We were pleased to be referenced in this article from Obvious Ventures about the need for greater diversity in the fight to address climate change. 4. The Next Generation In addition to demanding clarity on the impact of their purchases, Millennials and Gen Z also want to find impact in their work.  According to one survey , 70% of Millennials are more likely to join companies strong in sustainability. This conviction in livelihood and purchasing intent seems only to increase with younger survey respondents — and there is no evidence whatsoever that it will slow down. As we’ve seen in recent elections the world around, the climate issue polls higher and higher with every new cycle. We also see a clear push to do this in a more diverse, inclusive and equitable way. Leadership at the grassroots level is everywhere (see  Edict ,  VCFamilia ,  Browning the Green Space ,  GreenTech Noir ,  Earth in Color ). Read more here: https://worldpositive.com/we-have-entered-the-climate-decade-70b7f433271b

Listen to the full podcast episode with Kerry Bowie & Bigger Than Us ‘ Raj Daniels. Kerry Bowie is the Managing Partner of  Msaada Partners  and the  Majira Project . Msaada is Swahili for “service”, and the strategy firm empowers social impact through consulting, coaching, and connecting. Majira is Swahili for “summer’’, so in a nod to the growing season the nonprofit accelerator program and innovator support organization helps small businesses and startups grow with a mission of community development through entrepreneurship.  Kerry also launched the  Browning the Green Space Initiative  which is a group of cross-sector leaders striving to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in clean energy and beyond. Kerry works at the nexus of social, economic, and environmental justice and has more than 20 years of experience in private, public, and nonprofit management. In addition to holding leadership positions at his church, Kerry is a Food Solutions New England Trailblazer, mentors and teaches start-up firms as part of the MIT Venture Mentoring Service and the New England Regional Innovation Node, and serves on the Black Innovation Alliance Leadership Team, Boston Ujima Project Investment Committee, MIT Graduate Alumni Council, MIT Sloan Affinity Groups Alumni Advisory Council, SI Ventures Advisory Board, and the Board of Museum Advisors of the Museum of Science. Kerry holds bachelors and masters degrees in environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Michigan, respectively, as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Kerry lives in Somerville, MA with his wife, Sherri-Ann, and two young daughters, Alexis and Sophia.

This article was originally published by Greentown Labs in February 2021. By Maya Nitzberg Throughout his career,  Kerry Bowie  has found himself “in the center of things” as a liaison, a communicator, and a connector—from helping different departments collaborate at Texas Instruments to working in energy and environmental affairs under Massachusetts Governors Deval Patrck and Charlie Baker. Kerry, managing partner of Msaada Partners, co-founded  Browning theGreen Space  last year. The nonprofit aims to make clean energy and other climate-related fields more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, with an emphasis on granting fair access to the boundless opportunities presented by the energy transition. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with Kerry in my role as Greentown Labs’ community director, from having him speak at our Climatetech Summit last fall, to working through how Greentown can become a better steward of equity and inclusion, to participating in Browning the Green Space’s steering committee. This February, in honor of Black History Month, Kerry sat down with me for an interview about Browning the Green Space’s approach and its five broad focus areas: careers, companies, capital, contracts, and community. Over the next year, Browning the Green Space plans to train 100 employers on DEI practices, expose 100 local high school or community college students to clean energy employers, create 100 clean energy jobs for people belonging to underrepresented groups, and much more. Listen to our conversation below, and  learn more about Browning the Green Space here !

