Within days of taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to create the Justice40 Initiative. The policy aims to allocate 40% of the benefits of federal clean energy and climate investments to frontline communities. 

For the energy sector, it’s helping to shine a growing light on  “energy justice.” Historically, the current energy system has negatively impacted disadvantaged communities the most – communities that often lack access to affordable energy, are excluded from potential benefits of a clean energy economy, and suffer the greatest harms from climate change. The Energy Opportunity Lab at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs is working to address these challenges, among many others. 

So, what progress has been made in ensuring energy justice for frontline communities? And with the energy transition continuing to accelerate in size and scale, how do we make sure disadvantaged communities aren’t left behind?

This week host Jason Bordoff talks with Shalanda Baker about the historical inequities of energy systems, and the Biden administration’s agenda on energy equity and climate justice.

Shalanda is the director of the Office of Energy Justice and Equity in the U.S. Department of Energy, and the secretarial advisor on equity. She also serves as chief diversity officer for the agency. Prior to her Senate confirmation in 2022, Shalanda served as the nation’s first-ever deputy director for energy justice. Before joining the Biden administration, she co-founded and co-directed the Initiative for Energy Justice, which provides technical law and policy support to communities on the front lines of climate change.

This roundtable is open only to currently enrolled Columbia University students. If you are no longer a student and would like to be removed from this mailing list, please reply directly to this email. 

Every energy company in the world is in the process of adapting to the energy transition. Please join the Women in Energy Initiative program at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, for a student breakfast roundtable discussion with Amy Myers Jaffe and Gretchen Watkins, about her experience as president of Shell USA, Inc. and her insights on a changing energy system.

Biographies

Gretchen Watkins

As President of Shell USA, Inc., Gretchen Watkins oversees the strategic integration of all Shell businesses in the United States and leads the US country coordination team. Since being named to this post in 2018, she has become the company’s leading voice, with public and private leaders, across a wide range of energy-related policy and societal challenges. In addition to these responsibilities from May 2018-June 2021, Gretchen also served as executive vice president of Shell’s global shales business, overseeing the exploration, development, and production of Shell’s upstream shale oil and gas portfolio, which included assets in the United States, Canada, and Argentina. Before joining Shell in 2018, Gretchen served as the chief executive officer of Maersk Oil, following two years as chief operating officer. Gretchen’s tenure at Maersk coincided with a low-price environment for oil, but under her leadership, the company delivered above-target operational and financial results, enabling a safe and successful enterprise sale of Maersk Oil to Total in 2017.

Gretchen began her career nearly thirty years ago as a facilities engineer for Amoco in the Gulf of Mexico. She then worked as a trading manager for Amoco and BP before commencing an international career that has included a variety of senior executive roles at BP, Marathon Oil, and Maersk Oil in North America, Europe, and Asia. She has led joint ventures and negotiated contracts with countries and companies across the upstream, midstream, and downstream businesses.

Gretchen currently serves as a non-executive director of the Mosaic Company, one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients, and previously served as a non-executive director for W. S. Atkins, a global engineering consultancy and FTSE 200 company from 2014 until its merger with SNC Lavalin in 2017. Gretchen graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and has had executive education at Cambridge and Stanford Universities.

Amy Myers Jaffe

Amy Myers Jaffe serves as Director of the Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab at New York University’s School of Professional Studies and is a research professor who teaches graduate-level courses examining global climate finance, energy and climate justice, and clean technology innovation and business. A leading expert on global energy policy, sustainability, and geopolitical risk, Jaffe is the author of several books, including her most recent book, “Energy’s Digital Future” published in 2021 by Columbia University Press. Ms. Jaffe is co-chair of the Women in Energy Initiative at Columbia University and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Climate Policy Lab at Tufts University. From 2014 to 2017, Ms. Jaffe served as senior advisor on sustainability to the Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the University of California, Regents, where she helped design the sustainable investing framework for the UC’s $140 billion in pension and endowment funds.

