I know this blog has gone dark over the last year, but I promise I have been busy. I hope to do better at sharing my learnings and experiences here once again, because while the last couple years have been intensely valuable, they have also been difficult, but I can now see how they have led me to where I am today.
Where am I today, you ask? Well, I am at Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection, serving as their Senior Energy Planner. (Montgomery County is part of the Washington metropolitan region, sharing its southern border with DC and its western border with VA.)
If you’re a planner, what do you do? It means that I have the honor of serving as the county’s resourc
e on energy efficiency and renewable energy, as it pertains to programs and policies. I’m currently working on implementing their benchmarking bill for commercial buildings and look forward to contributing to an up-and-coming commercial property-assessed clean energy (PACE) program and other initiatives.
How does this fit in with community-based social marketing, energy, community, and leadership – the mixed bag of topics this blog tends to represent? Montgomery County is an incredibly forward thinking community – they are a leader in sustainability and are working to implement innovative programs to advance clean energy. They also have a very engaged community and host of organizations that support the county’s energy work. To that end, they expect nothing short of effective and engaging programs that result in measurable outcomes and cultural change towards sustainability. My training with the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship and MN CERTs are a core inspiration as I go about my work. If you want to learn more about Montgomery and my work, you can start with the blog I wrote when I started with them: Joining DEP: Finding an Energized Community
What places have you been and how do they fit with what you’re doing now? For this opportunity, I need to thank Montgomery County DEP for entrusting me to this incredible opportunity and responsibility. I also must also acknowledge the important lessons, perspective, and experience gained at ACEEE and Loudoun County. At the former, I gained a very important perspective on all the resources available nationwide and the role of our federal level agencies and organizations to help compile these lessons. Loudoun County provided a deep-dive orientation into the ins and outs of local government, the crucial role they play in our communities, and what it means to work with others across topics, departments, and priorities. And yet another special thank you to the organizations that have called on me as a consultant and researcher, which taught me new ways to value myself as a professional and stand on my own two legs. Lastly, but never least, I owe my community, those back in MN (CERTs, Pirate Kickball, etc.) and those here who have always rooted for me, supported me, and cheered me on. Thank you to all those who contributed to these valuable experiences!
Common Spark* 