How My MBA Charged Up My Transition to Energy Industry Leadership

I chose to pursue my MBA at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management to immerse myself in the energy industry.

My goal has been to explore emerging technologies, better understand the intersection of industry and policy, and gain hands-on experience with new technologies.

Reflecting on my journey, I have been able to achieve this through the Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion, opportunities created by student-led clubs, and the support of incredible faculty.

Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion: Solving Real-World Case Challenges

The Graduate School of Management offers three unique Industry Immersion experiences in Food and Agriculture, Biotechnology and Sustainable Energy.

I took the Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion course in my first year with fellow MBAs as well as master’s and Ph.D. students from the Energy Graduate Group at the UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute.

This experience isn’t the same structure as most in-class lectures. It is a five-week course, taking place over a full day each week. We learn from industry professionals from various backgrounds, each facing different issues in their industry. They share their journey, how they got to where they are today, as well as a “case” challenge for us to solve in groups.

Our goal is to present a potential solution or way to think about solving this challenge. Examples from our class ranged from analyzing options for development capital for a pumped hydroelectric battery storage project to refining a utility’s program strategy for heat pump adoption in their territory.

The Graduate School of Management's Immersions also offer exclusive behind-the-scenes company tours, guest speakers, and access to campus events, research opportunities, networking, and ultimately internship and career placement.

This experience allowed me a deeper look at sectors of the energy industry I had never been exposed to. It also gave me direct access to several amazing professionals who are interested in engaging with students. A follow-up coffee with one of our speakers was the catalyst for my interest in pursuing a summer internship with California Community Power.

Club Events and Internships

In parallel to course offerings at the GSM, student groups organize events that align with the Immersions to benefit the Graduate School of Management community. One example was organized through the GSM Finance Association, a “diligence workshop” with a venture capitalist who specializes in impact-focused investments in early-stage climate technologies.

I participated in this workshop, doing diligence on a climate tech startup using a provided framework and presenting my findings and suggestions on whether I would move forward with this investment.

This opportunity led to my first part-time internship while at the Graduate School of Management, serving as an investment analyst for Echo River Capital through from spring through summer 2024.

I learned about many types of technologies, particularly in the water-energy nexus. I wrote a white paper on hydrogen as a potential climate solution, analyzing its relationship with water and how venture capital fits into the picture.

I gained hands-on experience in venture capital, something I wanted from my MBA experience. This experience was made possible by taking advantage of one of the many student-organized school club offerings at the Graduate School of Management

After my Echo River Capital internship, I transitioned to a role as a finance, strategy, and energy procurement analyst for California Community Power. CC Power is a Joint Powers Authority, representing nine member community choice aggregators, or CCAs.

I was first introduced to CCAs in the Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion, and only a few months later, found myself working with them! 

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Taking Advantage of our Northern California Region

Davis is only an hour away from the Bay Area, and a short drive away from Sacramento, the state’s capital.

California is a leader in energy policy as well as investment and innovation for climate technologies, meaning there are constantly events and conferences for those interested in these topics. 

I have fully taken advantage of the Davis location during my MBA experience. I’ve attended Verge 2025, the BERC Energy Summit, GFX Venture Summit, AgriVoltaics World Conference, several smaller happy hours and speaker events, and most recently, I attended the 50th annual Stanford Geothermal Workshop.   

I was able to experience the Geothermal Workshop from several perspectives. On one hand, I attended on behalf of CC Power. We are looking into how we can support the advancement of geothermal technology in California as part of our clean energy transition.

I also attended with my student hat on, learning from leaders in research, policy, and industry. I learned about subsurface heat and seismology modeling, drilling technologies for different depths and applications, regulatory and finance barriers to early-stage developers, and much more!

My Advice: Dive in

If you find a topic you want to dive deeper into, do it. After the Industry Immersion quarter, I wanted to dive into the topic of agrivoltaics or pairing solar energy production with agriculture. I served as a graduate student researcher for the spring quarter working with the Grand Challenges Climate Solutions team at Davis.

If you want to lead something, do it. After seeing the benefit of club events, I wanted to leave my mark and have served as co-president of the Net Impact chapter for my second year.

The sustainable energy industry is complex and dynamic. Careers span technical roles, finance, project management, policy, and more—there’s no single path to success in this evolving industry.

It takes a desire to learn, try new things and understand how different parts of the system are connected. UC Davis provides all the tools needed to accomplish this, one simply must have the desire to take advantage of it.

Learn more about Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion.