US Energy - We Are Impact Philanthropy

As we come into the holiday season, getting ready to close out 2022, our team at US Energy is reflecting on our work, events, and impact over the past 12 months. Organizing and supporting several events, empowering students and entrepreneurs to believe in themselves, compounding social capital into collective actions, establishing new partnerships, and educating our community on the importance of venture philanthropy. US Energy is well positioned for 2023 to be the most impactful year yet!

We were made aware that we need to let more stakeholders and constituents know about our work. We also need to make it clear that there are several ways to support and catalyze our efforts while helping driving social impact and venture philanthropy through a holistic, grass-roots approach. It's important to remember that individuals and organizations have three things to give; time, talent, & treasure - 2/3 don't cost you anything.

Our Managing Director, Jason Marmon, is currently on the last leg of a European impact tour on his way to Zurich, Switzerland for the 2nd annual NOAH Conference - Europe’s #1 Growth Capital Fundraising Platform. Below is NOAH's stakeholder impact wheel. The center represents indigenous people and our ecosystems:

The impact tour kicked off with US Energy leading an energy transitions panel at ImpactFest.nl on November 15th with panelists from EIT InnoEnergy , Impact Europe , Unknown Campus , & Bluespring in hopes of finding common grounds for common good through collective actions. A key takeaway was US Energy must focus on telling these powerful stories through film and digital media. The key to the success of initiatives like the Carbon Summit or the Southwest Film Expo is through partnerships. When we're talking about energy systems it is really important to frame the challenges we're up against, the easy way of doing this is showing the global energy matrix from 1990-2020 (30 years):

We can see energy demand nearly doubled over the course of 30 years but the matrix stayed relatively the same, with the addition of 3% renewable energy capacity being added to the mix. If we look at the next 30 years, this framework will lead to systemic failures. The energy transition is an all-hands on deck effort to reimagine our energy & food systems. Concluding, that all of the planets energy systems are derivates of the Sun, changing the conversation from us vs. them to a dialogue of prioritizing efficiency, utilization, and optimization. The key factor centers around the 3 T's; collaboration, cooperation, & (intergenerational) communication.

We also know that over the past 100 years the only time emissions have gone down is a consequence of a crisis. We must move away from being a reactive, crisis-oriented society into proactive, collective action society focused on systems which benefit everyone:

The 2nd event of US Energy's European series was Impact Finance Belgium in Brussels as part of a bigger event hosted by EVPA for ImpactWeek. ImpactWeek was sold out due to popular demand but we managed to take part in the auxiliary events while understanding how the European Union makes its decision being headquartered in Belgium. The takeaway being many stakeholders, organizations, and governments know that we need to focus on social impact finance and investments but their isn't a clear path or best-practice standards firmly in place yet. This is where US Energy combines our SEEDS Principles x 5 Principles of lean startup to catalyze exponential impact. We're looking for governments and corporations to join forces with US on this. The first principle of lean startup is 'entrepreneurs are everyone', we can pollinate and empower thousands of entrepreneurs to work on sustainable solutions, we'll innovate beyond our societies 'wicked' problems through collective actions.

The first step is empowering entrepreneurs and venture philanthropists to be the innovation accountants, creating new business models for the future of impact. Impact, the main theme of this trip, the 3 conferences, and the word in everyone's conversations. We are impact.

This is where US Energy needs to do a better job of letting potential stakeholders, governments, and organizations know they can invest in US and their impact capital will be put to work immediately:

The easiest places to start is sending US an email to [email protected]. We can open the dialogue around how to best serve you and your organization's goals, impact ambitions, and sustainability goals as venture philanthropists. All donations are tax-deductible while helping US make philanthropy cool and exciting - 'Planting SEEDS, Growing Community'.

Join US next year at the Carbon Summit or the Southwest Film Expo to experience the future of social impact! Happy Holidays from US Energy :)