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Joan Michelson Electric Ladies Podcast - Innovation, Energy, Climate, Careers

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.

Recent Content

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What'S Sustainable Fish &Amp; Seafood? – Amanda Leland, Environmental Defense Fund (Edf), Author Of &Quot;Sea Change: Unlikely Allies And A Success Story Of Oceanic Proportions&Quot; &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
What's Sustainable Fish & Seafood? – Amanda Leland, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Author of "Sea Change: Unlikely Allies and a Success Story of Oceanic Proportions"

"Sustainable aquaculture needs to be part of the solution set for Health, for feeding a growing population, and it increasingly can be done well, that's the thing. There's been a lot of innovation in …

"Sustainable aquacul…

"Sustainable aquaculture needs to be part of the solution set for health, for feeding a growing population, and it increasingly can be done well, that's the thing. There's been a lot of innovation in that field over the last few decades….There are different types of aquaculture. So the gold standard, if you're offered an oyster or a mussel or a clam, you can always feel good about those choices because they are a net benefit to the planet…What I think is important is a lot of chefs and a lot of startup aquaculture companies are getting in the game and looking to make the industry more and …

Listen · 50:55
Innovative Climate Finance – Kanika Singh, Milken Institute, Director Of Catalytic Capital &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
Innovative Climate Finance – Kanika Singh, Milken Institute, Director of Catalytic Capital

"We're seeing hurricanes, four of the 10 most damaging hurricanes in the United States happened in the last 10 years. Recovery and rebuild continues in many cases. Last year we had the world's most ex…

"We're seeing hurric…

"We're seeing hurricanes, four of the 10 most damaging hurricanes in the United States happened in the last 10 years. Recovery and rebuild continues in many cases. Last year we had the world's most expensive wildfire on record in Los Angeles. These are market failures. Why are these things happening? Something is misaligned. Is it we're not taking care of the natural environment? Is it that our built environment, our buildings and our structures are not able to cope? Where are the policies? Where are the updated building codes?...Now these storms are happening more frequently and with greater …

Listen · 48:24
How Stories Can Shift Culture – Melissa Jun Rowley, Author Of &Quot;Beyond The Mic Drop: How Stories Can Shift Culture, Power &Amp; Policy&Quot; &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
How Stories Can Shift Culture – Melissa Jun Rowley, Author of "Beyond The Mic Drop: How Stories Can Shift Culture, Power & Policy"

"What are the stories that people can participate in and see themselves in? I think that's one of the keys that we can unlock when it comes to the whole climate narrative is telling stories that build…

"What are the storie…

"What are the stories that people can participate in and see themselves in? I think that's one of the keys that we can unlock when it comes to the whole climate narrative is telling stories that build the scaffolding blocks to a larger narrative that people want to be a part of, and we need to make it feel inevitable….The way that justice prevails, whether it's environmental justice or any kind of justice, I think it's that the leaders make it feel inevitable. And that's the climate movement's job. And I think we have every opportunity and ability to do that." Melissa Jun Rowley on Electric …

Listen · 1:20:08
An Air Force Veteran On Bipartisan Climate And Energy Policy – U.s. Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa) &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
An Air Force Veteran on Bipartisan Climate And Energy Policy – U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA)

"While the word 'climate' may be politically charged for some, the need for affordable, reliable, and secure energy is something we can all agree on. Americans are calling for action, and as Members o…

"While the word 'cli…

"While the word 'climate' may be politically charged for some, the need for affordable, reliable, and secure energy is something we can all agree on. Americans are calling for action, and as Members of Congress it's our responsibility to deliver. If we want long-term solutions that address both our constituents' concerns and growing climate risks, we must work together to strengthen our energy and climate Security with urgency." Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan to Electric Ladies Podcast As we in the U.S. commemorate Memorial Day this week and express gratitude for the sacrifice of thousands o…

Listen · 46:10
Impact Investing In New Hands In New Ways– Jolyne Caruso, Financial Executive, Investor, Wealth Advisor &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
Impact Investing In New Hands In New Ways– Jolyne Caruso, Financial Executive, Investor, Wealth Advisor

"When you look at where families invest across the spectrum of sustainable and impact Investing, climate is really at the forefront. They think about that because, look at our environment, look at the…

"When you look at wh…

"When you look at where families invest across the spectrum of sustainable and impact investing, climate is really at the forefront. They think about that because, look at our environment, look at the food supply… because of environmental issues. Not withstanding the tariffs too….These are issues that have to be segmented and families are doing the work and they're putting their capital in…(F)amilies really are more and more values aligning their investments, and there's a blurring (of the) line between Philanthropy and catalytic investing so that they can invest in climate and do things…

Listen · 1:00:56
New Business Models For Philanthropy – Amy Dornbusch, Atlas Daughters, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Investor &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
New Business Models for Philanthropy – Amy Dornbusch, Atlas Daughters, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Investor

"Atlas Daughters is a social venture that I launched…We create an incredibly experiential, immersive experiences that are related to Travel. So travel experiences from mothers, female funders and th…

"Atlas Daughters is …

"Atlas Daughters is a social venture that I launched…We create an incredibly experiential, immersive experiences that are related to travel. So travel experiences from mothers, female funders and their children or grandmothers and mothers and their children and grandchildren to go and participate in incredibly impactful work that NGOs are doing, specific tangible projects that are worthy of investment and ripe for scale. We bring families to those projects….We identify NGOs that have these incredible projects that are worthy of investment….They may have a very efficient and effective pro…

