Episode Summary: In this episode, Michelle Romero, Leekei, Jenn and Kristina delve into Dream.org's mission of building a brighter future, explore lessons from crises and struggles, highlight innovative climate solutions from diverse communities, and discuss strategies for fostering an inclusive green economy.

Topics discussed include:

• dream.org in a nutshell: uniting people from unlikely walks of life and building a world beyond poverty, prison, pollution and polarization.
• the Flint Michigan experience and Michelle’s awakening to the need to adapt climate action and conversations to serve poorer communities
• helping underserved and underinvested communities access funding
• recognizing the magnitude of the problem and acknowledging that there are no quick fixes
• seeing an opportunity to empathize and collaborate through the crisis
• learning environmentalism and climate solutions from different communities
• a success story: how Reginald Parker (CEO of Optimal Technology Corporation) designed the most efficient technological solution to capture energy from the sun
• the launchpad program for Black and LatinX entrepreneurs and innovators
• building an inclusive green economy to help people with a prison record
• what is the future “dream world” Michelle hopes to build for her 9-year-old
• Michelle’s advice for people who want to create change: you don’t necessarily need to quit your job, you can start by using your power and position as a platform to take action

About Michelle Romero:

Michelle Romero is the Chief Strategy Officer of Dream.Org. As a Latinx C-Suite leader, Michelle oversees programs which focus on ending mass incarceration, building an inclusive green economy, diversifying tech, and uniting unlikely allies to create a more equitable future. She’s raised tens of millions of dollars for social causes, billions of dollars in climate funding, advised local governments on effective practices for engaging communities of color in decision-making, and advises corporations on equity in sustainability. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz and currently lives in Sacramento, CA.

-----

For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac (one of Amazon best-selling books of the year!), visit thecarbonalmanac.org

Want to join in the conversation?

Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives.

Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!

-----

Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Leekei Tang, Jenn Swanson and Kristina Horning.

Leekei is a fashion business founder, a business coach, an international development expert and podcaster from Paris, France.

From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and Community Connector, helping people help themselves.

Kristina has a background in architecture and engineering. Currently in Prague (that it is where she is originally from) and her base is US

-----

Since you’ve come this far, please show your Aloha.

Hawaii has suffered a great tragedy. The deadliest wildfires in the last century.

Maui-based Carbon Almanac Contributor Richie Biluan wrote “You are important. Your voice is important. Your aloha is significant. If you are on social media, send someone an encouraging comment who you see is going through this tragedy, or any for that matter. Share critical information with your network. Write. Read. And most importantly - love one another.”

Visit Richie IG to find out how you can help.

-----

The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

Hi, I'm Christina.

2

I'm from Prague.

3

Hi, I'm Jen, and I'm from Canada.

4

Hi, I'm Oladunji, and I'm from Nigeria.

5

Hello, I'm Liki, and I live in Paris.

6

Hi, I'm Brian, and I'm from New York.

7

Welcome to Carbon Sessions, a podcast with

carbon conversations for every day with

8

everyone from everywhere in the world.

9

In our conversations, we share ideas,

perspectives, questions, and things we

10

can actually do to make a difference.

11

So don't be shy and join our Carbon

Sessions because it's not too late.

12

This is Christina.

13

Hi, this is Liki.

14

Hi, this is Jen, and we've got

a wonderful guest with us today,

15

Michelle Romero from Dream.

16

org.

17

Welcome, Michelle.

18

That's right.

19

Thank you so much for having me.

20

Michelle, can you tell us a

little bit about what Dream.

21

org is to start with?

22

Yeah, well, it's very exciting.

23

We have a very ambitious mission.

24

Dream.

25

org essentially dreams of a world beyond,

a world beyond poverty, beyond prison.

26

Beyond pollution, um,

and beyond polarization.

27

So we really are uniting people

from different sectors and from

28

unlikely walks of life, right.

29

To sort of come together and

contribute to helping solve

30

some of our toughest problems.

31

That's pretty amazing.

32

And, and so my question is, how did so

many things come into one confluence?

33

Yeah, well, you know, I think that

there are, uh, traditional issues

34

like mass incarceration that we

think of as social justice issues.

35

Um, in the United States, if you're

not familiar, the prison system is

36

quite overrun and is disproportionately

incarcerating black and brown folks.

37

And so it's a real issue here.

38

Um, and that's something that we've

traditionally thought of as a social

39

justice issue, a issue of unfairness.

40

A newer issue really is climate change.

41

I think climate change still in the

last few years has become much more

42

understood, much more known for the like

magnitude of the issue that it truly is.

