We Are
Kinetic Impact
We believe rigorous analysis, honest assessments, and a willingness to speak hard truths are vital if New York is going to achieve a just clean energy transition.
What we do
Kinetic Impact's goal is to ensure New York's clean energy programs are equitably and smartly designed so implementation will be effective. We work to save good policy from poor design. Through rigorous analysis of public and private data, co-designed community learning, and straightforward insights, Kinetic Impact:
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Brings the voices of all stakeholders into clean energy program design and analysis
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Identifies the knowledge gaps, red tape, and stumbling blocks that arise in transitioning from policy to real world implementation
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Help Black, Brown, People of Color, low-income, working class, essential workers, seniors, children – the people that make New York City the vibrant, alive place that it is -- have their experiences and knowledge influence clean energy program implementation.
How we work
We are a team of New Yorkers who have been tirelessly working since the late 2000s to ensure that the clean energy transition actually happens in the communities that need it most. We seek to understand the real world ways that clean energy policy solutions are implemented - and how these programs can be made better.
We pursue excellence in the solutions we co-create with our partners by:
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Working side by side with the people we share New York City with – listening to, collaborating with, asking questions of, being transparent with, providing our professional expertise in service of, and generally trying to be good neighbors to all – working towards a tomorrow where clean energy is accessible for and accessed by everyone.
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Providing technical expertise to other equity-minded organizations in support of their neighbors and communities.
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Using professionally acquired technical skills in tandem with the cultural competency necessary to meaningfully connect with local community about their needs, experiences and insights. We translate what we learn into actionable tactics with tangible outcomes that directly reduce GHG emissions and improve the resiliency of the communities we serve.
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The Hard Truth
The clean energy transition is complicated and moving quickly. The usual players (utilities, national environmental groups, local governments, for profit consultants) are influencing “the how” of this transition. As in – how do we get this work done and done fast. But they are all multiple layers away from the actual work happening on-the-ground.
Meanwhile the front line workforce– the insulation contractors, the plumbers, the housing counselors, the electricians and HVAC technicians – those who are ensuring clean energy projects come into existence - are too busy trying to keep their small businesses afloat to participate in the influencing of “the how” on their own.
And yet their insights are vital. No one knows how policy plays out in the real world more than local nonprofits and small contractors. Do they know the legislation that was passed to get the incentive dollars for their projects? Probably not. But they know what happens when they walk into a building and open up walls to insulate. Or rewire someone’s kitchen to install an induction stove. Or what questions a homeowner asks when talking electrification. And they how hard it is to align local, state and Federal regulations when each one is siloed from the others.
That knowledge is worth tons upon tons of saved carbon emissions. But it is not being heard. And that is impeding our ability as a society to implement the climate saving measures that we desperately need.
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IKinetic Impact knows how to hear these voices and uplift the locally-driven solutions that arise through the testing ground of implementation.
How we are different
Our work will always provide honest assessments, grounded recommendations, and locally-created strategies even when these may not want to be heard by those in power...or our funders.
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We do not see the clean energy transition as something that should be pursued for monetary gain. We believe it must be pursued for ensuring a habitable, healthy planet for everyone, and that success will only come by ensuring foundations, government, the nonprofit industrial complex, and the utilities working alongside the people doing the day-to-day labor necessary to get this massive societal shift moving.
We cannot lose to climate chaos.