Janice Tran, 2021 YWE Award Winner Profile

Written by Ana Villarreal Escuerdo

Having spent the majority of her life in a city where the Oil and Gas industry was center-stage, Janice Tran is no stranger to the challenges and conversations circulating the energy sector. Feeling a pull towards the environmental movement but not resonating with activists, Janice saw a need for a space where post-secondary students could learn more about the energy industry from a multidisciplinary perspective and understand holistic energy systems. With this in mind, she created the first International Student Energy Summit at the University of Calgary. The Summit was so successful it evolved into what today is known as the global organization, Student Energy. “Post-secondary students have a curiosity about sustainability and energy” says Janice. “We need to put them on an accelerated path to create an impact in energy using the skills they have.” Over the past decade, Student Energy has gone from a small Calgary non-profit to a worldwide organization which aims to empower and engage post-secondary students across the world to be changemakers in the energy space.?

Janice herself has blazed a change making path. After graduating with a dual Philosophy and Business Degree from the University of Calgary, she began her career as an accountant but quickly realized her path was in energy and tackling climate change. This led her to earn a Master’s Degree in Sustainability Management from the prestigious Earth Institute at Columbia University, a place where Janice says she was hoping to find the answers to solving climate change.? “They didn’t have the answers.” Janice says, “That’s when I realized that you have to go where you, as an individual, can make the most impact because that is where you are needed.”

Looking to make an impact, Janice made her way to Silicon Valley to work with some of the industry’s top clean tech sector visionaries at Generate Capital. Janice worked as a Director financing deals across the country’s industrial waste processes, eventually building the largest biogas to energy portfolio in the United States. It became evident through her work at Generate Capital that massive innovations could be unlocked through industrial processes, and so, after 5 years she returned to Calgary to start Kanin Energy with friends from University.

Now, as CEO and Co-Founder of Kanin Energy, Janice leads a passionate multidisciplinary team implementing industrial scale decarbonization solutions. She admits that being an entrepreneur can be lonely; long nights, and unpredictability are just some of the challenges she has faced, but it’s not just about decarbonization for Janice, it’s also about building an energy future where more women and minority groups can be leaders. Her work in the energy space has already been recognized by Forbes and featured on the Diamond List which showcases early-stage climate oriented startups.

As a 2021 YWE Award winner Janice is ready to use her platform to build a more diverse, sustainable and equitable future and continue building a community of women entrepreneurs making an impact in the energy space.?

Congratulations Janice!