We’re proud of the intelligent, passionate, and hardworking people that make up the Bright Power team. Each month, you’ll get a chance to meet one of them, understand how they contribute to the organization, and what makes them excited to come to work every day.
Meet Amani Dow, Program Administrator II.
What are some of the things you like most about working at Bright Power?
I would say getting to work somewhere where people say “thank you” loudly and often. It’s not always a given. Motivating with positivity and encouragement is a big thing at Bright Power, and everyone is appreciative and thankful when you work with them. That recognition can fuel you.
I also have met people that I hope will be life-long friends. It goes hand-in-hand working with grateful people. The people at Bright Power are genuinely lovely to work with, and it feels like I’m working with friends.
What are some projects and accomplishments you’re most proud of?
One of the most rewarding and exciting experiences—but also one of the most challenging—I’ve had at Bright Power was planning the Strategic Initiatives team retreat in 2021. Getting to work with my team in a different way to bring something from start to finish, asking people what they needed, addressing those needs, and then layering in something special to make the retreat take shape is something I’m proud of. We wanted to make the retreat more than just another set of virtual meetings. We built in more time to connect and bond as a team. We sent care packages to each team member. We gave each presenter the opportunity to provide something in the care package to accompany their presentation. Getting their materials to the office, packing each care package, and sending them out was an undertaking but well worth it. The team appreciated this effort and it brought us closer together despite being in separate places.
Another internal project I’m proud of was leading one of Bright Power’s weekly lunch and learns where the Strategic Initiatives Business Unit shared information about our current projects, how we work together, and what each person does to contribute to the business. It wasn’t necessarily something that was mine to plan, but when my supervisor was out sick, I stepped up to organize the team, coordinate the logistics, and project manage the presentation. It went really well! Now, a lot of Business Units use the model we created to have a lot of presenters across levels share with the organization. It adds a lot to hear from others. I’m proud of this also because not a lot of people fully understand all that the team does or the nuance involved in each of our roles. Through this lunch and learn, we made it make sense for folks. Now there’s more of an understanding of what we do.
Lastly, I’m very proud of my work project managing the Covered Buildings List (more on that in my next response). It’s allowed me to learn project management on the fly and dig into my Excel skills. While it was a bit nerve-wracking in the beginning to be responsible for such a complex deliverable for a client, I’m really proud of the work I’ve done and the progress I’ve made.
What’s something people might not know about you and your role at Bright Power?
First and foremost, people don’t really know what the Covered Buildings List is. I get that question a ton! Part of the Strategic Initiatives team completes energy and water benchmarking for a lender to ensure that the green mortgage loans they provide multifamily properties are making an impact. The lender also provides traditional mortgages for multifamily properties. Many of those properties need to comply with city and state energy and water benchmarking laws where the property owner needs to submit energy and water consumption data to their local government. Because those borrowers are already measuring their energy and water consumption, our client wants to access that public data to understand how all the properties in their portfolio consume energy and water. Essentially, we access the Covered Building Lists in each jurisdiction that has an energy and water benchmarking requirement and match those lists against our client’s list of borrowers. While there are other pieces that go into this service line, the main deliverable is to figure out which properties with traditional loans have energy and water consumption data and prompt them to share that data with their lender.
I also helped plan the intern professional development events for our latest internship cohort. I started working on it within my department. It’s exciting to see the whole company take this on and provide our interns with an even more engaging and informative experience.
On a personal note, many people are surprised to learn I graduated high school at 16 and college at 20.