43

Um, but it's newer, and so how those

issues affect communities of color is

44

something that we try to bring forth, but

also when you connect the issues of both

45

pollution and prisons, the reason that we

have a state where low income communities,

46

poor people, and people of color are the

communities that have the dirtiest sources

47

of pollution, they're the communities

that are most affected, you know, the

48

places where pollution lives, so to speak,

the places where we've cited Some of the

49

dirtiest sources of pollution, um, and

the, and the way that, in which we're

50

able to just sort of lock folks up, uh, is

because we devalue certain people's lives.

51

And so there's a connective tissue here

in terms of this throwaway society that as

52

we look about building a more sustainable

economy, a more inclusive, regenerative

53

economy, we also need to think about,

well, what does that mean for society?

54

What are the mental mind shifts, um, that

we need to break free from in order to be.

55

A sustainable society as well.

56

Great.

57

Thank you.

58

And I have one more question and

then if somebody else wants to jump

59

in, um, my question is how did you

personally become involved in this?

60

Yeah.

61

Well, seven years ago I had a friend

who was leading, um, Green for All,

62

which is the initiative at dream.

63

org that's working to build a more

inclusive green economy, strong

64

enough to lift people out of poverty.

65

And she asked me to come and help her

lead some of our national campaign work.

66

And we'd worked together

at another non profit.

67

And I said to her, I said, well,

look, I believe in you as a

68

leader, a hundred percent, right?

69

I am there to help you build what

you envision, but I'm not sure

70

about this environmental stuff.

71

I think as a Latina who had been working

on racial justice issues and issues of

72

economic justice, I wasn't really too

sure, um, how the environment and climate

73

issues really affected our communities.

74

Again, like I said, it's not one of

those issues that we traditionally

75

think of as a social justice issue.

76

Um, and from the outside looking in, The

movement was still very much, you know,

77

advertised as about saving the whales

and saving the polar bears and, um, you

78

know, plastic pollution and things like

that that weren't connecting to me on

79

a tangible level in terms of what does

this mean for our communities, right?

80

What does this mean for

our day-to-day lives?

81

Um, and I will say that first month that

I came and joined her, I took a chance

82

and she sent me to Flint, Michigan.

83

And Flint, Michigan at the time was

going through the Flint water crisis.

84

And so this was an entire city

who had been lead poisoned

85

in their drinking water.

86

They couldn't drink the water, severe

cognitive issues, developmental issues,

87

right, were present in children.

88

I mean, just, uh, it was terrible.

89

And I remember sitting there

in rooms talking to mothers.

90

And there was one in particular,

her name was Denitra.

91

And she had a three year old at the time.

92

And she was describing How, you know,

as a three year old, your pot, it's

93

potty training age, and so you're

teaching them to use the bathroom,

94

and her son had a, an accident.

95

And so she needed to wash him.

96

And she very quickly thought she would

just rinse him quickly in the tub, knowing

97

they can't drink the water, of course.

98

But lead doesn't really affect

your skin, or shouldn't.

99

Um, and yet, within seconds of her putting

him in the tub to rinse him off, he was

100

yelling, Mommy, mommy, it's burning.

101

And so when she pulls him out

of the water, she sees that his

102

skin is cracking and bleeding.

103

So there was more still going on that

wasn't fully, you know, being investigated

104

and it wasn't addressed with any

sort of swiftness by the government.

105

And when you look at a community

like Flint, Michigan, it was

106

predominantly low income.

107

It was black and white poor people.

108

I just remember sitting there,

my daughter was about the same

109

age as her son at the time.

110

And I remember sitting there

just asking myself, how does

111

this happen in the United States?

112

This country that sort of upholds

itself as a beacon of, well,

113

freedom and opportunity and all of

these things that we like to say.

114

And have.

115

People living like that.

116

It had been over a year at that

point that they were living like,

117

been much longer since, of course.

118

Right.

119

Uh, but I just reflected and I

remembered a moment that I hadn't

120

given as much thought to at the time.

121

And I was sitting back home, um,

in my home in California, uh, not

122

too far from Richmond, California.

123

And I remember watching the news and

the, uh, TV reporters reporting that

124

you should get inside your homes if

you live in Richmond, California.

125

There had just been a

Chevron oil refinery.

126

Explosion and the air outside was unsafe

to breathe, so you should get inside

127

and that you should close your doors and

windows and more than that, you know,

128

you should find towels, bedding, anything

you could to sort of shove in the cracks.

129

Well, I had a friend.

130

Who lived in Richmond at the time and this

is before I'd ever gone to Flint, right?

131

This is before I'd even worked on

environmental issues or started to make

132

these connections But sitting there in

Flint reminded me of that time I called

133

my friend and I said Blanca, are you

seeing what's happening on the news?

