2024 Speaker Series: Dynamic Innovations in Energy Efficiency

Join us for our Energy Opportunities Speaker Event titled “Dynamic Innovations in Energy Efficiency” on June 13th in Houston, TX, co-hosted by the TEPRI, in partnership with the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice.

As we confront the challenges of high energy burden, housing quality, and their intersection with the built environment and climate, it's vital to prioritize decarbonization efforts, enhance energy affordability, and promote health equity. This is especially important for low-income communities, which bear the brunt of energy access issues and experience greater health impacts from energy-related factors. As stakeholders, we need to think deeper about just and effective strategies to boost energy efficiency, ensuring equitable access to sustainable energy solutions for all Texans, especially our neighbors who struggle with low-incomes.

Keynote addresses by Dr. Robert D. Bullard, renowned environmental justice advocate and recipient of the 2024 Time Magazine Earth Award, and Donnel Baird, founder of BlocPower and inaugural recipient of TIME’s 2022 “Dreamer of the Year.”

Dr. Bullard will provide insights into designing such strategies to mitigate climate change and support community resilience. Donnel Baird will share BlocPower's innovative approach to building an electrification program design that addresses the energy challenges faced by many communities in Texas. His keynote will also provide Texas stakeholders with a roadmap for effectively navigating the complexities of building electrification, ensuring both energy efficiency and equitable access to sustainable solutions.

The event will also feature a panel discussion exploring the intersection of energy efficiency, decarbonization, health equity, economic redevelopment, and environmental justice from community leader Huey German-Wilson and our keynote speakers.

Sign up to learn how these factors intersect and impact communities across Texas. Join the conversation and contribute to the development of future-focused solutions for energy equity in Texas!

Keynote Speakers

Robert Bullard, Ph.D., is the founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice and a distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University.

Bio: Dr. Bullard is an award-winning author of eighteen books that address sustainable development, environmental racism, urban land use, industrial facility siting, community reinvestment, housing, transportation, climate justice, disasters, emergency response, community resilience, smart growth, and regional equity. He is a co-founder of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium. His book, Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality (Westview Press, 2000), is a standard text in the environmental justice field. He is the former Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University and is currently a Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy and Director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. In 2021, President Joe Biden named him to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council(WHEJAC). In 2022, the University of California, Berkeley Ecology Law Quarterly gave him its Environmental Leadership Award, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award; Georgetown University and the University of Johannesburg awarded him an honorary doctorate and he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2023, the American Geographical Society gave him its John E. Gould Medal. And in 2024, TIME honored him with its Earth Award.

Donnel Baird, Founder and CEO of BlocPower

Bio: Donnel Baird is the founder of BlocPower, a climate tech company based in Brooklyn, NY, that analyzes, finances, and installs clean energy and decarbonization upgrades in buildings in underserved communities. BlocPower creates jobs for qualified local low-income workers, energy savings for building owners, reduces carbon emissions and asthma rates, and provides financial returns to investors. In 2021, the company announced a historic partnership with Ithaca, New York to decarbonize 100% of the city’s buildings—the first such project in the United States. BlocPower is backed by Kapor Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Volo Earth Ventures. Baird is a graduate of Duke University and Columbia Business School. He spent four years as a political and community organizer, and two years managing a national initiative to leverage American Reinvestment and Recovery Act energy efficiency investments in underserved communities. He is a member of the board of directors of several organizations including the New York Federal Reserve Bank Second District Board, the Climate Reality Project, and the Coalition for Green Capital. Additionally, he serves on the Advisory Committee of the US SEC Small Business Capital Formation. An award recipient of the Columbia Business School Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021, the National Venture Capital Association Startup Innovator of the Year in 2022, and TIME Magazine’s inaugural 'Dreamer of the Year' in 2022. In 2022, Fast Company named BlocPower the #4 Most Innovative Company in the World, TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential Companies, and the 42nd Most Disruptive Startup in the World by CNBC.

Marketing Partner

The Coalition for Environment, Equity and Resilience (CEER)

South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER)

Funder

Special thanks to the Energy Foundation