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Registration is required. This roundtable is open only to currently enrolled Columbia University students. To register, you must use the email address that contains your UNI. 

This event will be hosted in person and capacity is limited. We ask that you register only if you can attend this event in its entirety. 

For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.

This roundtable is open only to currently enrolled Columbia University students.

Please join the Women in Energy initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA for a student-only breakfast and roundtable discussion with the Senior Director of Research, Professor Melissa Lott. Our discussion will focus on Dr. Lott’s career and her journey from an engineer to the Senior Director of Research at the Center on Global Energy Policy and a professor at the Climate School. 

Biography

Dr. Melissa C. Lott is a senior research scholar and director of research at Columbia University’s SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy, where she leads its Power Sector Research Initiative. She specializes in technology and policy research that increases understanding of the impacts of energy systems on air pollution and public health, and applies this to help decision-makers find solutions supporting the low-carbon transition. An engineer at YarCom, Lott was previously assistant vice president of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre and held roles at the International Energy Agency and US Department of Energy. She has been featured as a Solar 100 Thought Leader, an IEEE Women in Power, and a Forbes 30 under 30 in Energy. ​

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Registration is required. This roundtable is open only to currently enrolled Columbia University students. To register, you must sign in with your UNI. 

This event will be hosted in person and capacity is limited. We ask that you register only if you can attend this event in its entirety. 

For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.

Mobilizing climate finance has been identified by the UN Conference of the Parties as a major global challenge. Overall, it is estimated that over $125 trillion will be needed for the world to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions goals and to fund critical climate adaptation strategies. Yet no single country or region is on track to meet its climate financing targets, with a giant gap remaining between what the world has been delivering each year towards climate financing and what is required through 2025. 

Climate finance is a rapidly growing field, as more and more investors, businesses, and governments act to support projects that fund climate mitigation and adaptation. Careers in this field span roles with a variety of players including governments, national and international development banks, multilateral climate funds, state enterprises, philanthropies, and the private sector. The landscape is complex and evolving with growing calls for innovation and reform. As part of the global climate finance landscape, compulsory carbon allowance markets and volunteer carbon offset markets are also rapidly growing. with a rising need for professionals from a wide variety of fields such as finance, environmental science, public policy, project management, and risk analysis. 

Knowledge of the field of climate finance will continue to be a vital tool for addressing the climate crisis in the coming years. Join us to learn more about the different paths available and how to prepare for an impactful career.

Moderator:

• Amy Myers Jaffe, Research Professor and Director of the NYU SPS Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab

Speakers: (additional participant to be announced):

• Bethany Brantley, Head of ESG, IPI Partners
• Stephen Hammer, Founding Chief Executive Officer, The New York Climate Exchange
• Shanu Mathew, Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on US Sustainable Equity, Lazard Asset Management
• Tracy B. McKibben, Founder and CEO, MAC Energy Advisors LLC

Offered in collaboration with Women in Energy at The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute in NYC.

This roundtable is open only to currently-enrolled Columbia University students. If you are no longer a student and would like to be removed from this mailing list, please reply directly to this email. 

The Women in Energy initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia School of International Public Affairs (SIPA) invites you to join a student roundtable featuring Professor Yael Parag, vice dean and head of the Energy Program of the School of Sustainability at Reichman University, who will discuss her work on empowering the individual in carbon mitigation. The conversation will focus on personal carbon allowances trading and the implications for consumers and society. Lunch will be provided.  

Biography

Professor Yael Parag is the vice dean and head of the Energy Program of the School of Sustainability at Reichman University. She holds a BSc in biology and MA and PhD degrees in social sciences. Between 2005 and 2011, she was a senior researcher in the energy group of the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) at the University of Oxford.

Her research is at the forefront of addressing critical energy challenges, with a primary focus on future and decarbonized electricity systems, energy security, and innovation at the grid’s edge. She studies prosumer markets, peer-to-peer energy trading, community energy, microgrids, and electricity islands, demand flexibility and EV charging management, consumer behavior, and consumer engagement with smart energy technologies.

