Resiliency in Times of Uncertainty
Resiliency is a familiar word for those working on solutions for clean energy, decarbonization, and environmental sustainability. For 10 years, our mission was and continues to be focused on supporting the innovation ecosystem and the entrepreneurs who are devoting their life’s work to solving our collective climate and environmental challenges. So, as you might imagine, the word “resiliency” has become a mantra and mindset out of necessity for us.
We stand committed to finding ways to continue making seed investments, supporting startups through our programming and engagement, and fighting like hell to ensure the ecosystem remains cohesive and unified. Never before has our work at Clean Energy Trust been more important than it is now.
This is why, as our world is faced with uncertainty and change in this trying time, Clean Energy Trust takes a moment to articulate what resiliency means to us.
Each staff member approaches the topic differently as our roles and backgrounds vary, but we share an organizational ethos.
What does resiliency mean to you?
Wishing you well in these unprecedented times,
The Clean Energy Trust Team
Erik Birkerts, Chief Executive Officer
Resiliency is a complicated, loaded word for me. Resiliency can be a positive attribute when describing one’s ability to fight through and overcome challenges and difficult circumstances. As a parent, I wish to raise my children to be resilient. However, in the context of energy and infrastructure, resiliency elicits a certain sadness. Cities have to be resilient to flooding and rising sea levels. Utilities have to be resilient to natural disasters that are increasing in force and frequency. Agriculture has to be resilient to either too much or too little water. These are all risks we could have mitigated years ago but didn’t. I still believe we have the opportunity to act but the increasing use of the word resiliency suggests that some people are already moving to Plan B: adaptation.
Paul Seidler, Managing Director
I think resiliency is a function of preparedness and adaptability. In times of crisis, it’s great to have both. But if you’re short on one, the other will have to pick up the slack. Preparedness requires resources. Adaptability requires flexibility and grit. Our country was remarkably unprepared for this crisis, but our adaptability will help us get through it. As we shelter-in-place, I’m inspired by the outpouring of generosity, creativity, and perseverance all around the world, and I’m grateful for my family’s health and the resources we have — food, a comfortable home, clean water, electricity, connectivity. Sometimes a crisis erupts without warning, changing the world overnight. Other times a crisis unfolds over decades and you can quite readily see the warning signs and the damage being done. Let’s get through this crisis and get back to the other one ASAP.
Susie Spigelman, Director, Business Development and Partnerships
I believe resiliency begins with the power of positive thinking. As Norman Vincent Peale instructed us decades ago, “No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities, always see them, for they’re always there.” Our positive thoughts are what make us resilient: They build us up, keep us going, and drive us to be better tomorrow than we were today. During this time of uncertainty and worry, it is our collective responsibility to strengthen ourselves and those around us by keeping a positive mindset and finding opportunities to do good.
Tony Zhu, Venture Associate
I look at resiliency as a commitment to a mission in the face of any challenge. Whether it’s a startup looking to develop the next world-changing product or an organization like Clean Energy Trust looking to support those startups, resiliency comes through as the ability to maintain forward momentum on the defining mandate of the business in any environment. Difficult times give rise to opportunities that show who really is “all in.”
Ian Adams, Managing Director
Of all the difficulties facing the nation today, fortunately, access to reliable electricity is not one of them. However, this time of crisis underscores the importance of resiliency — the capacity to tolerate and respond to challenges — across sectors. In the energy context, this means a grid that is hardened (to help prevent it from failing) and intelligent (to let operators know when it does) and generation, storage, and distribution system assets that are partially distributed and have the capacity to operate separately from the grid.
Amy Yanow Fairbanks, Communications & Content Manager
Resiliency is the ability to adapt and evolve in good and bad times. It is looking at a situation as an opportunity while being hopeful, realistic, patient, and compassionate about potential challenges. It is a quiet confidence that you can achieve no matter the situation — a creative entrepreneurial approach that allows oneself to think beyond the limitations previously set.
Dylan O’Reilly, Program Manager
To me, resiliency is defined as our society’s collective ability to withstand a given challenge. I also believe that we are truly only as resilient as our most vulnerable members. Monumental threats, like climate change or COVID-19, do not affect our society equally. Those in marginalized communities bear the immediate consequences, and to achieve a strong sense of resiliency, we must prioritize solutions that meet the needs of those communities.