134

Are you inside?

135

Are you okay?

136

And she actually laughed at me.

137

She laughed at me because she

said Michelle I've grown up

138

here my whole life, right?

139

This happens every other year.

140

There's something like this.

141

There's an alarm system In the city that

tells us when we've got to get inside.

142

Now, at that time, that particular

incident, I'm recalling tens of

143

thousands of people ended up in

the hospital alarm system or not.

144

Right.

145

But the idea that someone who'd grown

up there had found it to be so normal

146

again, to me, just connected the Richmond,

California is the Flint, Michigan's.

147

Right.

148

The thing they had in common is these

were poor communities and they had

149

significant populations of either black

or Latin X or immigrant communities.

150

And it was just.

151

How do we let that go on so long?

152

It's not in our neighborhood, right?

153

As long as it's not us.

154

And so this othering that we do,

um, I think is what has gotten

155

us here with the climate crisis.

156

Yeah, I think the work you're doing

is really important because you are

157

tackling a very important issue.

158

Part of society, a part of it

does not very much address in the

159

climate and environmental work.

160

And I didn't realize that until I listened

to a podcast a couple of weeks ago.

161

I'm from France.

162

And so we also have this problem

of, um, of polarisation and the

163

low income communities issue.

164

I was listening to a very bright young

man who's working with low income

165

communities and going to Like, you

know, I don't know if you're familiar

166

with the Bollier problem in France,

it's like really low income suburbs

167

that have, um, very high unemployment

and, um, high pity crime, let's say.

168

And, um, and, the people living there are

not involved in the climate conversation.

169

But on the other hand, they're very much

exposed because it is in this area where

170

they have no, like, not so many trees,

no access to, like, because we keep saying

171

that, oh, well, you should buy local,

but no, they cannot buy local because

172

nothing grows all around this area.

173

Right.

174

And, um, and so the message

of this very bright young man

175

was, okay, this is your chance.

176

I mean, not this is your chance.

177

You have to, you really have , to

understand the problem, and this is

178

an empowerment tool for you to, to

be involved in society, because a

179

lot of things are going to change,

and this is your way of getting

180

involved in building the new system.

181

So my My question to you is that because

the young man was explaining things like,

182

you know, well, the message that , we hear

in the mainstream media is like, Oh, wow.

183

What we could do is to switch

to electric cars, but you know,

184

people are not even driving there.

185

So I guess that you have the same

kind of approach with low income

186

communities in the places you work.

187

So how do you address that?

188

Absolutely.

189

Absolutely.

190

Absolutely.

191

You know, local communities need local

solutions and not every community

192

is the same right in terms of how

they get around their city or how

193

they, um, reach access to hospitals

or to food or things like that.

194

So I think, you know, one of the unique

opportunities that we have right now

195

in the United States, which is very

exciting, is that the federal government

196

this past year authorized 369 billion.

197

for climate investment and

that was authorized as part of

198

the Inflation Reduction Act.

199

So there's now billions of dollars

that are going to be allocated

200

over the next several years.

201

But, you know, history shows us that just

because they've authorized the funding

202

doesn't mean it actually reaches the

people in places that need it the most.

203

Yeah.

204

So one of the things that we

are really focused on at Dream.

205

org is making sure that the

money does get to the people in

206

places that need it the most.

207

Um, we've been working with policy

makers in the United States.

208

On how to design the programs

and the criteria for applications

209

that would compete for funding.

210

So that we're prioritizing the

communities that we've underinvested

211

in for so long that we're actually

now proactively investing in them.

212

Um, I'm actually very proud of our

team, you know, to share that the

213

Environmental Protection Agency adopted

all of our recommendations recently.

214

Um, when they put out the rules for

this new Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,

215

it's the first 20 billion essentially

that's going to go out the door.

216

Um, and so we're going to see

now more of this money starting

217

to benefit these communities.

218

What happens at the

grassroots level, right?

219

What happens at the community

level, um, when communities don't

220

know how to position themselves to

compete, how to access the money.

221

So we're also working at that

level through our transformative

222

communities program.

223

That program is working, uh,

specifically with what we call

224

disadvantaged or underinvested in

pollution burdened communities.

225

And helping them identify projects that

they want to see that meet the criteria

226

for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,

and that could become competitive in

227

this cycle, so that we're starting to

develop a pipeline of shovel worthy

228

projects that are ready then when that

application open to go after those

229

funding, and it's, you know, involving

community, it's engaging them and

230

saying, What would you want to see here?

231

Do you need more, you know,

public transportation?

232

Do you need affordable housing built

near transit so that it's reducing

233

the need for reliance on cars?

234

You know, that's one of the

things that is possible.

