We are excited to share that Pivot Energy’s SVP of Strategic Accounts, Mat Elmore, received Elevate's inaugural Solar Impact Award, recognizing his work in the solar industry to bring renewable energy to communities across the US. Congrats Mat! Read more about the award here:
I want to provide a heartfelt thank you to Anne Evens and the team at Elevate for recognizing me with their Solar Impact Award. My week didn't exactly go as planned as my attendance at the Building Equity Summit was derailed by an unruly wasp bite above my left eye but I'm grateful to Elevate for the recognition and hope to be back in Chicago soon. My time at Elevate from 2012-2015 was more transformative for me personally and professionally than any other time in my career. I'm grateful to the mentors I had during that time, including Anne Evens, Patrick MacRoy, Antonia Ornelas, and friends and peers including Sara Demetroff, Deborah Philbrick, Vito Greco, Jackie Montesdeoca, Gabe Klooster, Anna Markowski, and many, many others. Elevate taught me many things but it inspired in me a mix of ambition, creativity, and humbleness, three qualities not often paired together but ones I consider essential to solving our energy problems. Elevate educated me about the inequities that exist in the energy world and I've strived to steer Pivot Energy to solve those problems in the solar energy industry. Most important is to recognize that our path to a more equitable and just energy system requires openness, curiosity, and perseverance on behalf of those of us who are in a place of privilege and power. We must bring more voices into the discussion and develop projects that extend the compelling benefits of clean energy to those that need them the most. Thanks to Annie Lappé, Rick Hunter, Daniel Merkle and many others at Pivot Energy for being my daily co-conspirators pushing this vision forward. There is much more work to do but I know we are on the right path. One fun fact about the solar industry. For better or worse, we, alongside the rest of the energy industry, have been terrible at predicting and forecasting our own success. We have, year after year, greatly underestimated how much we can connect to the electric grid but I believe we are on track for solar energy to provide nearly 20% of the country's power needs by 2030. This was unimaginable just a few years ago. Never be afraid to push the boundaries of what we are seeking to achieve in our battle to fight climate change. Cheers! https://lnkd.in/gPGDQr7h