Interview with Richenda Van Leeuwen, CELI

Catherine: Hi, I’m Catherine McLean, Founder and CEO of Dylan Green. Today I have with me Richenda Van Leeuwen. Thank you for joining me.

Richenda: It’s my pleasure.

Catherine: We’ve decided to make a visit back to my old Dylan Green house for this interview in Reston, so I’m very excited that Richenda could join me from across the bridge.

Richenda: Thank you for inviting me from Maryland.

Catherine: To kick things off, can you please introduce yourself and share a bit about what motivated you to step into the executive director role at Clean Energy Leadership Institute?

Richenda: Thank you. So my name is Richenda. I have been in the clean energy sector for about 20 years. I’ve also done a lot of work on international development. And I think for me, I’ve always really been very keen on how clean energy can help to solve problems that are experienced in people’s everyday lives. But I also recall when I first went into clean energy, being one of very few women in finance in clean energy at that time, I was working for a private equity firm. And I would go to these conferences where there’d be like 200, 300 men and three women. And we networked just fine. I will say the women networked particularly well. But at that time, there just weren’t the tools and resources available for people who were coming into clean energy to be able to develop their skills and really network outside of these conference settings. So I’ve always remembered that. And when the opportunity came up to take on the role of executive director at CELI, the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, I really remembered that and thought how important it is to invest in the next generation. Now, when I was younger and more arrogant, perhaps, I used to think, we’ve got it, clean energy, we’re there. We’ve got all the solutions. And I think as time has gone on, I’ve recognized I’m getting somewhat older. And also I don’t have all the solutions. And I think it’s the smartest investment that we can be making to help equip the next generation of up and coming leaders to be able to have the skills, the experience, and help them to develop those networks more quickly. To be able to problem solve in their businesses and to support others who have challenges. So for me, I’ve got a lot of experience running non-profits in the private sector, as I mentioned, in private equity and investment in renewable energy, on the policy side as well. And I started out, actually, when I came to the United States as a younger person, focusing also on workforce development in a different sector. So it was like all of these threads came together. And I’m just loving it so far.

Catherine: Oh, I love that. And so as the new executive director, what are your top priorities?

Richenda: Well, of course, CELI has an excellent reputation. So one of the things really to look at is to maintain that quality and excellence in the program. I’ve been just so thrilled to meet hundreds of young, inspired, very, very talented professionals in the clean energy sector. And many of them are now CELI alumni. So we also have this cohort of 12 years of these alumni where we also really want to work with them on projects that they’re interested in, looking at how they also, many of them, some of them have had successful fundraising, even as much as a billion dollars of entrepreneurial support. And those are people who are now leaders in the sector. So we also want to help them really bring on the earlier career people as well. So we’re also looking at beyond the fellowship, how can we then help support youth who are perhaps interested in clean energy, but don’t know too much about it, to get to build their own experience and look at the opportunities available within the sector. And that’s also one of the things I like about the fellowship, which is, it’s not a master’s degree, but it gives a holistic set of training around different aspects of clean energy. So that if somebody’s interested, maybe they’re an engineer, but they’re interested in policy or in finance, they can get enough, not only to be dangerous, but also think about, maybe I want to pivot or add this to my portfolio.

Catherine: Like where else could they get that opportunity? I think sometimes when people go into companies, they get so pigeonholed. If they’re doing project development and they want to do project finance, it’s like, well, no, you do project development. So it’s an opportunity to explore other parts of the industry.

Richenda: And I will say, I’ve met so many fantastic young leaders that I see them being the captains of industry. And I think when you get into those very senior leadership roles, as you say, you can’t just be siloed in one area. You need to have enough of a skillset to be able to navigate different parts of the sector. And I think we help to do that.

Catherine: That’s great. And given your background in international development and impact investing, what drew you into clean energy and what has shaped the way that you lead?

