CHANCE Fellow Strives to Create a Clean and Secure Energy Future

2017 CHANCE Costa Rica and 2017 CHANCE Cuba Fellow, Erifili Draklelis continues to apply her CHANCE-inspired skills and experiences to address real-world problems in the workforce -- this time in her role as Associate at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) in the Electricity Practice. She is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University and Columbia University where she recently earned her M.P.A. in Environmental Science and Policy. Now she does work to decarbonize the electricity sector. Her specific role is as a facilitator in the Electricity Innovation Lab, where she brings together diverse stakeholders to build climate solutions and catalyze the clean energy transition. Late nights researching in the lab, forming lasting relationships with individuals, and gathering and analyzing scientific data are all skills she attributes to the CHANCE program that are vital to her work today. During her CHANCE Costa Rica conversations specifically, she was able to see firsthand the social, equity, political, and climate concerns centered on conservation which are exactly the focus of her work on decarbonizing the largest economy in the world. Her goal with RMI is to create a climate narrative that provides access to electricity to the over one billion people on the planet who currently lack it.