235

And so anyway, it's very exciting

because we have an opportunity really

236

to do some transformative things.

237

I have been thinking about when

we were talking about Flint and,

238

uh, other specific, uh, disasters.

239

They have been going on, on

decades, for decades and decades.

240

And, uh, I experience, I'm from Czech

Republic, and I experience after 89.

241

The pollution in the rivers, before

89, pollution was really bad.

242

The fish were dying.

243

It was basically disaster,

a chemical disaster.

244

And within a year or so, the

rivers can be cleaned up.

245

And I feel this is such a wonderful focus

on these things to finally put money

246

in it and clean up all these things we

have been suffering with for decades.

247

And, uh, maybe that's one positive

part of the climate change that

248

finally we're getting focused

on something that is important.

249

My question is, do you remember the time

when you could Specify the connection

250

between the behavior of the big companies

and all these things happening and the

251

climate change and how you woven it into

your I think that generally, you know, we

252

see in the environmental movement these

campaigns to sort of help people stop

253

using single use plastics and it's really

focused on sort of individual behavior.

254

And of course, there's

something everyone can do.

255

And I think what you're getting at is

important, which is to recognize that

256

there's actually a smaller amount of

individuals or companies that actually

257

contribute the greatest amount.

258

Um, of the climate pollution,

and so absolutely, I mean,

259

that's what we advocate, right?

260

To um, stop pollution

and to fund solutions.

261

Yeah.

262

And some of that means, you know, making

the polluters sort of pay, that there

263

is a social cost to allowing them to

just sort of pollute the air, which

264

is essentially a public good, right?

265

It's a shared resource.

266

That's brilliant when you

said stop funding pollution.

267

Yeah.

268

I never thought it that way.

269

Yeah, you're right.

270

We have been.

271

We have been.

272

Yeah, if you were a small business, if

you were a restaurant, you wouldn't,

273

oh, I don't know, some places I guess

you pay for trash and some places you

274

don't, where I live, you know, you pay

to have your trash collected and picked

275

up and so, but if you're a restaurant,

you're not just going to dump your trash

276

on the street and think it's just going

to live there, right, that that would

277

come with some sort of fee for littering

or, like, it's just not acceptable.

278

And yet, that's essentially

what we've done to our air.

279

That there hasn't been the regulations

around our shared use of, of the

280

air, um, that it's allowed that.

281

But I think to be able to recapture

some of the value, you know, that,

282

that actually has and to be able to

use that to help fund the transition

283

is, you know, a possible solution.

284

So, yeah, I think how we hold these

polluters accountable is important.

285

I, I have another question.

286

Have you guys been working

with system practice?

287

Uh, I'm not familiar with that.

288

What do you mean?

289

Systems practice.

290

It's a system where they look

at the whole, whole thing.

291

Uh, you, they would look at not

only the local main government, the

292

pollution, but I, I was thinking

that's such a helpful tool.

293

Yeah.

294

With this issue that it's...

295

It's huge.

296

It's uh, and changing every day.

297

Yeah.

298

So, I thought of system

practice as a really good fit.

299

I mean, we do need systems

level solutions, right?

300

Interventions at every level.

301

Yeah.

302

Every level of government,

but also in industry.

303

And connecting all of them together, yeah.

304

Yeah.

305

Um, Michelle, I would like to go back to

this low income, grassroot communities,

306

and I was wondering through the work,

what was the biggest Difficulty that

307

you faced, uh, your organization faced

when they go to the grassroots level.

308

What was that?

309

How does it happen?

310

You know, what was the experience?

311

Look, I mean, I think the hardest

thing is, um, recognizing the magnitude

312

of the problem and wishing that you

could just sort of wave a magic wand

313

and, and have cleaner communities

and have communities that have clean

314

water again and that sort of thing.

315

And it's just, unfortunately,

when there's this much damage.

316

It's not a quick fix, and I think

that's hard to accept, right?

317

We live, you know, especially just

capitalism and consumerism has us having

318

these quick transactional exchanges, and

so we think, well, if we just, can we

319

just pay for this, or can we just do the,

can we just throw money at the problem?

320

Does that fix it?

321

And we need money, right?

322

To help bring the solution.

323

Um, but it, it is more complicated,

and it does take collaboration.

324

Um, it does take multiple, you know, sort

of players between, in, in cooperation

325

I would say between government,

between industry, between communities.

326

Um, but that's also I think

the exciting opportunity.

327

You know when I talked earlier about we

have to heal society's sort of addiction

328

to othering, um, the, the divisiveness

or the hate, the things that make us.

329

feel comfortable pointing to someone

who is different than us and saying, Oh,

330

well, that's not me, or I don't identify.