Richenda: So for me personally, I got my first exposure to clean energy when I was a 10 year old child. I grew up in the United Kingdom and I saw my first solar panel on this, what was called the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, which if you don’t know, is a very rainy part of the United Kingdom. And there was a solar panels and then there was a small wind turbine. And I was intrigued by that. I didn’t immediately use it for my degree or anything like that. But then fast forward years later, I was offered the opportunity based on my emerging markets background to join this renewable energy company that was investing globally. And I remembered not only how much I’d been intrigued by that sort of on the nerdy side, if you will, but also we were seeing more and more how the price of solar was coming down. And particularly one of my passions is bringing electricity to communities that have never had any electricity. And we began to see that solar combined with LED lamps which were an innovation back then, just drastically dropped the price and made it affordable to communities that didn’t have access to electricity. So that was my entry point. And I was very fortunate because on the one hand, I was investing as a venture capitalist. But on the other hand, I was able to work with that company to set up a foundation that was helping to support some of those new companies that were just getting off the ground. And now 18 years later, some of the leaders in the energy access space.

Catherine: That’s so great. And in Wales of all places. What do you think makes CELI’s approach to leadership development distinct from other programs in the clean energy space?

Richenda: Well, I will say that there are excellent programs. This is not the only one that’s out there. I think one of the things that we do very well is adaptive leadership. So we are very intentional in terms of not only imparting knowledge, because you can do that from YouTube videos, but really being very dynamic about how it’s applicable in a range of different settings. And then working with the professionals on their own public speaking skills, working with them on sort of scenario planning and different settings of problem solving in real time. And we also do as part of the fellowship, we do a capstone project where they get to either do a TED talk or write an op-ed piece or do a business pitch. And for some of them, they’re public speaking in their day job, but they’ve never ever written a piece. And this is a way also to help them build skills across a different range of areas. So I think the CELI is a US program. And we were recently highlighted in Forbes magazine as one of the top six climate and clean energy fellowship programs in the US. And I think it’s partly because we do provide this holistic approach, but we also build community. One of the things that we use as the criteria for acceptance into the program is commitment to service. And so we also have fellows who are not only there to learn, but they’re also there to pay it forward. And it’s a very intentional community. And we’ve seen there have been weddings from CELI fellows, but more in this sector we’ve just really seen people building a community that lasts over years. So they know who to go to, maybe if they have a technical issue, they know, oh, Catherine’s the expert on that and be able to reach out to them. And I think that’s incredibly important as well.
It’s not just a sort of a few months and then you’re done. It’s really an ongoing mechanism for the fellows to engage.

Catherine: I just really, I think one of the things, what you said that really resonates with me, one of my frustrations with academia and school is it’s so inward focused. Now it may have changed, it was a while ago I was in school, but this to me just seems like it’s very outward focused as well. Like you also are trying to help these people with their career, finding jobs and opportunities. It’s not just like, okay, here’s the coursework, off you go. Like you said, you’ve used holistic a few times.

Richenda: Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think some of the recruiters that we work with, like your own company, or other recruiters, there’s more than one, but they recognize that and we’ve seen that recruiters value that somebody’s gone through the CELI fellowship and they pay serious attention to their resume. And we value that as well, because it’s a win-win. You know, of course, we’re working with the companies where the fellows are. So it’s not that we’re encouraging them to then move on immediately in their careers. I mean, because many of them are sponsored by their current company. But of course people will move through their careers. And I think there’s that engagement that lasts. And I’ve seen people who did the fellowship years ago, still helping somebody else who may be between a job. You know, I met somebody just earlier this week who said, well, she’s between jobs, but other CELI fellows are helping her think through, well, where does she want to go next? And help her with some of those connections.

Catherine: Right, right. Well, I know you have a very powerful Slack network that I’ve heard about.

Richenda: We do, we do. And we have an internal job sharing board where only fellows have the access to see those particular opportunities. And that’s very much appreciated.

Catherine: Yeah, that’s great. Are there specific organizations you’ve seen doing an exceptional job developing and retaining clean energy leaders? And if so, what are they doing differently?

Richenda: I mean, the answer is yes. And I would say there are many, both domestically and internationally. I think some of the ones internationally that I’ve been most impressed by have been those where they’ve been very intentional about, for example, supporting women in the workplace. And so for some utilities that have made onsite childcare. So that women in the workplace can actually focus on their jobs without worrying about their children. And so that’s one area I think I’ve seen some good examples. I will say I was in Chicago at the end of last year and was engaging quite a lot with NEXAMP. And I was very impressed with what they’re doing in the city of Chicago. They’ve won some awards for it, but they’ve really gone deep on workforce development and working with the community. And I think really engaging the community and building pipelines of potential employees and really sort of investing and getting rooted deep in the community. And I think that’s so important of not just sort of being opportunistic about it, but being very intentional and going deep in those communities to work again with a diverse applicant pool that maybe would not otherwise know about or really think about clean energy. And I think that was very impressive to me.

