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When I embarked on the Climate Tech Fellowship, I was driven by my desire to channel my passion for addressing climate change into meaningful action. (Spoiler alert: this led me to land a role at Trace, an exciting Climate Tech startup). There were three main triggers in my journey that influenced my decision to apply:

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1. Amidst the overwhelming discussions surrounding climate issues, I really wanted to channel that into something more productive. I wanted to know more about today’s changemakers and how they were using climate anxiety and converting that into positive action.
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2. I was in the process of completing my degree and naturally from that, figuring out what to do next in my career.
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3. I had previously taken part in the Student Fellowship, which was an awesome experience. I wanted to take part in a longer, more in-depth program that was industry focused.

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My experience

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I saw the Fellowship as the perfect opportunity to combine my career transition and desire to make a positive impact in the field of climate technology. 

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Going into it, I had a very basic knowledge of the Climate Tech space. My previous experience was in health tech; and my formal education in Marketing and Psychology.

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Something insightful that I learnt, by doing the program, was that any job can be a climate job. It just has to be in a company working to create a positive climate impact.

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Overall, the Fellowship consisted of approximately 3-4 hours of content per week. This was complemented by insightful roundtable discussions with industry experts specialising in various niches within Climate Tech; ranging from fashion to food, and beyond.

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In addition to that, we had the privilege of visiting Climate Tech firms (I got the chance to visit the Vow office; which was so awesome to see what happens behind the scenes). The in-person events were an exciting way to connect the virtual sessions that we attended, to real world impact. It’s one thing to learn about different companies making an impact, and it’s another to see it in action. It was definitely the highlight of the program!

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While every session provided valuable insights, two stood out as particularly impactful. The introduction to the climate ecosystem session - “Lay of the Land with Eytan Lenko (CEO @ Boundless)” - gave me a comprehensive overview of the field, enabling me to navigate the complex landscape with more clarity.

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Another favourite of mine was the fashion roundtable with Rebecca Lake; where we discussed greenwashing and the balance of large firms using sustainability as a selling point whilst only making negligible changes to their supply chain.

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Community at heart

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Overall, I think the power of Startmate is in the community. What absolutely blew me away were the stories and experiences of the Fellows, themselves. Because of the nature of an industry focused Fellowship; it naturally drew people in with a core interest in Climate Tech. What this meant practically, was there was such diversity of thought and career experiences across the cohort. This ultimately meant that you were able to speak with your peers that come from such varying backgrounds.

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The shared passion for climate action created an added sense of community that extends beyond the program, which was so lovely to see. I’m excited to keep in contact with such an inspiring group of people (already have a few exciting activities planned as a group!).

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If I can outline 4 main takeaways from the program, it would be...

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1. Connections and growing a meaningful network

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This is much more than getting to know people, just for the sake of growing in your network. It’s a chance to find people that share a similar core value of yours; push you to grow and potentially find long term relationships. On top of this, the direct access to climate professionals is invaluable.

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2. Knowledge about climate change and the key change makers in climate change‍

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Over the course of the program, Fellows absorb a wealth of Climate Tech knowledge. Access to insightful resources and key information that was collated in one place made it so much more digestible to quickly gain an understanding of the field, as opposed to just doing the research yourself.

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3. A sense of empowerment

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‍For me, one of the most important things that I took away from this experience, was the feeling that there are solutions out there and that so many people are actively working on making positive changes for our environment.

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4. A job in Climate Tech!

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The Fellowship provided me with an additional edge in the job market by equipping me with industry specific information to use during the interview process, and also directly gave me a brief of which companies to keep an eye out for when job hunting. 

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Overall, I would highly recommend this Fellowship to anyone who is passionate about climate action and is seeking a meaningful and inspiring career in the climate tech space. It was a great introduction to the Climate Tech space and provided me with a long to-do list that I am slowly chipping away at. Watch this space.

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PSA: We are now accepting applications for the Climate Tech Fellowship.

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Apply here.

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