331

And so therefore I don't have to care.

332

Don't have to care about them.

333

I don't have to have empathy, right?

334

It's an excuse.

335

It absolves us of some

sort of responsibility.

336

Um, with this kind of problem, like

climate change, it doesn't allow for that.

337

To have collaboration, you've

got to get back in the game.

338

You've got to empathize.

339

You have to care about people who

are different than you, um, and I

340

think especially in this climate

crisis issue, uh, it's one thing when

341

the dirtiest sources of pollution,

right, the cancer, the asthma, all of

342

that is sort of in these low income

communities and communities of color.

343

It's another when that.

344

Pollution, right?

345

The same climate pollution that's

sort of filling up kids lungs and

346

causing asthma and cancer and those

sorts of diseases are now affecting

347

us at a global level, you know?

348

And so we didn't care about it

when it wasn't in our backyard.

349

Well, now guess what?

350

It's in all of our backyards, but

the problem's become so big, right?

351

It would have been much easier to control

it before it had gotten out of control.

352

And so that's only possible, I think, when

we care when it's not in our backyard too.

353

I resonate with that.

354

I'm in Canada and we have a number

of First Nation communities that

355

have for decades not had access to

clean drinking water, which is...

356

absurd because we have some of the

best drinking water in the world.

357

So, you know, it's, it's a similar thing.

358

And what I'm noticing now is with all of

the fires that we've got going on here

359

is finally people are starting to consult

with the First Nations people who have,

360

you know, generations and generations of

knowledge on how to deal with things like

361

The environment, the earth, the water, the

air, the fires, and are finally consulting

362

to say, you know, what would you do?

363

Because clearly what we're

doing is not working.

364

And so finally there's some

consultation, um, from the people

365

who are the knowledge keepers really.

366

So I, I just kind of wonder if there's

consultation, if there's, you know,

367

what, what do the people who are the most

affected, do they have ideas and solutions

368

that anyone's listening to is my question.

369

Yeah.

370

There's two things I want to say to that.

371

One is that, you know, I mentioned

when I first got into the environmental

372

issues, I wasn't sure, uh, you know, I

struggled with the identifying myself

373

as an environmentalist because of how

the movement was sort of branded, right?

374

Um, and, and the, the concerns

that I had, you know, being

375

rooted maybe a little bit more in

economic justice or racial justice.

376

But when I think back to how I grew up,

uh, my grandmother was my babysitter,

377

right, I've spent most of my time, I

would say at her house, at grandma's

378

house, and, um, I'm half Mexican and

half white, so this is on my dad's

379

side, my Mexican abuelita, okay.

380

This was a woman who saved everything.

381

And you might have stories

of that too, right?

382

A lot of, a different generation.

383

A different, or different cultures

that learn to value things.

384

And so, butter containers, you ran out

of butter, that was a salsa jar, right?

385

Today, we have these bans against

plastic, uh, bags at the grocery

386

store, we don't have that anymore.

387

And I remember the first thing

thinking, Oh, what are we going to use

388

then when we're making our tortillas?

389

We used to just use that to sort

of separate so they didn't stick.

390

Um, you know, and we in our house found

ways to recycle and reuse, but I didn't

391

think of that as environmentalism.

392

My dad, my grandpa, all of my uncles

worked at the garbage company.

393

I was recycling from the

time I was a toddler, right?

394

I didn't environmentalism.

395

In fact, we actually had more

consciousness around the workers.

396

That received the garbage, right?

397

And how you are sort of paying attention

to that this goes somewhere, right?

398

And someone is dealing with this.

399

And so being kind, being respectful.

400

Um, but when you fast forward

now, you know, we think about

401

solutions to these issues.

402

I've talked a lot and I feel like a

lot of the conversation in general

403

around communities of color and

low income communities is centered

404

on how they're disproportionately.

405

How they're more polluted, how they

have less resources, less access to

406

the solutions and that sort of thing.

407

But they really are, as you mentioned,

Jen, like they are also solutionaries.

408

They are also people who have a

ton of knowledge and wisdom before

409

we've rebranded some of this as

now being environmentally trendy.

410

There are some cultures that

have been practicing these things

411

for many, many years, and I will

say there's a lot of genius.

412

And talent in these same communities.

413

And so again, we, if we can get

out of that sort of mentality, that

414

people who are different than us

means that they're less valuable,

415

less smart, less brilliant, right?

416

It's not just that they're

different, it's that they're less.

417

I think that that's how we've

sort of translated that.

418

Uh, then maybe we would unlock

the full potential of human

419

ingenuity on the problem.

420

There's a lot of folks

who've got incredible.

