Dear OpenMinds Colleagues and Friends:
In Q2, we launched Grid Vision at OM26 at Stanford, convened our first NextGen Summit, and welcomed our largest cohort yet at Boot Camp in Austin. At the same time, we carried Grid Vision to Washington, added new team and board members, took the “Power of AND” to a global audience at ARC in London, and grew the NextGen community to nearly 100 emerging leaders.
Here is what happened this quarter and what comes next.
In April, we held OM26, our flagship summit at Stanford University, bringing the community together to activate our top Impact Project, Grid Vision.
Watch our Grid Vision launch video from OM26:
At OM26, energy leaders weighed in on the challenges facing the grid as we publicly launched our Grid Vision Plan. Attendees overwhelmingly agreed that our proposed targeted policies, paired with removing key execution barriers, are critical to meeting anticipated demand on the U.S. grid by 2035. 95% of participants surveyed committed to support the plan and its five targeted initiatives.
The gathering also convened our first NextGen Summit, the first time all three cohorts (NG24, NG25, and NG26) came together, for two days of strategic planning around “Accelerating Individual and Community Impact.”
We have now moved from building the plan to communicating it, educating key stakeholders, and carrying out its initiatives with our partners, including shovel-ready interconnects, AI planning, and advanced transmission technologies.
We’ve launched several communications assets to support awareness of the plan that we would greatly appreciate your support in sharing to your networks:
The Grid Vision Plan Walkthrough Video by Steve Lockard (12-minutes, YouTube)
Public Webinar: The Grid Vision Plan by OM Leadership (45-minutes, YouTube)
We recently took Grid Vision to Washington, meeting with senior administration officials, senators, and FERC leadership during a week in DC to build support and share our analysis on permitting reform.
NextGen reached major milestones this quarter, evolving from a startup leadership development program into a growing community of impact.
Boot Camp 2026, Austin: In June, we welcomed the 32 newest members of the NextGen program to UT-Austin for four days of leadership development, technical learning, community building, and barbecue.
Impact Project Portfolio: We’ve officially launched five multidisciplinary NextGen Impact Projects, focused on methane abatement, climate economics, battery energy storage, “Bring Your Own Power” solutions, and geothermal and advanced nuclear.
Thank you to the organizations advising each project: energyRe, The Conservation Fund, Origis Energy, Williams, Three Cairns Group, Bain & Company, Invenergy, SCF Partners, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Clean Air Task Force, Vantage Data Centers, Oncor, and Aon.
Team:
We’re excited to announce that Georgina “Georgie” Campbell Flatter has joined our Board of Directors. As CEO of Greentown Labs, Georgie brings strong expertise, deep network, and incredible passion for the “Power of AND” to the OpenMinds board.
We welcomed Jack Bradshaw as Senior Project Manager on the OpenMinds Leadership Team. Jack, formerly a consultant at Bain & Co, is helping OM build momentum across Grid Vision, our future impact initiatives, and the NextGen Projects.
We are hiring a Director of Partnerships to help us maximize partner resources and drive key outcomes. To learn more or share with your network please click here.
Convenings:
In June, David Baldwin delivered a keynote interview, in front of thousands of leaders at the ARC Conference in London. In his fireside interview with Scott Tinker, David brought the OpenMinds perspective on the Dual Challenge and the “Power of AND” to a new, global audience.
Earlier this quarter, NextGen Director Kristin Barbato moderated a panel on Data Center & AI Demand at ClimaTech Live in Boston that brought together leaders across transmission, utility investment, hyperscale, and grid hardware.
Web / Social / Digital
In case you missed it, we launched our new website ahead of OM26, to help us provide a clear view into how we approach solving the Dual Challenge.
At OM26, we recorded several interviews with key energy, climate, and policy experts which we are actively publishing now. Click below to watch and share our first two.
Get Involved
Please follow OpenMinds on LinkedIn and help us amplify member achievements.
We want to share your company’s energy and climate milestones, so please send any news to Will Bernholz (Email, LinkedIn).
Know someone who is interested in helping solve the Dual Challenge? Forward them this newsletter to help grow the OpenMinds network for greater impact.
In late July, we'll co-host "Bridging the Gap," a working summit in Telluride convening 30 leading climate scientists and energy leaders to chart a shared, actionable path to aligning both sides on the “AND” part of the Dual Challenge, providing more affordable energy and reducing emissions, at the same time.
With our many partners, we will continue to communicate the Grid Vision plan and drive our key initiatives. In July, we will issue our shovel-ready interconnect study that demonstrates the positive impact that expanded in-region and interregional transmission can have on rate payer affordability and system reliability. Our teams will advance our work on AI planning and advanced transmission technologies. Huge thanks to our partners for supporting these initiatives.
As the NextGen community grows, so does its role as a talent pipeline for the energy transition. Companies interested in engaging our pool of exceptional talent, please contact Kristin Barbato.
Thank you for your continued support of OpenMinds. What started as an idea became a committed network and is now becoming a movement focused on delivering progress on the Dual Challenge: more energy AND less emissions—fast.
Thank you for your continued support of OpenMinds.
OpenMinds co-founders
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