Name: Kate Klibansky
Title: Senior Community Development Officer
Focus: I lead the work of Island Institute’s Resilient Energy team on a federally funded program that supports improving energy reliability, resilience, and affordability for rural, remote, and island communities across the Northeast.
In this photo: I am chatting with Alden Hathaway, president of the Cranberry Isles Community Solar Association, aboard the ferry from Islesboro to Lincolnville. We are on the way back from a site visit led by Island Institute’s Resilient Energy team.
Earlier that day, a group of community members from across the Northeast (as far south as Martha’s Vineyard and as far north as Eastport), along with Island Institute staff and our partners from Slipstream Inc. (a nonprofit based in Madison, Wisconsin), ventured to Islesboro to tour the island’s energy infrastructure and learn about its efforts to transition away from fossil fuels and improve energy independence and reliability. This visit was part of a two-day convening hosted out of our Rockland office to connect community members to one another, share knowledge, and learn more about our local energy landscape.
This is the best part of my job: providing the space and opportunity for community members to make connections. Seeing another community’s success firsthand can provide a lightbulb moment—pardon the pun—especially for communities in the early stages of energy planning. Beyond that, it reminds us all that progress is possible, and ultimately gives us hope and connection, two things so crucial to what we do.