421

You know, solar companies and I work,

I get to work with a lot of black and

422

brown CEOs of climate tech startups.

423

Um, and just to hear how they started

their companies, I mean, we'll tell

424

you that lived experience matters.

425

You just think about the problem

differently and we need everybody's,

426

you know, creativity on this.

427

Right.

428

And we need to not have environmentalism

be a, you know, a white savior movement.

429

Right.

430

I agree with you because I think

the environmentalism, it's like

431

reinventing the will sometimes.

432

Because things have been done, , for ages.

433

I, I want to, again, go back to

the, you know, the success stories.

434

You mentioned the, you know, CEOs because,

uh, I, obviously your organization helped,

435

I shouldn't say people, become leaders.

436

Because you see the potential, so

you, you help them become leaders.

437

Like to ask you if you, uh, can share

some success stories and also your walk

438

us through how was the process or, you

know, how, how you help them become

439

the people that are, you know, that are

doing things differently and leading.

440

A year or two ago, um, after the

government had authorized all of this

441

funding, we said, okay, well, we want

it to go not just to the communities

442

who need it the most, but we also

want to make sure that the contracts.

443

The business opportunities are

also going to, um, innovators and

444

entrepreneurs of color, right?

445

Folks who are often overlooked

as the solution makers.

446

And so, um, I was able to reach out

and connect and build relationships

447

with a lot of brilliant CEOs of various

climate solutions and climate companies.

448

One of them, um, I would love to share

just sort of when I say lived experience

449

matters, this is what I mean, right?

450

Uh, his name is Reginald Parker.

451

He's the CEO of Optimal

Technology Corporation.

452

He's got all sorts of different

technologies that they've

453

brought, uh, to market.

454

But one of them is actually the most

efficient solar panel on the market.

455

Uh, it's the most efficient, right?

456

And so it captures more, it

harnesses more of the sun's energy.

457

Uh, and making it quite valuable.

458

How did he come up with

this technology, right?

459

Uh, many, many, many years

after many, many solar companies

460

had already been doing solar.

461

Well, he was a high school student

before he was an entrepreneur,

462

before he'd even gone to college.

463

He was a high school student.

464

And as a black man, he had his,

uh, photo taken for the yearbook

465

like every other student.

466

But again, as a black man,

um, not every photographer.

467

Knows how to capture the features and the

undertones in the face of a black person,

468

especially a darker skinned black person.

469

And so his yearbook photo came back,

uh, you know, like one dark blob.

470

He, he really couldn't recognize him.

471

It didn't feel like him.

472

And so he said, I'm not

having that in my yearbook.

473

And, uh, he went home and he worked with

his uncle to sort of set up lighting

474

and, you know, set up at home to take

it, to retake his yearbook photo.

475

So he could submit something different.

476

And sure enough, his uncle takes his photo

and it is a photo of him, a proper photo.

477

You can see his face, right?

478

Everything looks good.

479

And he asked his uncle,

Wait, I don't get it.

480

You know, he says, at school

we had all the lighting.

481

We had the professional camera

equipment and the company that

482

comes in to take the photos.

483

He says, we did all that at home.

484

How can these two photos be so different?

485

You know, his uncle was explaining to

him that the way that you can split UV

486

light You know, and bounce it, bounce the

light differently, helps you to capture

487

different sorts of tones, different sorts

of, um, layers and stuff to a photograph.

488

And so he remembered that, right, took

that piece of knowledge, pocketed it,

489

didn't think about it for a while, went

to school, right, became a, a chemist,

490

a chemical engineer, and ended up

working in the solar industry, actually

491

helping to install solar initially.

492

And, um, he realized in working in

solar that, Oh my gosh, these solar

493

panels were so inefficient at the time.

494

They were like 17 percent efficiency.

495

He's like, we're barely capturing

a fifth of the potential, right?

496

He thought there's gotta be a better way.

497

And so he went to work on that problem

and it was lessons like, uh, the one

498

from his high school yearbook photo

that actually gave him a different

499

way of approaching the problem and led

to an ultimately different technology

500

solution for how we capture the sun.

501

Uh, energy.

502

And so he's got, you know,

it's more efficient by far.

503

And folks would say,

well, he's outsourcing it.

504

How's he making it?

505

Right.

506

It must be really expensive.

507

Nope.

508

He produces them in the United States.

509

They're local jobs.

510

Right.

511

And, um, they're cheaper.

512

Yeah.

513

They're actually cheaper.

514

And so, um, it's things like that,

you know, I think that, uh, can

515

sometimes be overlooked, but one of

the things that we're doing at dream.

516

org is that we find that

there's brilliance like that.

517

Right.

