Welcoming Kate: A Thoughtful Collaborating Consultant
Portrait of Kate Heller against a plant wall with the words ‘Kate Heller, Common Spark’s Collaborating Consultant’ plastered on top
Common Spark welcomes our newest Sparkler Kate Heller, Collaborating Consultant, who will be co-leading the Energy (in)Equity trainings and providing strategic advising and client services, such as stakeholder engagement, policy and communications writing, and project management.
She comes to our team with a deep background in working with diverse stakeholders, facilitating and leading trainings and workshops, and developing program strategy. In addition to her work with Common Spark, Kate is also the California Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) Coalition Manager, providing facilitation, project management, and coordination in their advocacy to improve housing quality, make energy affordable, and support community resilience. Read more about Kate Heller.
We are so excited to work with and learn from Kate — her approach to work, which embeds her commitment to practicing equity, holistic systems thinking, and communication accessibility, will provide a unique and valuable perspective to the work that we do. More importantly, Kate’s personhood, who is creative, playful, thoughtful, and caring, expands the possibilities of what we can achieve together by being our full selves and supporting one another in our vision for a just clean energy future.
As a Common Spark way to introduce Kate to our friends and partners, we ask Kate to answer some silly and not-entirely-silly questions below.
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What brought you to Common Spark?
As with most things, there’s a short answer and a long answer to this question. The short answer is that I was doing work that overlapped with Common Spark’s, met Michelle in a few meetings, really liked her style, and asked if we might collaborate. Many conversations and several months later, I now get to collaborate with the whole Common Spark team!
Additionally, a large part of what drives my work is the ability to collaborate, connect, and ask hard questions together. When I’m facilitating, I get to help other groups do that work, but I was hungry to have that space for myself as well, and to expand the possibilities for what I could offer to others. Getting to collaborate and learn from the other excellent people on the Common Spark team has already been a boon for me. Working on climate issues for so long means that it can be hard for me to stave off cynicism. Working together with people who are positive and practical problem solvers (say that 5 times fast) helps keep me working from a place of generative possibility.
What are you most looking forward to this year? (Can be work, personal, anything!)
I’m really looking forward to helping deliver and refine the Energy (in)Equity training series. Bending the arc of history towards justice and unlearning subtle, internalized prejudices and assumptions isn’t a one-off activity, it’s an ongoing process that takes repeat intentional engagement, mis-steps and course corrections. I’m grateful to support this thoughtful, evolving effort that bridges the personal and the structural.
Personally, normally, I have my sights set on adventure, but this year, I’m looking forward to growing my roots and communities here in the Bay Area. If all goes well, I’ll be hosting cozy get-togethers and continuing to learn woodworking at the local community college.
What does a just clean energy future mean to you?
To me, a just clean energy future means that no one is left behind and that we are taking this transition as an opportunity to organize ourselves in new ways. In the U.S., our energy systems often mirror the hierarchies and resource imbalances that we see in other social and governance systems. To me, a just clean energy future is one that is more transparent, more decentralized, and more balanced in its flows of resources.
What song/album instantly puts you in a good mood?
Oh so many songs: Sunshine by Vaz, Bernadette by the Four Tops, Ride my Bike by Maude Latoure, Peperomia Seedling by Green-House, most Robyn songs, to name a few.
What is your snack of choice?
Right now, sesame sticks!
Common Spark Consulting not only works externally with our clients and partners, but we also strive to work inwardly, recognizing that we must internalize the care, thoughtfulness, and intention we hope to represent as individuals and an organization. The Thought Library is where we share our ideas and thoughts, where we are at right now, on topics and issues that we hope will spark conversation for a brighter, more inclusive energy future.