In addition, Professor Parag is studying radical carbon mitigation policies, such as personal carbon trading, while also developing the “middle-out” perspective to analyze the roles of intermediary actors in promoting the energy transition. Professor Parag won prestigious and competitive research grants, and her work has been published in leading academic journals. Furthermore, she serves as an editorial board member of the journals Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews and Energy Research and Social Science.

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Registration is required. This roundtable is open only to currently-enrolled Columbia University students. To register, you must sign in with your UNI. 

This event will be hosted in person and capacity is limited. We ask that you register only if you can attend this event in its entirety. 
For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.

The Center on Global Energy Policy’s Women in Energy initiative hosted an event entitled “Careers and Opportunities in the Energy Transition” on November 29, 2023. The event featured a presentation discussing challenges and opportunities in the energy transition, followed by a women-led discussion on the energy transition and potential careers. The event culminated in a fireside chat with a recruiter discussing the traits and skills employers in the energy sector are looking for.

Here are some takeaways and discussion points from the event:

• Presentation
  • A reduction in emissions that does not address energy poverty fails to meet the Sustainable Development Goals that were set by the United Nations. Energy consumption is unequal across the world and will need to increase in certain areas to reduce poverty and increase energy access.
  • Climate tech will play a critical role in decarbonization. Seventy percent of the necessary technology already exists, but emissions reduction is a matter of implementation and policy.
  • Multiple skill sets are needed and the transition will create opportunities in manufacturing, research and development, finance, and other fields.
• Panel
  • Each of the panelists had a different path into energy. They all emphasized the diversity of skills needed in the energy sector as well as the plethora of opportunities. 
  • If there is a technology or area you are passionate about, there is almost certainly a relevant job in the energy sector.
  • Panelists expressed the increasing importance of data in the energy sector and suggested that data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence skills will all be in high demand in the energy sector, especially in the context of the energy transition.
  • The panelists provided examples of in-demand skills including engineering, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial skills.
  • The energy field is rapidly changing. For example, there are new jobs available in reforestation and data analysis as well as traditional energy jobs (oil and gas) and utilities.
• Fireside chat
  • Traditional energy companies are struggling to attract talent as more people select other sectors. Companies are interested in retaining and reskilling their existing workforce in addition to adding people with diverse skill sets.
  • New York City is a thriving hub for the development of clean tech and energy. 
  • Candidates who are interested in entering the energy industry should focus on demonstrating their potential—their ability to learn, curiosity, engagement, and determination.
  • Job candidates can demonstrate their potential by working to show the how and why of their actions. Interviewers want to understand who a candidate is, and having a strong sense of what you want and what traits you bring to the table will help you find a company that aligns with your interests and values.
  • Candidates should also feel comfortable vetting companies and doing their due diligence to make sure the company is a good fit.

The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Women in Energy initiative invites you to join us for a conversation about careers and opportunities in the energy transition. The event will commence with an overview of the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition. Our featured speakers working in finance, traditional energy, and consulting will then discuss the energy transition. How do they view the energy transition? What roles will be needed as the transition accelerates?

The event will culminate with a fireside conversation featuring an executive recruiter who will impart valuable insights regarding the talent profile that energy companies are presently seeking, as well as the skills and experiences that companies are currently requiring and will demand in the future.

Moderator: 
Daniela Bushiri,  PhD Candidate, Chemical Engineering, Columbia University 

Panelists:
Maria Jelescu Dreyfus, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Ardinall Investment Management
Deepti Koikara Lindal, Partner, and Head of New York Office, Rystad Energy
Sunaina Pai Ocalan, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and Climate Change, Hess Corporation

Fireside Chat with Talent Expert: 
Justine Gordon, US Private Capital and Americas Infrastructure Practice Leader, Egon Zehnder 

