To change the world, you need a kick-ass team

The other day I was talking to a long-time Delphi client and she asked me, out of the blue, “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” I responded.

“How do you attract so many amazing people to work for you?”

That got me thinking. I’ve been with Delphi for years now, and for most of those we’ve spent a lot of time convincing people and businesses about the importance of sustainability and climate change when making key decisions. It’s incredible to see that this is no longer the challenge it once was…more and more people at all levels and in different roles just get it now.

Then we had to convince them that Delphi was the right group of people to help them deliver on their strategies. For a bunch of different reasons – blood, sweat and tears…taking pride in seeing our clients succeed…and putting our culture first – we are now in the lucky position of not having to sell ourselves the way we used to.

Getting back to Linda’s question, so much of that luck comes down to the quality of our staff. As consultants, our widget is people. When it comes to our people, I think we go one better than the “no asshole rule”; we look for and find people who are decent and smart and great to work with, but who also share our mission (and passion): to change the world and have fun doing it.

What’s awesome about building that kind of team is that it becomes its own virtuous circle: you start to attract the right kind of people in the first place, reducing the stress that all of us face when we’re looking to fill a gap or find the right person for a role.

Case in point: our latest hires. Check out the newest humans of Delphi.

Kiyoshi Robson – Consultant – Calgary

In late June 2017, Kiyoshi realized that his dreams of playing professional basketball in the NBA might (emphasize *might*) not come to fruition. He decided to pivot (get it?) and joined the Delphi all-star team that summer working toward making the world a better place.

Following completion of a renewable cleantech focused PhD, his eyes opened up to the complexities of the energy system and recognized that improvements in all sectors will be required during the transition to a low-carbon future. Kiyoshi loves asking questions to learn more about challenges and working collaboratively to solutions. At home, he and his wife reduce their personal impacts and do their best to model for their kids – this past summer the kids learned that carrots come from the garden (imagine that hey? – the more you know).

Melissa Harris – Director – Toronto

In a time of unprecedented change to the Canadian climate policy landscape, Melissa joined Delphi as the Director of Policy to help clients make sense of it all. Based in Toronto, she provides policy advisory and analytical support across numerous sectors. With nearly a decade of experience as a project manager and policy advisor, Melissa has expertise in climate policy, carbon markets, policy evaluation, and GHG regulatory development across North America and internationally.

Prior to joining Delphi, Melissa was a Senior Policy Advisor with the Climate Change and Energy team at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) where she was engaged on a diverse set of issues ranging from climate and energy policy development at all levels of government, to renewable energy and sustainable housing in the Arctic, to the international climate change negotiations. She has participated in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations since 2009, supporting government, civil society, and industry participation. She also worked as the Research and Project Manager at the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management at the Richard Ivey School of Business. Melissa has a Master of Political Science with a focus on Global Environmental Policy from the University of Western Ontario.

Outside of Delphi, Melissa enjoys subjecting her friends and family to new recipes, and getting lost exploring new places. She and her husband are currently working together on a children’s book on climate change.

Bryce Edwards – Technical Analyst – Calgary

Working within the sustainability space has been a long-term goal for Bryce and he is grateful to be starting with an amazing group of fun-loving people. Other sources of pride include his relationship with his partner, his recent career path shift, and his friends and family, who bring him so much joy and encouragement.

He is also proud to be extremely resourceful, or, as his friends say – cheap! To Bryce, living sustainably means making use of what he has and minimizing day-to-day waste, even if that means he wears some articles of clothing until they look like cheesecloth or he eats leftovers regardless of due dates… There are exceptions, but yogurt is not one of them (yogurt is eternal).

Bryce is a M.Sc. candidate in the interdisciplinary Sustainable Energy Development (SEDV) program at the University of Calgary. The SEDV program is designed to provide a holistic approach for addressing economic, social, and environmental concerns related to energy development. His research investigated ways of simplifying a life-cycle assessment model, used to estimate the upstream GHG emissions released by different crude oils, so that it is more accessible to the oil and gas (O&G) industry. Prior to attending graduate school, Bryce obtained his bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta. He has spent five years working in Alberta’s O&G sector as a project engineer, fabricating natural gas processing equipment, and as an evaluations engineer consultant, estimating the value of O&G assets.

Laura Willet – Consultant – Toronto

Moving to Canada gave Laura the opportunity to pursue the career in sustainability she had dreamed about since studying Sustainable Development in undergrad. She is excited to be a part of such a collaborative, driven and fun team that is dedicated to creating a more sustainable economy and future.

Prior to Delphi, Laura was at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she was an internal consultant introducing design thinking and strategic frameworks to the Bank and supporting a new analytical and Business Intelligence practice. Laura has consulted on environmental and business projects throughout the world including projects in El Salvador, Chile, U.S., Cameroon and Rwanda. She has a MBA with a concentration in business analytics and sustainability from The George Washington University and a B.A. in International Development from American University.

In her free time, Laura enjoys exploring Toronto’s many neighborhoods. She also enjoys running, skiing, practicing yoga, traveling and cooking in her free time.

Linghong Zhang – Technical Analyst – Toronto

As a Technical Analyst at Delphi, Linghong provides technical, research, and analytical support to the analysis and quantification of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other emissions for the clients. She is also responsible for writing pieces to support reports and briefings.

Linghong has extensive research experience in life cycle assessment (LCA) and renewable energy production. Prior to joining Delphi, Linghong was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Queen’s University, working with industrial partners on the evaluation of GHG emission reductions with green technologies. Linghong has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Queen’s University, a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from Lakehead University, and a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from Southwest China Normal University.

Outside of Delphi, Linghong enjoys spending time with her children and doing their favourite activities such as singing, making crafts, playing puzzles, watching Peppa Pig, etc. together. She dreams of traveling around the world with her family when the little ones grow up.

We are a small (albeit growing) but mighty team that is out to change the world. We do exciting work and solve big, complicated problems. We like to think of ourselves as part of something bigger.

Do you? Then join us.

If you have a background in the policy, technical, and/or strategy aspects of sustainability and/or climate change, consider sending us your info as we may need a certain someone in our Victoria/Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto or Ottawa office. Contact careers@delphi.ca