EDF Climate Corps fellow | July 23, 2012
Fellow: Jaxon Love, 2012 EDF Climate Corps fellow at Shorenstein, MBA/MAcc Graduate at Lundquist School of Business, University of Oregon
Organization: Shorenstein
Opportunity: Jaxon Love began his 2012 EDF Climate Corps fellowship a year ahead of the pack
Summary: Jaxon Love is one of three 2012 EDF Climate Corps fellows participating in the program for a second year in a row. He was a fellow at Shorenstein in 2011 and is currently halfway through his second fellowship at the firm. We caught up with him to ask what brought him back.
Jaxon Love is one of three 2012 EDF Climate Corps fellows participating in the program for a second year in a row. He was a fellow at Shorenstein in 2011 and is currently halfway through his second fellowship at the firm. We caught up with him to ask what brought him back.
EDF: Tell us about your professional background. What were you doing before you became an EDF Climate Corps fellow? Love: In 2010 I interned with the energy efficiency group at Pacific Gas and Electric. Prior to starting my MBA, I was a public policy and economics analyst with ECONorthwest, a consultancy in Portland, OR. Before that, I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan.
EDF: What initially attracted you to EDF Climate Corps?
Love: I was always interested in sustainability and eventually came to the conclusion that a focus on energy efficiency would maximize my environmental impact. Plus there seemed to be job opportunities in the space. EDF Climate Corps provides the ideal hands on experience one needs to kick start a career in energy efficiency.
EDF: What brought you back for your second EDF Climate Corps fellowship?
Love: I really enjoyed working at Shorenstein. My work is on the ground and detail oriented. My supervisors, Bill Young and Lisa Mize, are great. Real estate is a fascinating industry because there are so many challenges and opportunities, especially in energy efficiency.
In addition to completing traditional energy efficiency projects during my fellowship last year, I developed a green lease guide based on the BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) green lease, an industry standard. Plus I developed a tool for Shorenstein managers to use in tenant negotiations.
This year I'm working on Shorestein's strategy for LEED re-certification. No one has really worked out LEED recertification for operations and maintenance yet because it's so new. So it's really exciting - I feel like my work is valuable to the organization.
EDF: You're the only second-year fellow who has stayed with the same host. Any reason for that?
Love: I wanted to continue with Shorenstein because I felt like there was still more I could learn and more value I could bring to the table. I also think Shorenstein saw that I was already trained into the position – It's nice to hire somebody who already knows the organization and what it's trying to achieve.
I personally think that repeating EDF Climate Corps should be encouraged, for both companies and fellows. I found so much value in coming back to the same company, picking up where I left off and taking my work deeper.
It's great that EDF Climate Corps is open to having both companies and fellows repeat for multiple years. My suspicion is that we EDF Climate Corps veterans will have more success the second time around and be a resource for the newbies. At least, that's what I'm hoping. My fingers are crossed, and I'm excited to see how it all unfolds!
Stay tuned to Jaxon Love’s page on edfclimatecorps.org for updates on his work this summer.