Biographies

• Maria Jelescu Dreyfus spent fifteen years at Goldman Sachs, where she most recently served as a portfolio manager and managing director in the Goldman Sachs Investment Partners Group. She currently serves as a director on the board of Pioneer Natural Resources; Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation; on the board of CDPQ, one of Canada’s largest pension plans; and the advisory board of Eni Next, Eni SpA’s corporate venture arm. She sits on the advisory board of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, on its executive committee, and serves as co-chair of its Women in Energy program. Ms. Dreyfus has held her CFA since 2004 and holds a dual degree in economics and management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Deepti Koikara Lindal is a partner at Rystad Energy and head of the New York office. She joined Rystad’s global headquarters in Oslo, Norway in January of 2012 and within four months of her tenure, moved to officially open the New York office. Over the last eleven years, she has helped grow Rystad’s brand and business within the financial community, working closely with banks and investors to meet their energy data needs.. She graduated from Barnard College with a degree in economics.
• Sunaina Pai Ocalan is the Sr. Director of Corporate Strategy and Climate Change for Hess Corporation based in New York. In this role, she works closely with the executive management team evaluating the opportunities and strategic issues affecting the company’s performance and future direction. In her role leading the climate change strategy, Ms. Ocalan is leading the company’s global efforts to integrate its sustainability objectives with the business strategy including defining the company’s path to achieve net zero emissions.  Ms. Ocalan started her career with Schlumberger in Houston, TX, working as a wireline design engineer for the flagship MDT and coring tool. Ms. Ocalan has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Rice University.

• Justine Gordon is the US Private Capital and Americas Infrastructure Practice Leader for Egon Zehnder. Justine works actively with investors, developers, and corporations across the real assets value chain on organizational, Board, and talent matters. Justine commands knowledge of her focus sectors with 20 years of financial investing and advisory experience, primarily in energy and power infrastructure leading the Real Assets secondaries and co-investing business at AlpInvest Partners (the Carlyle Group), and building the direct energy and power infrastructure businesses at RREEF Infrastructure and Guggenheim Partners. Justine began her private equity career at Chartwell Investments before that, she was a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. 

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Advance registration is required. This event will be hosted in person and capacity is limited. 

This event is open to the press, and registration is required to attend. For media inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact Natalie Volk (nv2388@columbia.edu).For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.

In Fall 2023, Athena partnered with the Women in Energy Initiative at Columbia’s Center for Global Energy Policy (CGEP) to create Take the Mic, Take Action! In this community of practice, changemakers across Columbia University — from Barnard to Columbia College to the School of International and Public Affairs and more — learned practical strategies to facilitate dialogue on all things energy. The group met for two 4-hour sessions focused on public speaking and facilitation, led by Jessica Weis, the Program Director at Women in Energy.

Read below to hear from three participants about the strategies they are taking from the sessions to inform their facilitation practice.

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The first thing Daniela Bushiri, a Chemical Engineering Ph.D. student at SEAS, notices about Take the Mic, Take Action! is that it’s composed of a majority of women. “I haven’t found many women-led spaces at Columbia. I was surprised to find that here, of all places, in a group dedicated to energy policy.” Daniela’s observation represents the energy field at large, where women and nonbinary people make up only a small portion. They aren’t only underrepresented, as Sana Asif, a MPA student at SIPA, explains, but also feel undervalued—especially on stage at panels at events. 

“Many times I’ve felt excluded from the conversation and like my opinions don’t matter, despite my knowledge and experience,” says Sana. “In Take the Mic, Take Action! I learned how to take my space. The workshop gave me the tools to talk more confidently about what I know.”

In particular, participants practiced how to create an environment for inclusion and invite ignored or obscured voices into the conversation.

“Moderating does not mean telling people what you feel, it’s about making sure everyone feels heard,” Sana explains, and Claudia Sachs, a JTS/GS dual-degree undergraduate student, agrees. “That’s what I gained from this community of practice—how to be intentional about the ways I include people.” For example, when transitioning from a panelist’s response to the facilitator’s next question, they learned a helpful trick: pick out a keyword from the panelist and use it to reframe the question. 

