Speaking Up for Our Future
A digital native expands the online conversation about the energy transformation
By Lindsey Chew, digital marketing associate at Rocky Mountain Institute.
Last summer, I graduated from Boston University where I studied business and public health, but outside the classroom I always circled back to tackling the global climate challenge with words — by writing articles, opening up dialogue with peers, and leveraging social media as a powerful tool to bring people together to make a lasting impact. When I learned about Rocky Mountain Institute’s work, and found that the organization had been championing practical, profitable business solutions for a clean, prosperous, secure low-carbon future since its very beginning, I was immediately interested in joining the team. It was exciting that RMI was ramping up its efforts internationally in China, Africa, and island nations, and I liked the entrepreneurial edge that the recent merger with Carbon War Room brought. All this seemed to set RMI apart as fast-paced and effective.
By the time I applied to work at RMI, I was hooked on using digital media to fight climate change. My grassroots efforts to confront climate change as a student grew to a much more influential scale than I ever expected — including representing the social media voice of a high-profile global event called Climate Week NYC, and launching a Twitter campaign, #CleanEnergyU, that connected students on dozens of college campuses with more than 40 inspiring change makers from business, government, and NGOs who together identified promising new clean energy solutions.
These social media movements gained major impact and recognition, and I found myself invited to an American Campuses Act on Climate roundtable at the Obama White House, ahead of COP21 in Paris. This convening and the power of student voices represented by #CleanEnergyU ultimately contributed to bold new commitments by Boston University to reduce its carbon emissions by 35 percent in 4 million square feet of building space by 2020, and reduce its energy consumption by 10 percent between 2012 and 2017.
Through all of these conversations with thought leaders, the resounding takeaway was simple: My generation is the first to feel the impacts of climate change from our youth, and the very last to be able to do something about it. The dialogue is no longer centered on a vague outlook for future generations because right now, emerging economies and low-income populations around the world are facing the harshest consequences of a warming world, including impacts from sea level rise, superstorms, droughts, crop shortages, and more. Today, we must rise to the occasion and take on the greatest global challenge of our time. For me, the best way to do that is working at Rocky Mountain Institute.
My first eight months on RMI’s communications team have been a fast-moving, thought-provoking, and exciting time of rapid growth. I learned very quickly that working at RMI meant being on the leading edge of transforming the way that the world uses energy. But even with 35 years of progress under our belt, we have a lot of ground to cover.
What’s most exciting about digital is that it is so new — exploring this uncharted territory and the evolving way that people are communicating means that the job is frequently self-taught and entrepreneurial in a way that few are. Social media gives us a global opportunity to speak up for our future; we can connect with thousands of people each day to swiftly develop a more collective worldwide voice and influence.
As digital marketing associate, I now manage the vision and long-term strategy for RMI’s online presence. I craft and present new content — articles, blog posts, reports, photos, videos, infographics, media mentions, and more — on multiple platforms. On the social media side, I develop our Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google+ channels (our Instagram channel is launching soon!).
Beyond managing our public-facing sites, I build collateral that gets sent directly to you, our partners and supporters — things like newsletters, event invitations, confidence reports, and press releases. Timing and relevance are critically important. Every morning we selectively share industry-relevant energy and climate articles with a particular focus on international policy, groundbreaking technologies, and progress by states, cities, and regions.
And in the new digital environment, information flows both ways. It’s inspiring to listen to and learn from our audience’s Facebook comments and tweets, and bring those shared insights to our staff. It is rewarding to see constructive comments and debates pop up, and to see that our supporters are motivated to share our important messages far and wide. Social media also opens new doors for partnership opportunities with other NGOs and businesses. We have developed collaborative campaigns with other organizations to copromote ride-sharing programs, Earth Day events, book launches, reports, and more.
We’ve also started using video to engage with our supporters using Facebook Live Q&As.They’ve gone well, and we are working to develop and produce two new Facebook Live Q&A series, one called #AskRMI and one for RMI’s Business Renewables Center called Corporate Renewables Today. #AskRMI is an interview-style series in which our experts explore the most important clean energy business, technology, finance, and policy topics of the 21st century through questions from our audience. Corporate Renewables Today is a timely market update and response to the latest renewable energy deals and company commitments. If you miss them live, you can always find them on our YouTube channel, and the most insightful sound bites will be reshared on Twitter.
“My generation is the first to feel the impacts of climate change from our youth, and the very last to be able to do something about it.”
Because RMI’s research and collaboration teams churn out such a large volume of projects each week, we strive to present complex concepts in a succinct, creative, and positive way. Our work influences the lives of people in societies around the world, so our digital marketing seeks to clearly articulate these human and economic impacts. For example, we recently launched a report on the potential of electric minigrids in Africa to unlock a multibillion-dollar market opportunity and bring access to electric light and power for millions.
I hope that you and others will come to rely on our channels as an educational, insightful resource for energy facts and timely expertise — that our posts will be a seed of inspiration for your daily actions, conversations with family and friends, votes, long-term investments, classroom discussions, and business decisions. All of our social channels are accessible from our newly launched website’s home page, www.rmi.org. I hope that you’ll provide feedback and comments, and connect with us!
Lindsey Chew is RMI’s digital marketing associate.
WEB EXTRA
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