What Does It Take To Transform A Place?
Over the past 3 years, as we’ve built a portfolio of 50+ companies solving the world’s biggest problems, two things stick out amongst our many lessons learned:
- Climate change is a global problem (majority of the world has set clean energy policies and goals), but its best solutions are rooted in local communities. Before last year’s Paris Climate Talks (COP21), Dawn attended The Aspen Institute’s invite-only Energy Innovation Forum. In her debrief to our team, she warned us to “keep an eye out for a wave of bottom-up pledges driving impact in the upcoming Paris climate talks because, as was discussed during the forum, ‘right now, startups, CEOs, governors, and mayors are driving change from the bottom-up.’” This year, a third of our team is at COP22 in Marrakech debuting our newest video entitled “What Does It Take To Transform A Place?”
2. Without people to move the needle, the most innovative technologies sit on the shelf and policy goals become empty promises. It’s just as much about entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, corporations, and utilities as it is about the “unusual suspects.” These are the people that play a critical, but sometimes behind-the-scenes role in creating change. It’s the florist that becomes Stem’s first grid-connected energy storage system; the nursery that cares for TerViva’s biofuel crops before it matures to orchard-ready trees; the home owner that calls on Pono Home to help them save on their electricity bills; and so many others.
Our mission has always been two-fold; it’s about helping our companies succeed (raise money, find customers, and grow) and helping transform a place through innovation.
If you believe that local change = global impact, share this video with your community — those working with you to create local change that solves global problems. What will it take to transform the place you call home?
