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Ep 63: Empowering Indigenous Communities: Sandra Kwak's Impactful Path in Sustainability
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Sandra Kwak is CEO and Founder of social impact enterprise 10Power, working with Native American Tribal Nations to develop renewable energy projects with a community workforce development and gender empowerment lens. She sees renewable energy as one of the keys to forging a path for regenerative development, a concept explored in her TEDx talk "Fourth World Nation Building''. She is an advisor to Caremiles, a Board member at the Foundation for Climate Restoration, and a Partner at ResilientMarkets, applying regenerative design principles to realize the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to that, she worked with AutoGrid (acquired by Schneider Electric), deploying big data for the smart grid to create virtual power plants (VPPs). Sandra has a Sustainable MBA from Presidio Graduate School and a BA in Political Science and Visual Art from Emory University. She taught Race, Activism, and Climate Justice at San Francisco State University and has guest lectured at California College of the Arts and Stanford University. She loves creating regenerative harmonies for a future that is possible with The Seastars and riding bikes with her spouse and child in their home state of California.
Key themes emerging out of our conversation:
- Influencers and role models in the journey.
- Having a humble learner need finding process.
- Advocacy for equity through political and climate activism.
- Finding partners aligned with the mission's values and goals.
- Crucial need of gender empowerment and equality in the mission.
- Energy injustice persists even among people living on reservations.
- Women leaders with bold missions, knowing that they are not alone.
- Challenges of securing funding, where less than 2 percent goes to women.
- Impact of climate change on communities least responsible for its conditions.
- Finding drive in the bigger picture, shaping a positive future over the next 50 years.
- Engaging intentionally with places marked by the greatest need, risk, and challenge.
Mentioned Resources:
TEDx talk “Fourth World Nation Building”
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