Encolor & The Shared Space Project | ACEEE Summer Study Presentation

Shifting Power with Transformational Equity: A Market Transformation Theory of Change Quinn Parker, Encolor Rachel Dortin, The Shared Space Project ACEEE Summer Study 2024 August 6, 2024

A BIT ABOUT ME

I AM: • A facilitator and strategic consultant, with 16 years of

professional experience working with utilities, non-profits and public organizations

• Founder & CEO of Encolor, a firm committed to supporting

diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and Founder & Executive Director of The Shared Space Project, a newly launched nonprofit dedicated to bringing people to the tables where decisions are made that impact them.

• A certified Diversity Professional (CDP), qualified administrator of

Quinn Parker

the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

• M.B.A. graduate of California State University, Dominguez Hills • Board Director for the American Council for an Energy- Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP) and a member of the DEI Council

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper explores how a transformational equity theory of change for market transformation can shift power people and move the clean energy transition forward. This challenges the traditional Demand Side Management (DSM) model and asks that we think in a people-centered way.

Objectives include: • Discuss the relationship between equity and market transformation • Recognizing that equity requires system change • Creating a project life-cycle framework that is people-centered

EQUITY AND MARKET TRANSFORMATION TWO DEFINITIONS...

• The strategic process of intervening in a market to create lasting change in market behavior by removing identified barriers and/or exploiting opportunities to accelerate the adoption of all costeffective energy efficiency as a matter of standard practice. NEEA • Strategic initiatives that intend to deliver lasting change in a market’s structure or function or to transform the way the market participants behave, and the object is to permanently decrease barriers to adoption. DOE

WITH A CRITICAL MISS...

• The definitions do not name WHO barriers should be mitigated for, HOW resources should be directed within communities, or WHY there are certain communities who have been left behind in the past.

TRANSFORMATIONAL EQUITY FRAMEWORK

Practice people-centered approaches at every stage in the program lifecycle to ensure the activities and associated tracking protocols represent the communities where the work is done, and all benefits and harms are shared fairly amongst members.

Implement targeted universalism to ensure the activities and associated tracking protocols representative universal goals shared by communities and the organizations or institutions who serve them.

Shift decision-making power to communities who have been most impacted by an inequitable energy system.

PEOPLE-CENTERED TRANSFORMATION

Emphasize the human element of how change happens.

Create conditions to shift power in decision-making to community.

Prioritize outcomes that align with community values.

TARGETED UNIVERSALISM DEFINTION Places the needs of those that are rarely served at the center of programmatic design to achieve shared goals.

[IN EXPERT WORDS] ”An organization or institution identifies a problem that impacts a community who has been on the margins of society, proposes solutions, and then broadens its scope to support as many people as possible.

“Targeted universalism is an approach that supports the needs of the particular while reminding us that we are all part of the same social fabric”.

REFRAMING A FAMILIAR IMAGE

Enhanced Outreach Multicultural Marketing Technical Support Trust Building Community Engagement Transcreation

$100 incentive

Additional Investment

REFRAMING A FAMILIAR IMAGE AGAIN Enhanced Outreach Multicultural Marketing Technical Support Trust Building Community Engagement Transcreation Additional Investment

Systemic racism Poverty Uneven distribution of resources Lack of good-paying jobs Environmental Injustice Barriers to education No voice in decisions A Transformational Equity Theory of Change for Market Transformation would aim to remove the community wall, eliminating current and future barriers that community sees.

COMMUNITY LED = POWER SHIFTING “There is no demand for change when you don’t know what is possible.”

- Scott Bernstein, ACEEE Directors

DEFINTION Listening to, learning from, and following the lead of communities on the frontlines of climate injustice is essential for any institution or organization to embrace transformative equity in clean energy market transformation initiatives.

WHAT TO DO

o Share context and historical information that is relevant and understandable. o Remove barriers for participation. Meet community where they are. o Acknowledge and be prepared to address and ideally unwind policies or processes that have limited the ability for community to have meaningful engagement. o Listen more that than you speak. o Get comfortable with exploring and pursuing ideas that at one time seemed impossible.

EQUITY TRANSFORMATION IN PROGRAM DESIGN Phase

Questions to consider

PreDesign

What populations are most likely to be impacted by Understand any historical legacies that inequities, either because of historical evidence or may have produced inequities anecdotal experiences? through implicit past disparities, discriminatory practices and exclusion.

Does the composition of the project team reflect or proportionally represent the communities being Develop appropriate relationships to served? understand the communities being served.

Research Have you included the community or community and perspectives in your research plan?

Planning Have you defined the target population? This requires collecting demographic information.

Intention

Understand the wants and needs of the community the program is targeting.

Establish an approach to prove your impact to the community in ways that they value.

EQUITY TRANSFORMATION IN PROGRAM DESIGN Phase

Questions to consider

Intention

Design

Have you documented feedback and noted how it was addressed in the design process?

Understand how inequities in access impact program design.

Are there any intentional design elements to correct for past inequities?

Determine how previous harm or injustice shapes how communities engage the organization.

Are there differences in participation, experience, or outcomes by identity?

Understand how outcomes may vary based on typical identity characteristics.

Strengthen relationships with community.

Implementation

Does the program approach include leveraging local organizations?

Evaluation

Does the workplan include definition of equity?

Does the evaluation take into consideration value, beyond energy savings or number of measures installed?

Understand if and how inequities have impacted intended program outcomes.

Advocate for evaluation of community outcomes.

CALL TO ACTION To meet carbon reduction goals no community can be left behind. Saying a community is hard to reach is no longer an option.

• Community leadership is critical, lived experience is crucial. We will not see the change we need by continuing to influence from the outside.

• Communities can’t lead when they have no power. Decision making should be informed, influenced, and led by expertise within the community.

• You have the ability, no matter your role in the program life cycle, to bring community into the process.

• There are cascading impacts when community is part of policy making, the regulatory process or implementation of products and services.

What is one action you can take when you return to the office to frame your work around transformational equity?

THANK YOU! Questions? Comments?

Want to continue the conversation?

Please get in touch: Quinn Parker qparker@encolorconsulting.com

Photo: Sarah Ardin, Unsplash