Elena Essa

Elena is currently an associate with RMI’s Strategic Analysis and Engagement group. She provides additional support in the form of surge capacity to programs across RMI.

rior to RMI, Elena worked with the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) as a fellowship associate for its National Pacific/Mountain Fellowship. She facilitated discussions on clean energy with professionals in the field and engaged with external stakeholders. In June 2022, Elena was part of the CELI team to hold the emPOWER22 conference in Chicago, IL, which focused on advocacy and organizing in the clean energy space.

Before her time with CELI, Elena worked for a year with the city of Chelsea in Michigan as a graduate student consultant focused on the feasibility of a 1MW community solar project in the community. Her primary focus was to research best practices, subscription models, low-to-middle income considerations, environmental impact, and stakeholder engagement. She was the project lead for the final six months of the project.

In 2020, Elena co-taught the graduate-level course EAS 525: Energy Justice at the University of Michigan with Dr. Tony Reames.