Get to Know Lewis

Jun 13

June 13, 2024 | Interview by Alana Lopez Barro Rivera

Lewis hiking up to ski the East Wall at Arapahoe Basin.

Fishing off of the Aquinnah Cliffs in Martha's Vineyard (his favorite place in the world).

What did you study in school?

I studied Business and Economics at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. I focused on Sustainability and Energy Policy classes outside of my major whenever I could. The field work and site visits that the school and these classes were able to provide for me were pivotal to many of the values I bring forward into my work.

What are you excited to work on at Kyanite Partners?

I look forward to working on implementation of renewable energy solutions with equitable outcomes. I am especially excited to continue the work we have been doing around Civic Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), distributed energy systems governed by community institutions and residents that effectively conserve and manage energy and redistribute savings and associated profits back into communities. Our work with Civic VPPs has felt like a very natural subject for me with renewable solutions and pollution mitigation being used as a tool for community empowerment and wealth building. This intersection of community empowerment and innovative energy solutions has me poised for the work to come at Kyanite Partners.

What are the values that drive your work?

The values that drive my work include racial justice, equity, environmental justice, bridge building, and climate change mitigation. The prospect of making major, unprecedented federal infrastructure dollars available and tangible for frontline communities fills me with motivation.

“These experiences gave me a real perspective on the urgency of the climate crisis and I am glad to be in a place where my work can have a measurable impact towards mitigating climate change and protecting the environment that I love. ”

What are the places that have deeply shaped you?

One of the places that has most deeply shaped me is my college town of Colorado Springs and the greater Southwest region of the United States that I was lucky enough to be able to explore during my undergraduate years. The school is famous for its access to the outdoors. The classes at Colorado College allowed me to experience outdoor learning, taking advantage of the state's average 300 days of sun per year. While there, I experienced the awe inspiring beauty of the Rocky Mountains , and was able to deeply immerse myself in nature between classes, giving me an appreciation for the region’s scenic beauty and a sense of stewardship for the environment. While I was in school in Colorado, I also gained perspective on environmental challenges. I experienced wildfires that made the air nearly impossible to breathe, and forced us to stay indoors due to air pollution, thunderous hailstorms in the summer, and watched glaciers melt year after year. These experiences gave me a real perspective on the urgency of the climate crisis and I am glad to be in a place where my work can have a measurable impact towards mitigating climate change and protecting the environment that I love.

What is something not many people know about you?

The thing that I am best at is fishing. It is what I want to be doing at all times and my passion for it is unparalleled in this universe. I think people may not know this about me because NYC is not the place for an avid angler to be living, but I try to go upstate or out to Massachusetts to fish as much as possible.

Is there anything that you’re reading or watching that’s inspiring you?

I recently started reading Caste, By Isabel Wilkerson. It is a dissection of race in this country that gives a perspective through the lens of the caste system and how it still persists in modern America. Racial justice is a core value of mine and the book is giving me a new perspective to bring into my work here at Kyanite Partners.