture capital funding in 2020? In this episode, Catherine speaks with Dandelion Energy’s Founder & President, Kathy Hannun, who is breaking that barrier and recently announced closing a $30M funding round led by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy . We dive into her start-up journey, raising funds while pregnant, how her leadership style has...

Today, we speak with a thought leader who is ahead of the curve when it comes to diversity, equity & inclusion in the cleantech industry. U.S. Department of Energy, Director of Loan Programs Office, Jigar Shah on why not having mentors is a huge sign of weakness and how he has applied lessons learned from SunEdison at Generate Capital to his own ventures. Are you looking for your next role in...

What are some specific ways we can bring greater diversity, equity & inclusion to the clean energy industry? Catherine’s guest is Miles Braxton of Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Group and today’s topic is about his exciting new initiative, BlackOak Collective - w hich brings together and advocates for Black & Indigenous people of color working in sustainability for networking, mentorship, j...

What was it like to transition from a divorce attorney to the President & CEO of Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), all while raising three young children?  In today’s episode, Catherine speaks with Abby Hopper about this transition, mom guilt, managing consistently being the only woman in the room & the value of personal champions. Also discussing the exciting new ways SEIA is fu...