This article originally appeared on the BU Institute for Sustainability website in February 2021. To celebrate Black History Month, we’re recognizing visionary entrepreneurs of color who are harnessing the clean energy transition to lead social change. We’re fortunate to personally know  Kerry Bowie , Founder, President, and Executive Director of the Msaada Partners’ jointly led Majira Project (for post-accelerator companies supporting underserved communities) and Browning the Green Space (to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in clean energy). Q&A with Kerry Bowie The leadership of  Msaada Partners , where you’re Managing Partner, reflects an interdisciplinary approach to facilitating social change, drawing on backgrounds in STEM, entrepreneurship, and community development. It’s safe to say you’re a triple threat with an MBA, degrees in environmental engineering, and your community development initiatives. How has your fluency across disciplines better enabled you to facilitate change for communities of color? Bowie:  I have always been a connector, and most of that stems from being able to speak multiple languages. And not spoken languages like English, Spanish, or French, as I unfortunately only speak English well. However, I am as comfortable speaking with bankers, lawyers, and PhDs as I am with elected officials, clergy, and community activists. I think that speaking these multiple languages assists with relationship building through familiarity and empathy. It is easier for people to connect with me when we have some shared experiences, and it is easier for me to understand where they are coming from when there are differences of opinion. I believe that it is much easier for me to place myself in the shoes of others given my varied background and experiences. In working with underserved populations in the Boston area and Massachusetts’ gateway cities, what are typically the biggest barriers to entrepreneurship and innovation that you see—and what’s your best advice for overcoming these hurdles? Bowie:  What we have heard from the entrepreneurs of color and women that we have worked with over the past four or five years is that entrepreneurs of color need: technical assistance that fits; access to capital; and space to collaborate and convene, especially in Roxbury, Dorchester, and/or Mattapan. We are attempting to overcome these hurdles by providing consulting, coaching, connections, and access to capital. The space during the pandemic has shifted to more of a virtual community; however, connections to like-minded people are so very important whether they are coaches, mentors, peers, champions, sponsors, or investors. We are facilitating those connections and building that community here in Massachusetts and beyond. You founded  Browning the Green Space  (BGS) in late 2019 to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in clean energy. Of course, this was shortly before COVID-19 changed the world as we know it, and communities of color were once again disproportionately affected, much like with climate change. Has this moment in history created an opportunity for BGS that didn’t previously exist? Bowie:  The problems existing were already there, but they indeed were exacerbated by the pandemic as the most vulnerable communities are typically the hardest hit during crises. COVID-19 is no different as we saw how Black and Brown communities had higher infection rates and higher mortality than other groups. Not only the pandemic but also the onslaught of racial injustice marked by cases like those of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Walter Wallace, and too many others to name here have accelerated the work that we were doing and caused many to lean in even more in recognition of how widespread and injust the disparities in our country really are. The guilt felt by many is changing to action, which is a good thing. A lot more people are “woke” now, as the young people say! Or at least they are waking up to the realities that many of us have been far too well accustomed to for many years. Can you talk about the 5 Cs—careers, companies, capital, contracts, and communities—for moving the needle on equity? Bowie:  Browning the Green Space (BGS) was born from the realization that people of color often receive more than their fair share of “environmental bads” like brownfields, pollution, and asthma while they receive less than their fair share of “environmental goods” like cleantech jobs in energy efficiency, renewable energy, water, wasted food, and urban farming. The BGS Initiative operates at the intersection of environmental justice, economic justice, and social justice. Browning the Green Space is a voluntary coalition of leaders and organizations, primarily in the New England region, that share the passion to advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) in clean energy. Our goal is to increase the participation and leadership of Black and Brown people and of women (collectively, “underrepresented groups”) in the clean energy space and beyond (e.g., wasted food, water, agtech) in the Northeast. Our work falls into five connected but distinct focus areas: CAREERS: Pathways to employment. Creating opportunities through networks and training for people of color and women. Mapping educational pathways from junior high school through community college, trade schools, four-year institutions, or other programs. Showcasing role models and providing access to internships and apprenticeships. COMPANIES: Removing barriers to employment. Supporting Broad DEI Initiatives including hiring practices, tool kits, recognition, etc. CAPITAL: Funding and supporting founders of color and women through accelerators, incubators, angel/VC funding, etc. CONTRACTS: Enhancing opportunities for underrepresented groups as clean energy contractors. Providing technical assistance, support, and assisting with insurance, bonding, etc. COMMUNITIES: Bringing low-cost clean energy solutions to disadvantaged communities. Our vulnerable communities need these technologies more than ever, but it is often only available to the rich, white, green, and vain. There are unfortunately disincentives and policies that make it difficult for low-to-moderate-income residents to obtain technology. For example, there are tenant-owner issues for those who do not own their homes, and for homeowners that are living check to check, rebate programs are unrealistic. We are