Mica OdomA Fellowship with The Clinton Climate Initiative in Houston TX
My boss, Brian Yeoman – City Director of the Clinton Climate Initiative for Houston, Texas – has been granted a space in the Mayor’s Office in the same area as the Director of Environmental Programming and his team. My cubicle is located in the middle of all of the people interning with this division. Everything moves very quickly around this office. It is unlike working on the state level, as was my previous experience, where it takes much more time to implement change. It is all so exciting and the Clinton Foundation is at the crux of it all. I have already been informed that my boss plays an integral role in orchestrating these initiatives – I’ve noticed he takes on the “facilitator” role and seems to somehow hold it all together.
As interns we’re working on a full spectrum of environmental issues from calculating the amount of waste that is dumped in the Harris County (and surrounding) landfills on an annual basis for baseline purposes, creating and implementing the City’s first “Go Green” grassroots community initiative and building a cap and trade feasibility study focusing on whether or not the City of Houston should become a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange.
My deliverables for the summer are:
1. Draft a business plan (for a 20-year period) for 6 new compost facilities in and around Harris County.
2. Draft a piece of legislation establishing a local special purpose district to aggregate verifiable reductions in emissions and sell the equivalent credits with proceeds to be dedicated to city-wide sustainability programs.
3. Draft a business plan for the Residential Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program, which plans to target 30,000 existing homes in Harris County.
4. Assist in the creation and the implementation of the Grassroots Residential Energy Efficiency Now program, which educates City of Houston citizens about environmental sustainability and encourages them to make energy efficient lifestyle changes.
I feel that the Clinton Foundation definitely expects a lot out of me and spoke to my boss about what I thought I could realistically deliver this summer. We worked together to prioritize my objectives and it definitely helped relieve a bit of stress! Last week, we met with the head of Sustainability for both Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club at a compost facility located in Conroe, Texas. We toured both the compost site and a Super Wal-Mart site. It was extremely informative and I even got to take a look at some of the facilities’ financials – which I will be using to draft the business plan. That Corporate Finance class is really coming in handy right about now. I have started writing the business plan and will be sitting down with a senior official from the Clinton Climate Initiative to discuss the executive summary, marketing, operations, sales, management and all other necessary information.
Did you know that Texas is the largest producer of wind energy in the U.S.? I didn’t. I have been able to use my connections here with the City, and those from the capitol in Austin, Texas, to meet some of the larger players in the field. I have been doing a good bit of networking on the side and will be meeting with the CEO of Shell WindEnergy in July (among others). I am beginning to think that this is where I will focus most of my energy when searching for a job this fall. I am interested in the policy side of it all as well and will hopefully find a position that helps bridge the gap between the private and public sectors. It is all so exciting and I know that I made the right choice working for the Clinton Foundation this summer!
Journal 2:
When I last wrote, I was working on building a financial model for 6 potential composting sites in the Houston area. Now I am putting the finishing touches on this document and will be sending it to the Clinton Climate Initiative team in New York City for review. Once reviewed, it will be presented to six large equity firms for funding. It is so invigorating to think that my model will serve as the base for such a large-scale project. That has been one of the most exciting aspects of my internship thus far – knowing that what I am doing each day will actually be used to make a substantial difference both here in Houston and nationwide (if all goes as planned). Because I don’t have as strong financial background that most of my fellow classmates do, I felt enormous pressure during this process. Pro-forma analysis is as foreign to me as the Hindi language, so I channeled the courage to try and the willingness to learn into something I believe turned out very nicely. I will soon find out I suppose.
This is the day I learned that in 7 days, I will be giving a presentation during one of Senator Ellis’ “Energy Thursday” discussions at the State Capitol of Texas. While there, I will also be lobbying for a piece of legislation that I helped draft proposing a statewide cap and trade program, which, once implemented, would greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Because I have worked at the Capitol before, I’m thrilled to see how legislation is debated and, hopefully, passed from a brand, new perspective. My presentation will detail what the Clinton Climate Initiative actually does and will also include a 30 minute Q&A session to follow. While I am nervous, I try to treat this like every other CCI assignment - I have to take a leap of faith and have confidence in my ability to present, understand and articulate the material, even if it is all extremely unfamiliar territory. My boss is a very good teacher and takes time to make sure that I understand everything completely. He is always repeating the idea that being effective is much more important than being efficient. I am beginning to agree (although it is hard to slow down like he wants me to sometimes!)
Caleb Crow, the new Residential Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program Manager, started his first day with CCI on Monday. Since that time, I have been filling him in on every detail of this program. I have been working diligently to lay the foundation for Caleb and he seems impressed with the progress that has been made in such a short period. Caleb is one of the only home performance experts in the country and I have already learned so much about retrofitting homes, solar panel construction, renewable energy, etc. from him. My boss, Brian, brings the ideas and years of working knowledge to the table and Caleb brings the tools to implement this program. He is teaching me how to use a Gant Chart and several program management tools such as Base Camp. I have been in charge of program management before, but I am beginning to realize that the proper tracking tools make a HUGE difference. I have also heard back regarding the financial model and everyone is pleased with my work. I am beginning to meet more CCI employees and each one has a unique perspective about working for the Clinton Foundation. I can definitely see myself working here post-graduation.
Journal 3:
Today is my last day with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI). My supervisor gave me an excellent review and says that he will do his best to create a City Director position for me in Austin in May. I hope that he is able to work this out. I would love to work for CCI after graduation. It was so interesting being able to work on an array of projects ranging from waste to retrofits to policy this summer. This variety adds such an interesting element to the work. I want to focus more attention on renewable energy, since Texas is a strong leader in both wind and solar energy development. I have learned more over the past 12 weeks than I could have ever imagined. The work was challenging, yet very inspiring. I feel that it has prepared me for the tenuous recruiting season that lies ahead. Working for the Clinton Climate Initiative has been one of the best decisions I have made thus far.
I guess we'll see how it all works out in the end - though, it is comforting to know that I have an organization that is highly revered among both the public and private sector batting for me!
