In this episode of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Feliz Ventura, Resilience Programs Manager for Ava Community Energy (formerly East Bay Community Energy), an innovative Community Choice Aggregator in California providing more renewable energy at competitive rates to its customers. Feliz brings nearly two decades of experience in making the case for investments that ensure communities thrive in the context of the rapid technological and climatic changes of the 21st century.
Ted and Feliz discuss her background, born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She mentions her connection to the natural world since she was a child, sharing that her parents taught her to have a strong awareness of being a part of a greater system, and determining where she fits into that picture. She also shares that both of her parents engaged with the natural world in their own ways. Her mother is still a practicing attorney, focused on water law, so she's always thought about things from systems and trade off perspectives.
She is an alumna of Pomona College, first studying Biology and then International Relations. While at Pomona College, she studied abroad in Chile as an exchange student, both at the Catholic University and University of Chile, studying political and forestry-related issues in Chile.
She then went on to the University of California San Diego for Quantitative Policy Analysis, geared towards climate-related issues and how decisions made from a management perspective influence the results. This could be from a livelihood perspective for those that rely on the resource, a carbon perspective using a broader environmental lens, or fiscal and economic development impacts that should be known, understood, and broadcast as decisions are made about how the resources are managed.
Prior to Ava, Feliz worked to integrate climate resilience into infrastructure, urban and real estate development at two global planning, design, and engineering firms, led the State of Washington's cleantech economic and market development program, and worked with global startups to measure and improve their ESG performance at the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C.
At Ava, Feliz leads the Resilience Programs, focused on developing and implementing energy resilience solutions for municipal, residential, and medical customers that result in wide-ranging benefits across Ava’s service area.
What is Flanigan's Eco-Logic?
Flanigan's Eco-Logic, hosted by Ted Flanigan, provides cutting-edge information and insights in sustainability and the clean energy space. Episodes address alternative energy -- featuring solar, storage, microgrids, vehicle grid integration, and energy access. In addition, the podcast covers resources issues -- like water and food issues, and even slow fashion. Flanigan’s enthusiasm, vast experience, and deep network in the energy and environmental arena are palpable as he brings exciting and encouraging green developments to the fore, interviewing and engaging leading policy makers and practitioners throughout the United States and in many countries around the world.