Energy in 30 #5: Addressing energy efficiency in Indigenous communities

ICF Podcast

Tune in to Energy in 30 hosted by Joan Collins and David Meisegeier. On our fifth episode, "Addressing energy efficiency in Indigenous communities,” hear from Yasmin Abraham and Karim Abraham, the brother-and-sister founders of Kambo Energy Group. Their organization focuses on equity-based social enterprise that designs solutions to reduce energy poverty and improve housing in underserved communities. Specifically, they work directly with Indigenous Nations, lower-income households, and new Canadians.

Yasmin and Karim are joined by ICF Senior Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Specialist Dany Kahumoku. The three recently teamed up to present at the 2022 NEUAC Conference in New Orleans. There, they presented “A Holistic Approach of Addressing Climate, Weatherization, and Capacity Needs through Housing Programs in Tribal Nations,” sharing their experiences and learnings of working in this sector and the historical context of why this work should be prioritized as part of the energy transition.

Some of the topics discussed in this episode include:

• Holistic approaches to serving Indigenous communities
• Prioritizing funding and building capacity to address the specific needs of Nations
• Fostering relationships to bolster a community’s vision
• Forging an entrepreneurial spirit with a community-minded focus
• Supporting Indigenous leadership to focus energy-efficiency implementation
• Decentralizing energy efficiency programs to bolster stakeholder designing and funding