Lisa Altieri is the founder and CEO of BrightAction, a company that creates software tools with the mission of empowering people on climate solutions. BrightAction’s platform helps people take action with carbon analytics, resources, and progress tracking and connects users to work together. 

How did BrightAction go from idea to reality?
I started to spend my free time working on community organizing and policy advocacy on climate solutions about 15 years ago. Back then we all jumped in and thought “We have the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report out now, we just need to go get the policy!” However, after 10 years of policy advocacy, solutions were not moving forward anywhere near the level we needed. So, I stepped back and put my strategy hat on, and thought, ‘What else can we do to move climate solutions forward?’

That’s when I did some research and learned that 40% of US greenhouse gas emissions come from five household activities that we do every day: using electricity, using heating fuels like natural gas, taking transportation, our food choices, and our waste or what we throw in the garbage. More importantly, I learned that we now have affordable solutions for all five. We all have the power to take action to reduce our environmental impact, save money, improve our health, and create local jobs.

Over 70% of Americans want to help and take action for the climate, but don’t know where to start. Meanwhile, there are also many cities, companies, and organizations setting bold climate goals and looking for innovative tools to take action. I had the opportunity to test this out by volunteering in my own community. Beginning in 2007, I led a team of volunteers that helped the city engage residents on climate solutions. We found that people wanted to help and participate, but that it was a challenge to run the program without tools to facilitate engagement and provide access to the information. That was when the idea for BrightAction was born.

I decided that this idea could really make an impact and generate solid revenue. I started looking for funding to build the platform. However, I found out quickly that I needed a minimal viable product or MVP to move the conversation forward. So I invested from my own savings and created one.

Read the full article about climate action by Lisa Altieri at The Aspen Institute.