Tiffany Huynh
Tiffany is proof that you don’t need to give up a flourishing career and domain expertise to make a difference in the climate space. Tiffany’s move into climate work stems from a deep desire to be a steward of the earth, and at Elemental Excelerator, she gets to do just that.
Tiffany, you have this incredible career arc across different countries, developing your marketing expertise. Where are you today?
I'm the Director of External Affairs for Elemental Excelerator. We got our start out of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative and have since opened an office in East Palo Alto. Each year, we select 15-20 climate positive companies that best fit our mission and fund each company up to $1 million to deploy their technologies in communities that need them most in Hawaii, California, and Asia Pacific.
We’ve aligned our investments to improve sectors that have the highest greenhouse gas emissions. We work at the nexus of energy, transportation, water, agriculture, and circular economy.
Before Elemental, you were working in marketing in Hawaii and Australia. How did you find this role?
Well, I must say that the second time's the charm. I had applied for a previous role at Elemental through a reference from a friend. At the time, I had just moved back from Australia and had finally given in to being considered a marketing generalist. As much as I craved being a subject matter expert, I continued to find myself broadly managing many aspects of marketing throughout my career - mostly in the non-profit sector.
When I moved back from Sydney in 2017, I returned with deeper experience in the financial services and the FinTech space. I was curious about working for an agency as I had always been client-side. I joined the largest full-service firm in Honolulu, where I managed a broad portfolio of clients, from energy to high-end retail to political campaigns.
Last year, when I was approached about this role at Elemental, I thought it was too good to be true. All the things I wanted in a position were there. It was a perfect mix of strategic communications, relationship management, ecosystem building, and education program development. The timing was right; this has been the most challenging but rewarding role I’ve had yet.
There are so many incredible things about your story that are helpful for people. The first one is debunking the misconception that moving into the climate space means giving up on ambition and career or needing to retrain.
Yes, I believe that there is a space for anyone passionate about climate. No matter what your background.
For example, when I talk to students that are interested in marketing, I always tell them that you don't need a marketing degree or deep industry knowledge to be effective. Once you understand the principles (and of course, common sense is critical here), marketing is the same across any industry. You’re just working with different products or services.
In climate, we need all of the different experiences and perspectives that people can bring. There is no one size fits all solution as the issues manifest themselves in infinite ways and affect our everyday lives. This isn’t something that we’ve trained for, but all our collective skills are needed to be successful. I genuinely believe that if you have a passion, then you have a place - even if it takes a bit of soul searching.
A mentor of mine once asked me, “What mark do you want to leave on the world?” That question has stayed with me and continues to drive my work.
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This isn’t something that we’ve trained for, but all our collective skills are needed to be successful.”
Why was last year the right time for you to start working on climate solutions vs. earlier in your career?
I think the timing is everything, but I would have jumped into a career like this earlier had the opportunity arisen. Before Elemental, I had a loose understanding of global warming, but sustainability and resourcefulness have always been at the core of my ethos. As stewards of the earth, if we don’t take care of it, there will not be an earth left to live on.
When I was younger, I would travel to Vietnam - both of my parents are from there. I remember how resourceful people were; how much they do with what little they have. Every time I would come back to the US, I was impacted by how wasteful our society is. When you have so much and don’t see where your food or water comes from, you take it for granted. Many of us turn a faucet or a shower or flush the toilet without a second thought. In many countries, you have to scoop in the water with a bucket to create flushing pressure or bathe in cold water that just drips out of a faucet. It made me conscious of the luxuries that we have. So, I’ve always had an interest in working in a space that creates equity in, and awareness about, how precious our resources are.
What advice do you have for people who want to move into this space?
Just like any company, cleantech companies and startups need all types of skill sets. Even if you've never thought of yourself as an entrepreneur or an environmentalist, there is a place for the skills and experience that you bring to the table.
Start by putting yourself out there. People are so accessible nowadays, whether it's LinkedIn or Facebook or Instagram. People are craving authentic connections, and there is much more readiness to hop onto a zoom call to share experiences. There are also tons of free webinars and conferences right now that you would usually have to pay to attend in person. Attend sessions that you're intrigued by and look up the panelist and the companies that they work for and see if they are hiring.
If you were impressed by someone at a virtual conference you attended or someone that you read a great article from, reach out on a platform like LinkedIn, be sure to send a request with a note about what you admired about their piece. That message could be the difference between a connection acceptance and response instead of completely ignoring the request.
It's a small cleantech community, so look to see who else they are connected to and what companies they are working at.
Most importantly, we’re in a decisive decade. Our actions today will fundamentally shift the Earth’s trajectory. Now is when the opportunities are ripe, and we need to get our best minds working towards climate positive solutions.
“Most importantly, we’re in a decisive decade. Our actions today will fundamentally shift the Earth’s trajectory.”
What is unique about working with Elemental?
Our team and our founders. It is so special to be surrounded by people working urgently towards a mission as important as fighting climate change. We have 99 companies, and we’re looking for our next cohort of 15 to 20. Part of the criteria that we look at is the team. Of course, financial stability and technology are also significant factors, but at the end of the day, we are not just building a cohort; we are building a community. That is what makes working at Elemental so special. We’ve created a safe space to celebrate successes and learn from each other’s failed attempts. We are thoughtful about creating space to share learnings that can be applied across companies, teams, and sectors.
What has it been like dealing with some of the anxiety that comes with getting a deeper understanding of the crisis?
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So every time someone says this is such a huge problem (I mean it is!) I ask myself, what tangible steps can we take that are in our control?
When people have anxiety, it is because they feel like they have no control. So, I start with myself and look at what I can or cannot control and make decisions from there. I remind myself of the elephant analogy all the time.
Is there anything else that you'd like to share about what it's like working in the climate space now?
This is the greatest challenge of our generation, the more people that we can get working in this space, the better. It was so promising to see 800 companies from all over the world apply for our cohort again this year. And we know that there are many brilliant minds working on this - but we need more.
As we meet companies, it's exciting to see the teams’ caliber, everyone from former NASA scientists to mothers who have leaped into the climate-tech startup space. People from all different backgrounds are innovating on real-world challenges. If anyone out there is passionate about climate change, explore it and take the leap. There are so many great opportunities that are popping up - yes, even in a pandemic.
