“There’s this amazing thing that we think should happen, which is right now physically impossible. That’s fine. Let’s talk about that. Let’s dig down to the technical gap that needs to be filled to enable that new disruptive pathway to start.”
Jennifer Gerbi, ARPA-E on Electric Ladies Podcast
To truly address climate change, we need to pivot to a zero-carbon Economy, and that means finding ways to fuel our energy-dependent Lifestyle on energy sources that do not emit any pollutants. But since 77% of our energy still comes from fossil fuels, that’s a very tall order. It requires a lot of innovative thinking, a lot of trial and error, a lot of technical risk, and a lot of Money to try new ways of generating power.
Enter ARPA-E, the Advanced Research Program Agency for Energy, which is the innovation arm of the Department of Energy, akin to the renowned DARPA agency in the Department of Defense.
How is ARPA-E reinventing our energy supply? Listen to Jennifer Gerbi, Ph.D., Deputy Director and Acting Director of ARPA-E explain it in this fascinating conversation with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson.
You’ll hear:
- How they are finding and funding technologies that are “right now physically impossible” and helping to make them possible, even real.
- Their mission, processes and unique structure, especially for a government agency, and how being comfortable with ambiguity is crucial to their success.
- How they have managed to attract billions of dollars more in private capital to their projects than the agency invested in them.
- How they deal with the requisite risks, trials and errors of high-stakes, capital-intensive innovation that’s transforming the very foundation of what makes our economy function.
- Plus, insightful career advice ….
“You can’t fear changing things around and it is terrifying leaving a job and finding another job…. So even if you things aren’t going well, just learn from it, use it as this is your school. Okay. Now this is your school about how not to be a boss, or this is your school about how to get people to work together.”
Jennifer Gerbi, ARPA-E on the Electric Ladies podcast
You’ll also want to listen to:
- Anne Kelly, Ceres, on the role of the business community in the clean energy transition
- Lisa Jacobson, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, on the impact of covid on energy and transitioning to a clean energy economy
- Rachel Kyte, CEO, UN’s Sustainable Energy for All program
- Kate Sloan, Southern California Edison eMobility, on how to get 7 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030
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Joan Michelson, MBA is a highly accomplished business leader and award-winning strategic social impact and ESG – environment, social, governance – leader, who drove breakthrough results at Chrysler (in EVs), American Express and Deloitte, small businesses, and government agencies. She is an instructor on ESG issues to professionals, leaders and board members across industries. Her specialties include leveraging ESG solutions and partnerships strategically for maximum benefit, helping organizations recruit innovative, diverse women, and helping these women thrive in their careers. She is based in the Washington D.C. area.
Joan is also an accomplished journalist who has worked with top media organizations and hosts and produces the acclaimed Electric Ladies podcast (formerly known as Green Connections Radio), about innovation and leadership in energy-, climate- and sustainability-related issues across industries, featuring women experts.
She writes regularly for Forbes on these issues and has also been in the Harvard Business Review, HuffPost, TheAtlantic.com, Greenbiz, The New Economy magazine (distributed at the World Economic Forum), New Thinking magazine, regional business journals; and various other media. She coproduced segments with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” ABC News, and “The Crusaders,” and television specials on NBC.
Joan has spent her career working in energy-sustainability-climate-ESG issues and in marketing communications, including as head of communications and co-leader of the sales and marketing team of Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), driving “best year ever” growth and significantly accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles. Prior to GEM, she led marketing communications efforts to high-net-worth and high-visibility clients in management consulting-financial services companies Deloitte and American Express. She's a native of NYC and has a BA from UCLA, an MBA from Baruch College at City University of NY, and post-graduate studies at Harvard Business School, The New School and The Aspen Institute, among others. She has a Sustainability and ESG certification from Competent Boards.