working to make sure that we can shed some light on some of these oversights and unintended consequences of policies and regulations. How about a shout-out to the clean energy entrepreneurs and companies who you’ve worked with through the  Majira Project  that are deserving of some recognition—who should we be watching? Bowie:  This list includes clean energy companies and beyond (e.g., wasted food, water, agtech, transportation, advanced manufacturing) both here in the Northeast and beyond: CERO : Helps large producers divert food waste responsibly and easily by collecting inedible food waste and composting it to make rich new soil. (Boston) CrimsonBikes : Operates a bike shop in Cambridge, MA, that offers the highest quality bikes and services to the Boston area for a fraction of the price you’d pay elsewhere. (Boston) Food for All : App that allows people to buy food that restaurants would not sell by the end of the day and would otherwise be wasted at prices of 50 to 80% off. (Boston) Spoiler Alert : Helps the world’s largest food businesses manage unsold inventory through its software that tracks and analyzes their products and provides a marketplace that facilitates food donations, discounted sales, and organic waste recovery opportunities. (Boston) 1854 Cycling : Advance manufactured electric bicycles (Boston) Agtools : Commodity pricing and data analytics tools for farmers (Orange County, CA) BlocPower : Energy efficiency for multi-family homes (NYC) Diaspora AI  : Water banking software and technology (Virginia Beach) Eden GeoTech : Geothermal technology company for oil and gas space (Boston) GenOne : Design and manufacturing consulting firm and prototyping (Boston) Gildform : On-demand jewelry design and 3D manufacturing (Detroit) Kiverdi : Carbon sequestration and materials hybrid company (San Francisco) Lab141 : Fashion tech/advanced manufacturing (NYC) Marauder Robotics : Underwater drones for ocean restoration (Atlanta) Max.ng : Passenger, food, and freight delivery via motorcycles (Lagos) Optimal Tech : Facilities management platform with renewable energy backbone (Atlanta) Varuna : Water distribution system monitoring (Chicago)

This article was originally published in BostInno in February 2021. Kerry Bowie wants more people of color and those with low to moderate incomes to care about green tech and the benefits of renewable energy. Bowie, who is Black, is an environmental engineer by training. Now a managing partner at Boston consulting firm Msaada Partners , Bowie noticed how white men dominated the green energy space. He believes creating more opportunities for people of color can allow them to benefit from some environmental goods, including jobs in the clean energy sector. Now, Bowie has joined forces with Daniel Goldman of Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) to launch an environmental justice initiative called Browning the Green Space. Browning the Green Space is a nonprofit designed to create pathways to employment in the clean energy space. One goal is to provide training, internships and virtual field trip opportunities to those living in underrepresented communities to get them interested in topics like energy efficiency and solar installation. Over the next 12 months, the group aims to create 100 clean energy jobs for underrepresented groups; conduct diversity, equity and inclusion training for 100 companies; and secure 10 contracts of $500,000 or more for minority- and women-owned firms.  Simply put, Bowie said, the initiative is a way to prepare communities of color and women for the “green wave” or “tsunami” of cleantech and renewable energy jobs that are coming online soon. He points to Biden-Harris administration priorities and progress on a climate bill locally as evidence of that.  No matter “what race or ethnicity you are,” Bowie said, “how much money you make, what language you speak, you should have a right to clean air, to clean water, to open spaces.”  Goldman, vice president and treasurer of Browning the Green Space, said he, Bowie and all those involved have set “really ambitious goals” to create more opportunities for Black and brown founders in the clean energy sector. He said lack of diversity has always been a concern that no one seemed to know how to go about fixing.  After social unrest last spring in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a policeman in Minneapolis, both Goldman and Bowie figured now was the time to do something. “I think what happened during that period was we said, ‘All right, we’ve got to move faster, we’ve really got to kick this into high gear,’” Goldman said.  A coalition of 70 leaders in the environmental justice and clean energy space had been talking about forming an initiative since the fall of 2019. The group decided on a strategy and turned that into the Browning the Green Space nonprofit by September 2020. Bowie, who serves as president of the initiative, wants to reach those most harmed by pollution and fossil fuels. He said some of those communities include “gateway” cities such as Brockton, Lowell, New Bedford, Lawrence, Springfield, Holyoke and Worcester.  Bowie previously worked as an associate commissioner of operations for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection during Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration. With Goldman’s collaboration, he wants to figure out why city, state and federal contracts aren’t being given to people of color.  Goldman, managing director of CEV, said local utilities have “abysmal” records on this. One goal is to boost procurement for established small businesses led by underrepresented groups. “There’s a huge opportunity in the energy space, specifically to get contracts with energy companies that are very lucrative,” Goldman said. “In some cases, there’s a financing backstop to that.”  Browning the Green Space is currently seeking 501(c)3 status in Washington, D.C., and is beginning to fundraise. Already, the group has scores of volunteers, and Bowie and Goldman plan to eventually bring on full-time staff. Bowie is optimistic about what Browning the Green Space can accomplish as the cleantech landscape shifts in the coming months. “Most of our folk are doing the work, in a sense we want to amplify what they’re doing, and we want to fill gaps and build bridges,” Bowie said. “There’s a lot of moving pieces to this, and I think we can make some tremendous change for Black and Latinx folk and women.”

