Life鈥檚 a buzz at the Pollinate Energy Hive
I鈥檓 Zara Marais, an environmental scientist based in Melbourne, Australia. With my 91影视 colleagues Sean Holmes and Louis Scipione, I鈥檓 currently taking part in Pollinate Energy鈥檚 Young Professionals Program in Hyderabad, India. We鈥檙e sharing our journey here in the 91影视 Impact blog.听 Follow our journey and join the conversation below!
Sean, Louis and I have been here for four days now, working with the team from Pollinate Energy as they set up their operations in Hyderabad. We鈥檙e starting to settle into the routine of life in 鈥淭he Hive,鈥� Pollinate Energy鈥檚 headquarters in Hyderabad, and learning more every day about the challenges and joys of establishing and expanding a social business.
The two members of the Pollinate Energy team responsible for building the business in Hyderabad 鈥� known as the 鈥渃ity co-founders鈥� 鈥� are Paul and Pascal.
Paul is originally from New Zealand, and has a background in corporate law and environmental policy. Pascal is a French surfer who used to work in advertising and fiercely guards his imported parmesan cheese. Paul and Pascal will spend a year here in Hyderabad training the local operations manager and sales manager, as well as recruiting a team of Pollinators 鈥� ensuring the business is capable of sustaining itself in the long term. Also living with us in the Hive are Emma (one of Pollinate Energy鈥檚 original co-founders) and Boris, who will both be the city-cofounders for Pollinate鈥檚 next expansion city. With so many people working together, the Hive (pictured below) is usually a bustling hub of activity. The best work is done in the kitchen, where 鈥淧inky鈥� the cook, whips up delicious curries for us every day!
As Sean explained in his previous post, we鈥檙e here with a team of nine young professionals to help Paul and Pascal work on four key projects. The objective of the project I鈥檓 working on is to increase recruitment of female Pollinators. With my team, I鈥檒l be focusing on barriers to recruitment of women in India and how Pollinate can break these down to ensure they鈥檙e providing equal employment opportunities. As well as these projects, we鈥檙e also training the new Pollinators that have already been hired. So far we鈥檝e worked with two new Pollinators (Kalyan and Anil, pictured with us below).
We run through theory with them in the morning, and then head out to the communities with them in the evenings to continue training in the field. Below is a picture of Kalyan, showing the leaders of a community how Pollinate Energy鈥檚 solar light product works.
Exploring Hyderabad has been an incredible experience so far. It鈥檚 a city of contrasts 鈥� old and new, loud and serene, rich and poor, beautiful and confronting. The Hive is located in a peaceful neighborhood, but only a few hundred meters away is a chaotic main street packed with people, traffic and street food vendors. Further into the city, we鈥檝e seen ancient architecture standing beside the vast, modern office buildings. As we鈥檝e started to enter the communities, we鈥檝e met people who live without access to basic services like water and electricity. At the same time, most families within these communities will own a mobile phone, and it鈥檚 not uncommon for us to see satellite dishes attached to tents. We still have a lot to learn about the city and its people, and what role Pollinate Energy can play in addressing key social challenges.
The journey has only just begun; more from us soon!
Zara Marais (Zara.Marais@aecom.com) is a professional environmental scientist with 91影视鈥檚 Impact Assessment and Permitting team in Melbourne, Australia, and an enthusiastic bird-watcher. You can also check out her previous 91影视 Impact blog post titled 鈥�Award-winning environmental practitioner shares three tips for new consultants.鈥�
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