Power Up Jane's Future

^Enova Community Energy’s picnic launch!

I grew up in New York City, where little thought was given to the environment and waste. Then I got the opportunity to go to college in the most beautiful natural landscape I have seen in all my life, the Berkshire Mountains. Amidst the rolling hills, I am finding more than a passion for preserving the environment: an escape from an abusive home, and the courage to finally become estranged from my parents.

Now, finishing my third year at Williams College, majoring in English and Environmental Studies, I have become committed to the fight towards a more equitable, sustainable future for all. This summer, I will be working with Enova Energy, an Australian community solar company with a novel model, democratizing the energy sector--for the first time in centuries, residents will have full transparency of their energy sources. Enova creates locally-managed community solar projects so that every single home in that region has access to clean, affordable energy. This model is scalable across all of Australia, the world’s top coal-producing country in the world.

I have spent nearly two semesters working on community solar projects, becoming increasingly experienced and zealous about the field. By working with Enova, I’ll gain skills I can bring back to the US, and particularly Berkshire county, the poorest county in Massachusetts. There is even a low-income housing community which I volunteer at, which could really benefit from a community solar paradigm like that of Enova. Having been connected with Enova through an aluma, I would love to connect Williams students with organizations who have a vision for the future that is well understood and well handled by the liberal arts mindset.

As you may have figured out by now, I am financially alone, and already up to my ears in student loans, despite Williams’ generosity. I am committed to a better, brighter future for everyone, not only those with the resources, financial and otherwise, required to realize that dream. So please, if you can, help me pay for my flight to Australia so I am able to persist in the battle for a better reality, which I have been fighting all my life--first for myself, now for the world.

The Williams family is special--I am so happy that Mara Bun ‘84 came back to Williams for the 50th anniversary of the Center for Environmental Studies last year. She reached out to to see if I was interested in coming to Australia to work Enova’s non-profit arm. I have applied to CES for a ten week scholarship that will make it possible for me to live in Australia this summer and gain practical experience that I can build on in a community energy career.

We hope that many future Williams CES summer interns will make their way to Australia to grow the community energy movement there, bringing back skills that can transform community energy in the US.

But I need your help to pay for my flight. Enova’s Board Directors including Mara have already kicked in $1000 towards the fare - will you help me to raise the rest?