Listen · 1:14:52
People Leveraging Carbon Markets To Keep Their Land – Stacey Solie, Coproducer Of The Documentary &Quot;From The Ground Up: Voices From The Carbon Market&Quot; &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
People Leveraging Carbon Markets To Keep Their Land – Stacey Solie, Coproducer of the Documentary "From The Ground Up: Voices From The Carbon Market"

"If you don't tell your stories, then no one will ever know, …Basically I just said, I think we should tell the positive stories and we should do it through the people…Let's actually just go and m…

"If you don't tell y…

"If you don't tell your stories, then no one will ever know, …Basically I just said, I think we should tell the positive stories and we should do it through the people…Let's actually just go and meet the people at all levels from the people that are involved in the projects and organizing them. Also the people that are participating in them and benefiting from them and find out what they say. How does this change your life? Is this actually happening? Did trees actually get planted? Did this well actually get plugged?." Stacey Solie on Electric Ladies Podcast Who are the regular people o…

Listen · 39:53
Managing It In The Midst Of A Tech Revolution - Elizabeth Hackenson, Chief Information Officer, Schneider Electric &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
Managing IT in the Midst of a Tech Revolution – Elizabeth Hackenson, Chief Information Officer, Schneider Electric

"We realized early on with our digital transformation that really what we're trying to do is digitize processes and …we really want to transform. But the people that own these business processes are…

"We realized early o…

"We realized early on with our digital transformation that really what we're trying to do is digitize processes and …we really want to transform. But the people that own these business processes are stakeholders, they're in sales, they're in operations, they're in HR, Finance, supply chain, so we needed them before we could get started on digitally architecting a solution. So… we take a senior leader from a function and ops or a business unit and ask them to be the business process leader…. and we match you to an IT leader who's also quite senior. So these are VP SVP roles and they're th…

Listen · 44:12
Earth Day Career Advice From 6 Extraordinary Women Leaders &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
Earth Day Career Advice From 6 Extraordinary Women Leaders

"Try as best as you can not to be fear-driven. I think we are so driven by fear that we're never going to be enough, that we aren't going to contribute enough….(Y)ou actually are enough just as you …

"Try as best as you …

"Try as best as you can not to be fear-driven. I think we are so driven by fear that we're never going to be enough, that we aren't going to contribute enough….(Y)ou actually are enough just as you are, right? Take this day, do what you can. Impact the people around you.…Become partners in your career with unlikely people, people who don't think like you, people who aren't doing the same career as you. You'll get a lot more joy out of, I think, your career because of the cross-pollination." Dr. Katherine Gergen-Barnett on Electric Ladies Podcast This Earth Day, we want to share inspiring …

Listen · 47:14
The State Of Energy Today Might Surprise You - Lisa Jacobson, Bcse On The 2026 Energy Factbook &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
The State of Energy Today Might Surprise You – Lisa Jacobson, BCSE on the 2026 Energy Factbook

"You see corporate procurement of clean energy, predominantly renewable energy, but there's fleet investments, there are efficiency improvements in buildings and on campuses underway….but it was a l…

"You see corporate p…

"You see corporate procurement of clean energy, predominantly renewable energy, but there's fleet investments, there are efficiency improvements in buildings and on campuses underway….but it was a little different than what we'd seen in recent years. It wasn't just solar and wind. There was an interest in 24/7 reliable clean energy in particular by the tech industries, which won't surprise you, but things like nuclear, geothermal, other integrated technologies like solar and storage…So that's kind of an interesting set of dynamics because it's really diversifying the players in the corpora…

Listen · 54:44
How To Talk &Quot;Climate&Quot; To Keep People Safe – Allison Agsten, Usc Center For Climate Journalism &Amp; Communications &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
How To Talk "Climate" To Keep People Safe – Allison Agsten, USC Center for Climate Journalism & Communications

"If there are people who are willing to talk to you about it, the first thing you got to do is listen….I grew up in a very rural area and it's very conservative also. And when I go home, I don't tal…

"If there are people…

"If there are people who are willing to talk to you about it, the first thing you got to do is listen….I grew up in a very rural area and it's very conservative also. And when I go home, I don't talk about climate change. I do talk about what's going on with hunting season. 'Oh, there's no deer this year. Why do you think that is? Tell me about the rain'….It is again about that pivoting and you have to understand what's important to the people you're talking to… I might say, 'I just upgraded my mom's generator. It's great because with all the outages we're having out here, now she can ge…

Listen · 1:01:46
How Carbon Credits Work – With Donna Lee, Ceo &Amp; Cofounder, Calyx Global &Raquo; Podcast Cover To Specifications 8 18 2021
How Carbon Credits Work – with Donna Lee, CEO & CoFounder, Calyx Global

"What I knew about Carbon Credits having watched them for many years is that they're not always what they seem...So, Calyx Global was founded in 2021 to help companies navigate the space, to really un…

"What I knew about C…

"What I knew about Carbon Credits having watched them for many years is that they're not always what they seem...So, Calyx Global was founded in 2021 to help companies navigate the space, to really understand….(i)t's a promise that somebody has reduced methane in that landfill or planted some trees thousands of miles away. So that's what Calyx Global is, we're a Carbon Credit Ratings Agency. But really what we're doing is, for every one of these assets, helping buyers understand what's underneath that, what the quality of that asset is. Donna Lee on Electric Ladies Podcast You've probably h…

Listen · 52:53