A few other things they learned: 

• How to courteously interject
• How to research your interviewee beforehand & host a prep meeting
• How to craft a conclusion
• How to increase self-awareness by using the Johari Window
• How to encourage diverse or opposing opinions while maintaining mutual respect

All of this training took place inside a community committed to uplifting women and nonbinary voices in the sector. For Claudia in particular, interacting with graduate students and professionals offered her a glimpse into potential future career paths. It provided her with a support network of individuals who shared similar experiences—a valuable benefit of being part of a community of practice that transcends age and degree programs.

“There were times when we would digress from the main topic to discuss some of the things we face as women when public speaking or moderating, like gender bias. It added a depth to what we’re learning because people’s stories would resonate with one another,” Claudia reflects. 

The participants credit these honest discussions to Jessica, the group’s facilitator, as she embraced difficult topics such as gender dynamics. “She’s such a leader in the energy space,” says Sana, “I valued her candidness in sharing her personal experiences and perspective.” 

Take the Mic, Take Action! provided Daniela, Claudia, and Sana an opportunity they couldn’t find elsewhere—a space to cultivate a women-led community while gaining access to a professional network and valuable hands-on experience. Energy policy remains pivotal for the leaders of tomorrow, and by the end of their time in the community of practice, Daniela, Claudia, and Sana turned their practice into action by facilitating events for the CGEP.

Inspired by Daniela, Sana, and Claudia’s experience? Take the Mic, Take Action! is re-launching for Spring 2024. Learn about how to join here.

Knowing how to be a better ally in the workplace is unfamiliar territory for many of us. The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA’s Women in Energy initiative invites you to a discussion about allyship. Join us for a fireside chat with Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy, and Karen Catlin, author of Better Allies and Belonging in Healthcare, who will discuss the challenges employees who are members of underrepresented groups face in the workplace and how to take action as an ally.

What is it to be an ally in the workplace? How can people in power use allyship to support underrepresented communities? Anyone interested in learning practical tips for how to be an ally in the workplace is encouraged to attend.

Biographies
Jason Bordoff is the Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he is a Professor of Professional Practice. He is also on the faculty of the Columbia Climate School, where he is Co-Founding Dean Emeritus. He previously served as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change on the Staff of the National Security Council. Prior to that appointment, he held senior policy positions on the White House’s National Economic Council and Council on Environmental Quality. Earlier in his career, he was a scholar at the Brookings Institution, served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration, and was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Bordoff holds a JD from Harvard University, an MLitt from Oxford University, and a BA from Brown University.

Karen Catlin After spending twenty-five years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe, Karen Catlin witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears. Today, Karen is a highly acclaimed author and speaker on inclusive workplaces. She is the author of four books: Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces; Belonging in Healthcare; The Better Allies Approach to Hiring; and Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking.

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This event will be hosted in person in New York City.

Advance registration is required. This event will be hosted in person and capacity is limited. We ask that you register only if you can attend this event in its entirety. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email.

This event is open to the press, and registration is required to attend. For media inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact Natalie Volk (nv2388@columbia.edu).

For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.

This roundtable is open only to currently-enrolled Columbia University students. 

Please join the Women in Energy initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia SIPA for a conversation featuring Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy. Our discussion will focus on his career journey and how he became one of the world’s leading energy and climate policy experts. How did he turn his interest in energy into a career? What lessons did he learn along the way?

Biography

Jason Bordoff is the Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he is a Professor of Professional Practice. He is also on the faculty of the Columbia Climate School, where he is Co-Founding Dean Emeritus. He previously served as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change on the Staff of the National Security Council. Prior to that appointment, he held senior policy positions on the White House’s National Economic Council and Council on Environmental Quality. Earlier in his career, he was a scholar at the Brookings Institution, served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton Administration, and was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Bordoff holds a JD from Harvard University, an MLitt from Oxford University, and a BA from Brown University.

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Registration is required. This roundtable is open only to currently-enrolled Columbia University students. To register, you must sign in with your UNI. 

This event will be hosted in person and capacity is limited. We ask that you register only if you can attend this event in its entirety. 
For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.