Former Intern Reflects on New Biogas Career, EESI Experience | Article

Without my experience at EESI, what I do now might have seemed daunting to me. But thankfully, EESI staff understood that I would need a specific set of skills in the professional environmental policy landscape, and like a sustainability-and-resilience-minded Mr. Miyagi, the staff at EESI prepared me to hit the ground running at my first job.

Currently, I work for the Technology Transition Corporation (TTC). TTC is a company that manages nonprofits in the renewable energy space, from biogas and renewable hydrogen to biochar and more. Most of my work is for one specific client, the American Biogas Council. ABC is a trade association that advocates for the expansion of anaerobic digestion, a process that turns biogenic waste into renewable methane and organic fertilizers for farms. I work as the state policy coordinator for ABC, which involves researching and tracking state policies and reporting that information to ABC members, as well as putting together webinars for industry leaders and attending trade events in Washington, D.C.

Luckily for me, my experience at EESI made me an attractive candidate for the job. TTC wanted someone who could track state policy? I had just tracked environmental legislation in Congress every day for the last three months. TTC wanted someone who could professionally run a webinar? I had just witnessed countless Congressional briefings where EESI managed every detail and moderated panels. TTC wanted me to understand the environmental technology landscape to find new renewable energy nonprofits to manage? I had written a new article every week on a different environmental topic and reported on a series of sustainability-focused events all around the city, and understood where there were opportunities. The development of these skills, alongside EESI’s sterling reputation as a long-time environmental advocate in our nation’s capital, gave me the credibility I needed to land my dream job.

However, even more than resume-building, the most important thing the staff at EESI gave me was a small family in a big city. Dan, the operations manager at EESI, gave me a list of all the places in DC where I could have some cheap fun and made sure he got to know me well. Anna and Amber, EESI’s policy associates, encouraged me and showed me how to improve every day. And my direct supervisor, Amaury, never hesitated to help me out, whether that entailed writing me a glowing recommendation letter or giving me tips to improve my Dungeons and Dragons game. Every single person at EESI greeted me with a smile when I walked through the door and made sure I knew I was welcome there. As a young person who had just moved across the country to pursue a new life, EESI’s culture helped me feel grounded.

If you’re a recent graduate looking to make a difference, look no further than EESI. I promise you won’t regret it.

Read more about EESI’s semesterly paid internship program here.

Author: George Davidson