Favorite Parts of Working in the Climate Industry as a Director of Strategic Partnerships
Rebecca's career path, initially focused on international relations and unexpectedly leading to the automotive sector, unexpectedly pivoted to climate action after recognizing the significant emissions from the industry; this unexpected journey culminated in speaking at COP28, solidifying a passion for collaborative problem-solving within the climate space, which Rebecca describes as having "no greater unifier".
Climate Change, Clean Transportation, International Relations, Strategic Partnerships, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Rebecca Saletta
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Fintech Climate Start-up
UCLA
N/a
Communications
Climate, Environment, Sustainability & Waste Management, Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)
Business Strategy
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Rebecca's career path highlights the importance of transferable skills and adapting to new challenges. Initially aiming for diplomacy, she found herself in the automotive sector and transitioned into climate action through electric vehicles. This showcases how diverse experiences can lead to impactful careers.
2. The interview emphasizes the collaborative nature of the climate industry. Rebecca's involvement in COP28 demonstrates the global scale of climate action and the opportunity to work alongside international leaders. This highlights the importance of networking and collaboration in addressing complex challenges.
3. Rebecca's passion for climate action is contagious. She advocates for focusing on a specific area of expertise, in this case clean transportation, while remaining open to learning about other aspects of the climate crisis. This approach emphasizes the need for specialized skills and continuous learning in the field of climate action.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your industry?
I think I touched on this a little bit earlier about what I enjoy the most. For me, climate is really exciting. I didn't plan on getting into climate, so I do feel like I need to say that disclaimer. The generations coming up are so lucky to have had an awareness of this far before I did.
I wanted to be a diplomat; that sounded really cool. I wanted to go international. Then, when I worked for the British government, I was put in the automotive sector. They said, "Do business development for automotive."
That wasn't something I really connected with. I'm not a car person or an engineer. I thought, "I don't know how I'll do this." But I was based out of California, so automotive plus California soon became electric vehicles. I found myself falling headfirst into climate.
I came at it from the automotive perspective, understanding the complexities. I realized, "Okay, this is really hard. Cars are huge emitters, large manufacturers don't want to change their attitude, we have no charging infrastructure, we have a lot of problems and big emissions." I realized my place in the industry and thought, "Okay, we need to pull these brains together." That's kind of what launched me into climate, and I think that heartbeat has kept me here.
I definitely want to stay in climate for my career. I just say that because I didn't study climate; I'm still learning so much. I go to conferences and think, "I don't know what that acronym means" because I'm from automotive, not solar. There are so many layers to it.
I had the privilege of speaking at COP 28 in December in Dubai, which was the UN's Climate Summit. Being able to be with climate leaders from across the world tackling these different problems was so empowering. There's no greater unifier than something like this.
It also requires us to stay in our lanes. I can get enamored by other things and say, "I want to do sustainable farming now," or "I want to do this or that." But for me, choosing a lane and saying, "Right now my expertise is in clean transportation, so let me run in this lane as hard and as fast as I can," while continuing to listen and pick up everything else, is really fun.
This is a shameless plug for people to get into climate because there's so much need across the board. I think that's one of my favorite things about this industry: the people are in it for the right reasons.