Summer 2009: I discovered E+Co while researching low carbon economy transition pathways for a think tank in Paris. As a student at Sciences Po, I had been drilled with the 3 pillars of “sustainable development”: social, environmental, economic, and bingo! Here was an organization that had been delivering these 3 indicators across the globe for 15 years through an enterprise-based model. About to commence the second year of my graduate degree program at SIPA (Columbia University’s School of International Affairs), you can imagine my excitement when I discover that (E+Co Founder and retired CEO) Phil LaRocco teaches a course for SIPA’s international energy management and policy (IEMP) track.
Fall 2009: I arrive in NY and manage to fight off the 60 students waitlist and enroll in Phil and Ellen Morris’ class on “energy, enterprise and development”.
Winter 2010: I apply and am accepted into the capstone workshop and am presented with the opportunity to travel to Ghana, meet E+Co entrepreneurs and write a business plan on delivering “basic energy for the base of the pyramid” (BEBOP).
Summer 2010: My year at SIPA whizzes by and all of a sudden I am unemployed Master’s degree holder. I start networking like mad, contacting friends of friend’s colleagues etc. I’m not kidding you when I say that ALL ROADS LEAD TO E+CO. I start emailing introductions for informational interviews. Straight from my inbox from a public finance veteran: “To get the conversation rolling, let’s talk about E & Co”. I set up a meeting with the Environmental Defense Fund’s climate and air program and the dynamic gentleman sitting across the table is none other but Peter Goldmark, who had worked for the Rockefeller Foundation when E+Co first launched. A close friend is interning in India scoping out potential investments for Acumen Fund, and reveals to me that one of them is advised by (you guessed it)… E+Co.
So I guess this would mark the 1-year anniversary of my relationship with E+Co. Currently serving as the first recipient of the E+Co LaRocco Fellowship program, I am spending my summer exploring potential linkages between energy and agriculture, as energy investments can be both a driver of agricultural productivity, as well as a solution for waste management. Currently a relatively unexplored territory, I am excited to help E+Co tap into the large philanthropic flows of capital that are now targeting innovative, multi-sectoral interventions in agriculture.
More to come soon!
By Audrey Desiderato