518

More often than not, there's

an overlooked, you look under a

519

rock, under a corner, you're going

to find brilliance like that.

520

But our venture capitalists,

our financers, right, are not

521

necessarily funding these solutions.

522

When you think about that most venture

capitalists are, are not diverse, their

523

social networks are limited, right?

524

How they have access to finding that

brilliance is just limited with their

525

set, this sort of same outreach set.

526

And so, um, We have partnered with Village

Capital, which is another non profit

527

organization based out of New York.

528

And we are running a Launchpad

program specifically for Black and

529

Latinx entrepreneurs and innovators.

530

We're providing them intensive investor

readiness training so that they

531

know how to pitch their companies,

how to speak the speak, right, when

532

they go and present their companies.

533

Because the solutions are

brilliant, but there's a gap.

534

Between how one world talks and operates

and how the other has access and so, um,

535

being able to get them in front of, uh,

through a demo day culminating event at

536

the end of this is going to be in October.

537

Uh, in San Francisco, uh, we're going

to have a demo day out at Green Biz's

538

Verge event, and we're going to actually

allow them to present their companies in

539

front of investors and try to get more

support behind these, uh, innovations.

540

That's brilliant.

541

You just give me a brilliant idea.

542

Yeah, because I was thinking, because

I, I was thinking about, this young,

543

bright man and, and I was thinking how

I can help them, you and my field is

544

entrepreneurship and I help, I'll help

students and young entrepreneurs build,

545

build all the financials and do pitches.

546

So here we are.

547

Nice.

548

Here we are.

549

Thank you.

550

I see a launchpad in your future.

551

Can I ask how the prisons fit in

to everything that you're doing?

552

You know, um, our founder, uh, back

553

organization, um, he was working as a

criminal justice organizer, and he was

554

working to get people out of prison.

555

And he was actually pretty successful.

556

They had just helped to stop a super

jail from coming to our local county.

557

Uh, but he was realizing that,

you know, all of this effort, when

558

you're an advocate, when you're

really fighting for creating a better

559

world, these are hard problems.

560

You don't see the change overnight.

561

And so when you have those moments

of success, you have those moments of

562

progress, you ask yourself, is it enough?

563

And I think that's what he did.

564

And he, um, basically asked himself in

reflecting, he says, If All that I'm doing

565

is helping to get people out of prison,

helping to give them a second chance.

566

That's essentially returning

them though to the same

567

communities that they came from.

568

So unless we're changing the conditions of

those communities, unless we're creating

569

pathways out of poverty, pathways, you

know, alternatives to violence, right?

570

Pathways into new opportunity.

571

Um, it's not enough.

572

It's, it's a half solution.

573

And so that's where the work that we do to

build an inclusive green economy comes in.

574

Um, that's where all of this climate

investment, if we invested in these

575

communities that need economic

opportunity, they need local jobs, right?

576

And we know that all of those

investments require skilled work, like

577

we actually have a labor shortage of

skilled workers to do this transition.

578

So if we can take people who most need

work, coming out of prison for instance,

579

and put them to work doing the jobs that

most need done, we can begin to solve

580

poverty and pollution at the same time.

581

Yeah, that was, um, when I moved in

a new house, it was over 20 years ago

582

before, long before we talk about,

um, uh, you know, uh, recycling and

583

repairing stuff, because I was young

at that time, so I didn't have a lot

584

of money, and I equipped my first

apartment in Paris with, um, secondhand,

585

like, fridge washing machine, uh, that

was repaired by people getting out of

586

prison, and we were already doing it

over 20 years ago, so, yeah, nothing new.

587

Yeah, yeah, nice.

588

I've known some companies to start as a

for profit company specifically to employ,

589

um, folks coming home from prison too.

590

Yeah, there's some great companies doing

that kind of work, but yeah, exactly.

591

Battery recycling, bread making,

I mean, there was, there's so

592

many, um, and these are exactly

the kinds of things that we need.

593

We just need pathways.

594

And to get rid of some of the

unnecessary barriers, I think

595

some jobs require or exclude.

596

Uh, folks with a prison record

from having certain jobs.

597

Now, in some cases, the specific,

you know, crime may make sense.

598

Um, but a lot of times we just use it as

a blanket, you know, right, to say, Oh,

599

if you have a record, you're disqualified.

600

You mentioned you have a three year

old a couple of years ago, so what's

601

the dream for your three year old?

602

Yeah.

603

When she would be your age?

604

Oh!

605

Look, I mean, my dream is that

she doesn't have to go through the

606

disasters that are predicted, right?

607

Um, my daughter's eight now and she's

already been through a pandemic.

608

Oh, yeah, which promised her, right?

