Elena Kocherovsky | March 27, 2014
A few weeks ago we told you about our impressive 2014 EDF Climate Corps student applicants. We know from six years of experience this powerhouse group of grad students will make real change in the world. Let’s take a moment here to look at where they go after their EDF Climate Corps fellowships.
We recently surveyed the EDF Climate Corps Network, fellow alumni and past host representatives, to learn about the impactful work they are doing and how they are using their EDF Climate Corps experience to advance their careers. Here’s what we learned:
Where the EDF Climate Corps Network is working today
Seventy percent of the Network is influencing decisions around sustainability through their jobs, with a large portion focusing specifically on energy, water and waste. An overwhelming majority of these are in the private sector either in consulting roles or working within large corporations.
The other 30 percent are working in government, nonprofit and academia. A small but mighty subsection of our network, 13 percent, said they were working to influence legislation on energy and climate issues. This brought my attention back to my colleague Sitar’s recap of the GreenBiz forum where she reiterated a call to action for green business leaders to stand up on climate policy – “Silence is not neutrality.” Solving Climate Change takes a network of players including business and government.
How the EDF Climate Corps Network is staying connected
Three to five people: That’s the average number of other Network members our alumni and hosts keep in touch with on a regular basis. And one quarter reach out to other network members for input and collaboration on projects. This number can only grow with the launch of our upcoming regional network events which will reconvene alumni, hosts and EDF throughout the year in San Francisco, New York, Boston, DC, Texas and Chicago. Alumni and hosts, keep your eyes out for more details on these events coming your way.
The good news for fellows is that 86 percent of alumni are still in touch with their host supervisors. Sixteen percent are still working or consulting for their host organizations. As a reminder, we are now over six months out from the end of the last group of fellowships!
The benefits of the EDF Climate Corps Network
We also asked survey respondents if they valued EDF Climate Corps as a resource. We are proud to say that nine out of ten respondents agree that EDF Climate Corps is a trusted source of information on energy management practices. Also, a majority of network members indicated that EDF is an important connector for energy and sustainability practitioners.
A big focus for us this year will be around providing productive resources and tools to continue to encourage action on energy management. As mentioned above, we will also be thinking about ways to grow collaboration on these topics through events and strategic partnerships. We hope many of you will participate, and our ears are always open for feedback on how EDF can support sustainability leaders. If you have an idea or suggestion, I encourage you to include your feedback in the comments below, and if you are interested in attending one of our regional network events, please email me at ekocherovsky@edf.org.