In Fall 2022, the Oregon Department of Energy welcomed our first member of the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) Program, Angela Singleton. Angela’s work was invaluable in the year she spent at ODOE, and we are thrilled to welcome a new RARE member, Alice Weston. Alice will be serving as a liaison between ODOE and central and south-central Oregon communities to help better connect Oregonians with ODOE programs and opportunities.
MEET ALICE IN HER OWN WORDS:
Six weeks ago, I received my ODOE laptop and set up my desk at home in Bend. Bend had only been my home for about a week and I had arrived in Oregon only a month earlier. I traveled to Oregon across the country from Baltimore, MD where, just a month prior, I received my master’s in social design from the Maryland Institute College of Art. In the classroom I spent my time researching social power structures, equity, and the roles that race and privilege play in shaping and creating the problems around us. Now, I find myself at my desk in my new home, thinking about energy equity in Oregon and specifically central and south-central Oregon. So, not only am I new to Oregon, but I am also new to the challenges and vocabulary of the energy sector. Prior to starting this new role, I had only entered the energy conversation as a consumer wanting to know more about my own carbon footprint. So, how did I end up working in energy in Oregon?
I landed in Oregon and at ODOE through the Resources Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) program. RARE is an AmeriCorps program administered through the University of Oregon’s Institute for Policy Research and Engagement. The RARE program aims to increase the capacity of rural communities to improve their economic, social, and environmental conditions across Oregon — and they have been doing just that for 30 years. I decided to join RARE to expand my knowledge and skills around rural issues, specifically the unique challenges related to climate change, sustainability, and the types of community engagement particularly suited to rural environments. ODOE is lucky to have an intergovernmental agreement with the University of Oregon, which allows me to serve with a state agency. So far, working within the Community Navigation program and with Sarah Moerhke (ODOE’s Community Navigator) has been incredible, I have been able to dive headfirst into the world of energy in rural Oregon.
I have already been able to travel around the region and meet incredible energy advocates, collaborators, and experts who are passionately working for a clean and equitable energy future for all of Oregon. I have been warmly welcomed and supported as I navigate the often complex and nuanced conversations around Oregon’s energy ecosystem. I have been relieved and excited to find there are so many incredible organizations and individuals across the state working hard to make sure Oregonians have equitable access to resilient, clean, and affordable energy. As I begin the next phase of my work, I will be focused on attending more community events, conducting outreach, and developing deeper relationships to fill a geographic gap for ODOE’s programs and services in order to equitably reach Central Oregonians and the two federally recognized Tribes in Central Oregon: Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and Klamath Tribes. I am also ODOE’s link to other RARE Members that are working in local governments or other organizations in rural parts of the state over the next year. I will be doing all of this work in support of ODOE’s Community Navigator program.
I am excited to use my community engagement and social design experience to help think about how ODOE’s programs and information might reach others, who like me, might be new to the energy conversation. All Central Oregonians deserve access to information and knowledge in order to make informed decisions around their energy needs and consumption. Central Oregonians are living experts on their communities’ energy needs and concerns and their voices will help shape the energy ecosystem of Oregon’s future. I hope to connect with many more ODOE and community experts through this role.
This article first appeared on Oregon Energy Info via the Oregon Department of Energy and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.