Community, Access, Representation and Empowerment (CARE)

Imagine a clean-energy sector where every person and community can shape the solutions they depend on. Where innovation thrives because all voices are welcomed and empowered. Where every project delivers measurable impact alongside environmental and economic benefits. CARE is AESP’s philosophy to help make this ideal a reality.

Community

People and partners working together to solve big problems.

Access

Ensuring opportunities, technologies, and conversations are open to all.

Representation

Keeping decision-making inclusive and grounded in lived experience.

Empowerment

Driving outcomes that are purposeful, fair, and lasting.

CARE’s vision is simple

A clean-energy ecosystem where language unites instead of divides, where every participant is empowered, and where progress is measured not only in megawatts and dollars saved but in lives improved and futures secured.

How we put CARE into practice at AESP

Policies and procedures

We intentionally implement and develop staff policies and procedures that promote a staff that represents those we serve and ideas that come from all perspectives.

Continual improvement

Through candid discussions and robust feedback instruments, we actively seek out feedback and solutions from the industry.

Content governance

Topic committees, special interest groups and staff routinely seek out ways to further equitable ideas and representation in AESP’s varied content areas.

Special Interest Groups

Our Special Interest Groups allow members to delve deeper into workforce issues around gender, veteran status, LGBTQ+, industry tenure and more.

AESP CARE Council

Through the CARE Council, industry leaders partner with AESP to shape strategies around community, access, representation, and empowerment, ensuring more voices are heard and strengthening the organization’s impact.

Meeting Venues

When choosing event locations, we prioritize locales that reflect AESP’s CARE values as best we can. In doing so, we uplight and help connect attendees to local energy, environmental, and equity initiatives.

CARE Book Club

Hosted by The Shared Space Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the club reads one book per quarter and has a virtual meeting to discuss the book. Between meetings, book club participants will be able to engage with each other and the facilitators on the AESP Together platform.

Learn more

AESP’s Community, Access, Representation and Empowerment (CARE) Council

Alvis Wright (Co-Chair)
DSM and Residential Support Manager

Alabama Power Company

Fred Maher (Co-Chair)
Director, Business Development

CMC Energy Services

Headshot Tori D Willis, Director of Operations & Culture

Tori Willis
Director of Operations and Culture

Initiative for Energy Justice

Evan Castro
Director, Project Delivery

Resource Innovations

Andrea Salazer
Product Manager

Michaels Energy

Lynn Roy
Director and Co-Founder

BrightLine Group

Dena Jefferson
Director, Regulatory Affairs

Franklin Energy

Leigh Michael
Senior Director

ILLUME Advising

Catalina Lamadrid
President

Inova Energy Group

Mia Lombardi
Manager, Community Engagement and Investment

National Grid

Danyel Kahumoku
Senior Community Impact Specialist

ICF

Ben Nathan
Director, Affordability and Equity

E Source

Valencia Roner
Chief Operations Officer

Strategic Energy Operations Solutions

Rhosheeda Proctor
Director, Engagement and Belonging

Southern MD Electric Cooperative

Rachel Dortin
Director, Community Organizing and Ownership

The Shared Space Project

Recent CARE Content

Clean energy starts with people—and culture matters

Traditionally, household energy use has been viewed as a matter of personal or family choice. As an industry, when we design and deliver clean energy programs, we often assume that families use energy in roughly the same ways. As a result, we’ve paid relatively little...

The Real AI: Ancestral Intelligence — A Native Hawaiian Perspective on Energy Futures

“Abundance flows from reciprocity, not extraction.” Across the globe, new data centers are being built to power machine learning, cloud services and the digital economy we’ve come to call AI. These facilities consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and their...

Powered by Pride: Building connection and representation in energy

Every June, rainbow logos light up corporate websites and social media in a show of support for the LGBTQIA+ community. But beyond flags and hashtags, what does meaningful support look like? This question is especially relevant in industries like energy, where...

The High Efficiency/Low Emissions Housing Myth

Flawed Assumptions Like most of you, KPIs are my deliverer or my doom. So when I saw a recent study from McGill University and University Michigan at Ann Arbor on energy justice, efficiency, and emissions, I was wide-eyed. The study found a paradoxical relationship...