2025 Shultz Energy Fellowships: Nevada Clean Energy Fund, Community Engagement Fellow
Regional-, state-, and city-level efforts are essential in our fight against climate change, especially in the field of energy. Stanford University is committed to helping by integrating its students into energy and climate ecosystems in the West through the Shultz Energy Fellowships program, an energy-related summer fellowship program for undergraduate and graduate students.
Named in honor of former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, one of the most widely admired American public servants of the past half-century, the program offers a suite of paid, energy-related public service fellowships for Stanford students in California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii during the summer.
The fellowships run from Monday, June 23, 2025 to Friday, August 29, 2025.
About the Nevada Clean Energy Fund
The Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports a thriving, affordable, and accessible clean energy economy by providing financial and technical resources to Nevadans. NCEF works with residents, communities, local businesses, schools, Tribes, contractors, governments, utilities, lenders, and others to accelerate clean energy growth, reduce energy costs, create jobs, and address climate change. NCEF supports a wide range of clean energy measures, including efficiency retrofits and electrification in homes and commercial buildings, zero-emissions vehicles, and residential and utility-scale solar and energy storage projects.
NCEF was created in 2017 by Nevada legislation as the state’s “green bank,” an institutional model successfully implemented in over a dozen other US states. Green banks are “mission-driven institutions that use innovative financing to accelerate the transition to clean energy and fight climate change.” Green banks address clean energy market gaps and financial barriers by providing technical assistance and financing. Financing can take a variety of forms, including direct lending and credit enhancements.
In August 2022, the federal Inflation Reduction Act established the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to deploy $27 billion in competitive grants to entities like green banks to provide financial and technical assistance for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution. NCEF is the primary organization in Nevada accessing GGRF funds and using them to implement a range of clean energy programs across communities in Nevada. In addition, NCEF is implementing new programs with several other federal clean energy funding awards, including under the EPA Clean School Bus program and EPA Community Change Grant program. NCEF is in the process of launching and scaling multiple programs, meaning this summer is poised to be an exciting, transformational period for the organization.
NCEF Team and Culture
At NCEF, we are focused on building a collaborative, equitable, respectful, impact-driven, and innovative culture that acknowledges the importance of work-life balance. We seek individuals who are critical thinkers, driven to take on big challenges, open to introspection, excited to connect with a diverse and inclusive set of stakeholders, and with a high degree of integrity. Importantly, we seek individuals with a shared passion for clean energy, combating climate change, and having a positive impact on the lives of Nevadans. You would be part of a growing, entrepreneurial, team that includes:
Kirsten Stasio, CEO: Kirsten joined NCEF in January 2022 as NCEF’s founding Executive Director to lead and launch the organization in collaboration with NCEF’s Board of Directors. She has over a decade of clean energy experience across the investment, policy, and corporate sectors. Kirsten co-teaches Understand Energy at Stanford University and serves as an Adjunct Lecturer. She holds an MBA and MS from Stanford and a BA in international policy from UC Davis.
Greg Zegas, Managing Director of Investments: In 2022, Greg completed his MS and MBA in Stanford’s Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, with an MS concentration in Sustainable Energy Systems and an MBA Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation. Prior to Stanford, Greg worked internationally in climate and energy finance and consulting. He holds a BA in Economics and Environmental Analysis & Policy from Boston University.
Read more about NCEF’s full team here.
Community Engagement Fellowship Summary
NCEF is seeking a Community Engagement Fellow. The Fellow’s primary roles will include conducting research and community stakeholder mapping and helping to develop NCEF’s community engagement strategy. Promoting energy equity and justice is core to NCEF and will be central to this role. The Community Engagement Fellow will also have the opportunity to play other roles depending on interest and organizational needs. The Fellow should be comfortable playing a dynamic role in an early-stage, high-impact non-profit organization. The selected fellow will be one of two Stanford Shultz Fellows.
NCEF is currently a hybrid organization that values strategic in-person collaboration. While the Fellow can conduct the bulk of fellowship work remotely, the Fellow should expect regular in-person meetings and working days. NCEF highly encourages the Fellow to be based in Reno, Carson City, or Las Vegas for the duration of the fellowship to enable regular in-person meetings and to get the most out of this fellowship.
2024 Fellow:
- Pamella Eunice Ahairwe, MA International Policy (Economic Development) '24
- Learn about Pamella's experience at NCEF:
Equal Opportunity
NCEF is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable work environment. This includes being intentional in our hiring practices and seeking to overcome systemic biases. If you believe that you have experience and skills that would be valuable to NCEF and this role - even if you do not meet the listed qualifications of the role - please don’t hesitate to apply and we will make sure your application garners the attention it deserves.
NCEF is an equal employment opportunity employer, and provides equal employment opportunity to all candidates and employees without regard to race, color, religion, age, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, intellectual disability, mental disability, or physical disability, political affiliation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, matriculation or any other characteristic protected under federal, state or local law.
Fellowship Roles & Responsibilities
- Analyze the clean energy needs of local communities, including clean energy workforce gaps, and assess the benefits of implementing various measures;
- Conduct stakeholder mapping of Nevada’s community groups, including low-income and underserved communities and the broader clean energy workforce;
- Analyze federal, state, and/or local policies;
- Provide input into NCEF’s equity and community engagement strategy;
- Support implementation of NCEF’s clean energy contractor engagement and workforce development initiatives;
- Develop presentations and educational materials;
- Help conduct outreach to diverse stakeholders, including local lenders, community groups, contractor organizations, business associations, and developers;
- Other tasks as deemed appropriate based on NCEF needs and fellow interests.
Fellowship Skills and Qualifications
- Passionate about clean energy, combating climate change, energy justice, and having a positive impact in the lives of Nevadans;
- Comfort operating in a high-growth, uncertain environment;
- Comfort with absorbing and synthesizing research across a variety of disciplines, from financial to engineering to social sciences;
- Excellent research and analytical skills;
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
- Comfort with working collaboratively as part of small team and independently with the ability to take initiative to complete projects.
- Well-organized and detail-oriented;
- Basic proficiency with creating content (e.g., slides, graphs, charts, maps) to effectively engage with various stakeholders about clean energy, including by using Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel);
- Experience with GIS or other mapping software a plus;
- Experience in engaging with a variety of stakeholders a plus.
All Shultz fellows must be enrolled in the spring quarter before their fellowship.
All Shultz fellows must take a one-unit spring workshop course, 'Energy Policy in California and the West' taught by Professor Bruce Cain and Visiting Fellow Felicia Marcus that will provide an in-depth analysis of the role of California state agencies, the Western Interstate Energy Board, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in driving energy policy development, technology innovation, and market structures. Course number is CEE 263G / POLISCI 73 / PUBLPOL 73 / ENERGY 73. Schedule: Wednesdays from 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm.
Please note that this opportunity is for graduate students. Interested undergraduates can apply via SIG.
