New York City Building Optimization Fellow

Launch Your Clean Energy Career as a Carbon League Fellow

The Carbon League Fellowship is designed for current students, recent graduates, emerging professionals, and career-switchers eager to break into the rapidly growing clean energy sector. Whether your background is in engineering, public policy, environmental science, business, or community organizing, this fellowship serves as a launchpad—pairing real-world sustainability project experience with mentorship, professional networking, and hands-on exposure to the energy transition.

As a Carbon League Fellow, you will work directly at the intersection of climate action, clean energy, and community impact. Fellows collaborate with municipal agencies, utilities, business leaders, and community organizations to accelerate practical, equitable clean energy transitions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Project Implementation: Support the deployment of regional decarbonization, renewable energy, and energy-efficiency initiatives.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Coordinate across public, private, and frontline community partners to align climate goals and drive local buy-in.
• Data & Policy Analysis: Conduct research, track sustainability metrics, and synthesize project outcomes to inform actionable climate strategies.

Featured Project: New York Campus & Building Decarbonization Task Force Lead

In this role, the Fellow will directly lead and coordinate the AEG / Carbon League New York Task Force on Campus & Building Decarbonization. Working alongside regional leaders across real estate, university campuses, municipal agencies, and utilities, you will drive actionable 90-day sprints to overcome structural barriers in urban building retrofits and clean energy adoption. Key responsibilities include:

• Task Force Operations & Facilitation: Organize, facilitate, and synthesize quarterly stakeholder roundtables and working sessions with New York building operators, sustainability directors, and energy experts.
• 12-Month Solution Delivery: Manage milestones and accountability tracking for task force deliverables—focusing on scalable building electrification pathways, capital planning integration, and policy/incentive navigation (e.g., Local Law 97 compliance).
• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Connect campus facility leaders and commercial real estate stakeholders with technical solution providers, utility incentive programs, and workforce development partners.

Responsibilities

• Work approximately ~5 hours/week to facilitate a task force of energy leaders
• Attend biweekly meetings with other fellows in your region to update on progress
• Attend monthly meetings with all fellows national to engage in professional development opportunities

Opportunities

• Direct mentorship and coaching to develop your skills as an emerging energy leader
• Network opportunities with energy company executives and other decision makers
• Courses on GIS and other energy policy skills
• Lead a project making a direct impact on the climate crisis in your community

Qualifications

A large part of this fellowship is to develop the core skills needed to pursue a career in the energy space. A few skills are required prior:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Some technical background on the energy industry, operations, stakeholder engagement, science/technology, cross-sector collaborations, community development/organizing or adjacent field.
• Eagerness to make a difference toward solving climate change and facilitating the energy transition.