609

She was in kindergarten at the time and

I remember telling her I promise this

610

isn't gonna be your whole life It will

get better and it was almost as quick

611

as the words came out of my mouth.

612

I thought to myself Oh my god,

you might be a liar and that

613

is That's really scary, right?

614

That's really scary to think about, so

not to catastrophize the situation, but

615

I think my dream for her is to not, you

know, live with the anxiety, um, that

616

things like a pandemic or her spending

a good portion of the fall season

617

indoors because we have wildfires here.

618

Um, in California, uh, you know,

that she can just be a kid, that

619

she can just pursue her dreams.

620

I remember when I was a kid

thinking, If I had a million

621

dollars, what would I do with it?

622

Now, a million doesn't sound like that

much anymore, but if I had a million

623

dollars, what would I do with it?

624

And, uh, I just think growing up, I didn't

worry about the climate crisis, right?

625

I dreamed up the biggest

mansion I could imagine!

626

Yeah.

627

That's what people are all

crazy to spend the money on.

628

Um, I asked my daughter this because

we do this, these journaling activities

629

and one of the prompts was essentially

that what would you do if you had a

630

million dollars and she turns to me and

she says, I would give it all to dream.

631

org so that you can fix the environment.

632

And I thought, you know, you're

eight on the one hand, but a

633

generous heart and on the other.

634

Is it because they worry, you know,

it's like, yeah, I was talking

635

to a, a person who's in charge

in the organization I work for.

636

She's in charge of what's called

the first third ministry, which is

637

everybody in the first third of life.

638

And she was saying that generations that

generation Z is, uh, has feels the most

639

hopeless out of all of the generations,

uh, because of everything they're facing

640

and that there's A very strong desire for

mental health and mental wellness because

641

of all the anxiety and stress that they're

under, which was really hard to hear.

642

And at the same time, completely

understandable because as you

643

say, they're living into this, um,

this world we we've got for them.

644

And um, that's a really,

that's a really tough thing.

645

It is tough, you know, and, um, It's

real, but I think to just leave on a

646

hope, on a hopeful note, there really is

something everyone can do, and I think

647

that this is, you know, regardless of

the social issue or social problem that

648

you're the most passionate about, climate

change, mass incarceration, right, any

649

sort of social justice, I think some

people feel like they have to quit their

650

day jobs in order to make change, and

I actually think we need people exactly

651

where they're at, and we need them

to learn how to use the power and the

652

position, the platforms, the platforms.

653

The, the relationships, the

resources that they do have to make

654

a difference, um, whether you're

in banking or finance, right?

655

Find out what programs do you offer

small businesses, you know, to

656

support more entrepreneurs of color.

657

If you worked at an, at a company, maybe

you work at an entertainment company

658

or you work at a technology company or

what have you, um, and they have a big

659

sustainability initiative because a lot

of these companies have made commitments

660

to reduce their carbon emission.

661

Ask them who they're purchasing

from for these solutions.

662

Who are they buying

their solar from, right?

663

Where are they getting

their electric fleet?

664

Uh, those are ways that people

can make purchasing decisions that

665

support more economic equity, uh,

when you have supplier diversity.

666

Um, if you're at a school, right?

667

Thinking about how to incorporate

friend, you know, kid friendly.

668

Yeah.

669

Don't freak the kids out more,

but you know, kid friendly, sort

670

of empowering activity that give

them a sense of empowerment around.

671

Um, what they can do to take action.

672

I think sometimes the hopelessness

comes from feeling like

673

there's nothing we can do.

674

Yeah.

675

You know?

676

We all just need to do what we can do.

677

That's great.

678

Yeah.

679

Thank you.

680

Thank you.

681

I love the empowerment of kids.

682

I was going to say, thanks for

this conversation, Michelle.

683

It's been great.

684

Lots of, uh, nuggets to take away.

685

Yeah.

686

Thank you.

687

Thank you.

688

Wonderful.

689

Thank you.

690

You've been listening to Carbon

Sessions, a podcast with carbon

691

conversations for every day with

everyone from everywhere in the world.

692

We'd love you to join the Carbon

Sessions so you too can share your

693

perspectives from wherever you are.

694

This is a great way for our community

to learn from your ideas and

695

experiences, connect, and take action.

696

If you want to add your voice to the

conversation, go to thecarbonalmanac.

697

org slash podcast.

698

And sign up to be part

of a future episode.

699

This podcast is also part of

the Carbon Almanac Network.

700

For more information, to sign up for

the emails, to join the movement,

701

and to order your copy of the Carbon

Almanac, go to thecarbonalmanac.

702

org.

703

Be sure to subscribe and join

us here again, as together

704

we can change the world.