We are all finding new ways to adjust our lives during this unsettling time of COVID19, and for most that adjustment includes work.  We are being called to create a new kind of “Invoking The Pause”, and Grant Partners (GPs) are responding accordingly. 

ITP 2020 Grant Partners (GPs) were on the verge of utilizing their newly awarded grants to launch projects that the ITP Advisory Committee selected from a pool of over 50 applicants. Since the purpose of ITP is to provide for a "creative pause" - a reflective retreat for a team to take time away in a place of natural beauty, the spread of coronavirus has interfered with most, (if not all), of the GPs plans to take that creative team “pause”.  As a result, creativity is winning over adversity and our GPs are finding clever and quick solutions to continue their work in the climate field. One such organization using creative adaption is 2020 GP, Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI):


Liz Dalton, Executive Director CELI:  "I want to thank you again for supporting CELI in 2020!  I'm happy to report that despite the recent weeks’ news, we welcomed 105 new Fellows to CELI in March -- including 36 Fellows in our inaugural Chicago cohort! In a swift transition from our in-person programming, we hosted a two-day orientation on March 20-21 via Zoom with the 2020 cohorts across DC, Chicago, and the Bay Area, and held our first national happy hour (over 85 people joined virtually to welcome our new cohort to the CELI community)! The Fellowship is now in full swing gathering via Zoom for weekly sessions and we look forward to finding additional ways for Fellows to connect in person as soon as it is safe and responsible to do so.

In addition to launching the Fellowship remotely, CELI just announced a new webinar series to continue providing energy education and community. Thanks to partners like Invoking the Pause, we are able to continue creating clean-energy focused content and building community among emerging leaders in our field. Thank you!

We are continuing to move forward with our emPOWER20 conference and are keeping a close eye on the potential need to transition to an online event. As things evolve, I will be sure to keep you and the ITP team posted on any changes or updates to our programming. Thank you, as always.


Thank you Liz and the CELI Team for your creative commitment!!