Clean Energy Spotlight: Jade Garrett
As part of #WomensHistoryMonth, this week’s #cleanenergyspotlight is a seasoned entrepreneur and one of our #facesofcleanenergy. Meet Jade Garrett, CEO of Positive Deviancy, LLC.
In 2021, Jade founded Positive Deviancy, LLC, a Platinum Connector Organization that supports early-stage startups and entrepreneurs to participate in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) American-Made Challenges. The American-Made Challenges provide innovators the opportunity to win cash prizes and vouchers for “idea’s that advance U.S. leadership in the energy industry.” They also offer recognition and cash incentives for facilitators who support competitors.
Most importantly, the prize challenges lower the barriers that startups often face during the early development stages by helping to establish partnerships that connect entrepreneurs to the private sector and the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories.
As one of the most experienced connectors in the American-Made Network, Jade helped support over 50 different teams which have cumulatively won more than $1.85M in Innovation Funding from the DOE. Jade provides support and mentorship to startups through the development and launch process to successfully procure funding via these prize competitions.
After working primarily with new businesses in the energy, hardware, and robotics space for the past decade, partnering with innovators has become one of her passions as it “means that [her] children get to see what hard/strategic work is able to accomplish when faced with huge challenges that need to be overcome.”
Positive Deviancy was recently awarded the EPIC Prize to launch a Solar Hardware Accelerator program. “The Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Prize recognizes the nation’s most innovative incubators,” that facilitate and advise energy startups and entrepreneurs.
Jade's experience with working alongside forward-thinking startups illuminated why “sustainability is so crucial to invest in,” – creating a clean energy future “depends on it and our best shot is to empower the changemakers who are bold enough to take action.”
Thank you, Jade, for continuing to charge the clean energy changemakers who dare to take action. Congratulations on being this week's #cleanenergyspotlight.