This article was originally published in the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative Magazine , in 2020. “I’m as comfortable in Nubian Square as I am in Kendall Square,” says Kerry (MBA ’06). “I can talk to governors and church leaders. With everyone, I always seek to find a bridge.” This strategy has served Kerry well over his twenty-five years in environmental research, operations, and policy, across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. With a background in environmental engineering and more than a decade at Texas Instruments, Kerry was one of the few grads in his MBA class to go to work for the government. Over nine years, he held a variety of roles in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). During Kerry’s time as associate commissioner, he led the state’s Brownfields Program and MassDEP’s Environmental Justice Strategies. He also represented the department on the Climate Change Adaptation Subcommittee, MA Food Policy Council, and Metropolitan Area Planning Council Executive Council. But over time, despite his successes, Kerry realized he could do more for underrepresented people.  “People of color often times receive more than their fair share of ‘environmental bads’, like Brownfields, pollution, and asthma,” Kerry says, “while they receive less than their fair share of ‘environmental goods’, like cleantech jobs in energy efficiency, renewable energy, water, wasted food, and urban farming.” Kerry Bowie  | MBA ’06, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Msaada Partners People of color often times receive more than their fair share of ‘environmental bads’… while they receive less than their fair share of ‘environmental goods’ like cleantech jobs.” Clean Tech for All In 2015, Kerry took what he learned in public service and set out to create a social impact consulting practice to support small businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits working in underserved communities. The result was  Msaada Partners .  “We understand that change is not always easy,” Kerry says of Msaada, which is Swahili for service. “Our mission is to empower social impact through consulting, coaching, and connecting. Our goal is to serve communities of color by providing technical assistance to promote entrepreneurship and innovation that leads to wealth creation and more sustainable communities.”  In 2020, the  Boston Business Journal  named Msaada in its list of the 100 largest minority-owned firms (#57) in the city. But Kerry soon began to visualize another way to create impact, shifting his attention from entrepreneurs to investors.  “I wasn’t seeing many entrepreneurs of color in the cleantech and environmental space,” Kerry says. “And while technical assistance, consulting, business advising, and coaching is needed for entrepreneurs of color, the companies they support also lack access to capital.” Kerry’s new brainchild is  Browning the Green Space  (BGS). BGS has become a vital coalition of leaders and organizations in the clean energy space in the northeast—more than 65 and counting, including the Sustainability Initiative. The COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding, climate change and the persistent wealth gap are two of the most important issues facing our society, Kerry notes. Locally, the  Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s 2015 “Color of Wealth”  report estimates the average net worth of Black households in Boston to be $8 vs. $247,500 for White households. BGS has the potential to address many of these problems at once—ideal for a self-proclaimed ‘efficiency geek’ like Kerry.  “Supporting underrepresented professionals in the energy efficiency and renewable energy space with coaching, contracts, and capital will not only create jobs and careers that provide pathways out of poverty, but also begin to close the wealth gap—all while addressing climate change.”