Catherine: That doesn’t surprise me at all about NEXAMP. NEXAMP has always been that way. They’re incredibly adept at building networks to hire the best talent. It’s actually a big reason why they probably don’t work with recruiters as much as some other developers, because I think they do such a good job of really embedding in those communities. So that’s great to hear that because I guess they were doing that in Boston. It’s great to hear that they’re now doing that in Chicago. Right. What skills or experiences should early and mid-career professionals be investing in right now to stay competitive and impactful, especially as AI and digital tools reshape the clean energy workforce?

Richenda: I think, I mean, based on my own personal experience, my own career is it’s been, I think meandering could be one word for it. I would say intentionally eclectic would be another way to say it. So build as many different skills as you can. Not necessarily only within the clean energy sector. Maybe learn a computer language, maybe look at other aspects of your life, because I’ve seen that things that you may have done years ago, like my being interested in the solar panel, might actually come to play a part later on in your career. So don’t be too narrowly focused. Really work on getting a wide range of skills. And especially if you are on a leadership track, as I say, you want to know how policy is made, what advocacy is, even if you’re more of an engineer or you’re a project finance person. I think having that diversity of understanding is so critical to that foundation of senior leadership as they move up in that particular area.

Catherine: The other thing I would say is that it’s just being open. Because I think sometimes people, if when they’re ready to look, but then if they’re not ready to look, they’re with their head down. And I think a lot of the things that have happened in my life weren’t necessarily things I was looking for in particular. There was just a phone call that happened that I took or an email that I responded to. So being open to the outreach.

Richenda: Yes. Being open, I think also being active. If you’re passive about things it’s the doors are not going to open by themselves. So you knock on the door, you push the door. I mean, that may sound sort of self-evident, but I think a lot of people early in their careers and maybe particularly some women lack that confidence. And I think I’m always open if somebody knocks on my door, whether it’s my LinkedIn or something, I’m always open because I want young people to succeed. And I think they will find that many doors will open for them by just being active rather than just being passive.

Catherine: Right. Right. Based on your international experience, what lessons, oh my God, there’s so many. The U.S. clean energy leaders we pay more attention to.

Richenda: That’s a very broad ranging question. I think we should be open to technologies and solutions that exist. And I think very importantly for the U.S. right now, we should not be ruling out any particular clean energy technology. I think that’s so important that we really are continuing to invest also in the basic research to help us move ahead with what’s there in the future, even why we deploy, deploy, deploy what we already have. You know, we know solar and battery storage works. I know this may sound contentious, but wind energy, offshore wind energy is a great solution and it’s applicable for certain states. And I think it’s really important that we don’t take any of those off the table at the moment, even while we’re still looking at things like next gen nuclear fusion and this kind of thing. You know, I do say to people who are pro-nuclear, but maybe not so pro-solar, I say, well, solar is actually applied nuclear fusion. So if you’re for one, you should be for the other.

Catherine: And then our last question says, what gives you the most optimism about the next generation of clean energy business leaders?

Richenda: Yeah, I am so excited because as I say, I’ve been in this position for about six months and the passion, the inspiration and just the awesomeness, if I can put it that way, of the next generation, they are there, they’re fired up. They’re not ready to go. They are going for it. And I think I’ve seen them and we see them at CELA from across the whole of the US. You know, we’ve had people in our fellowship from, I think, 48 states. I think there’s maybe two that we haven’t yet had somebody from. So it’s national. I think we also need to be intentional about helping people, particularly if they’re outside of the major cities, to be able to build their skills as much as if you’re in a hub like New York or San Francisco. That’s why we have virtual programs as well as in-person programs, because we recognize how important it is if you’re in Lexington, Kentucky or somewhere else that you have those opportunities as well. But they are just knocking the ball out of the park. So I will retire eventually. And I am so confident and encouraged by the next generation of clean energy leaders. Now they’ve got it. And I think we just need to continue to help them to access all the resources that are available to them to keep going and do great things.

Catherine: Yeah. Well, that’s great. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us and congrats on the new, I’d say the new gig, but you’ve been doing it now for a number of months. Keep going. And yeah, thanks again.

Richenda: My pleasure.