Climate Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Yale

What a whirlwind! Feels like we just arrived, and now we already have to say goodbye. The final days at Yale were FULL days – full of collaboration, hard work, and a little bit of celebrating.

Student groups spent their time finalizing solutions to environmental and social problems. We spent a day at ClimateHaven, a climate tech startup and incubator space in New Haven. “Paving the Path Toward a Resilient and Sustainable Tomorrow,” the entrepreneurs running and working out of ClimateHaven took the time to act as mentors to our students, providing pointed feedback and encouraging critical thinking around the development of proposed solutions.

Incorporation of feedback, practice presentations, ‘best practices’ of pitching, and lots of rehearsing later – groups presented their final Project Pitches to their peers and our prestigious panel! Josie Jayworth, Environmental Innovation Fellow, and Julia Nojeim, the Clean Energy Coordinator, from the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, joined us to give insight, feedback and recommendations for proposed solutions. Our student teams CRUSHED IT, presenting innovative, creatively designed, and well-thought out social ventures to solve environmental problems important and relevant to their lives.

Carbon neutral music festivals, youth dedicated community forums, video games to teach climate change, and hands-on workshops for repurposing discarded fabrics – oh, my! Student teams demonstrated understanding and knowledge of the complexity of systems and what it takes to solve real world problems.

We are so proud of your hard work, problem solving, and collaboration. Congratulations to all our teams on your social ventures!