The Green Guru Podcast

In recent years, the issue of climate change has transcended the borders of policy debates and has entered the boardrooms of financial institutions across the world. Companies are starting to understand the environmental and social risks that affect their businesses directly or indirectly. Meet our Green Guru, Mr Sandeep Bhattacharya, India project manager at Climate Bonds Initiative. Sandeep has more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry with his long stints with reputed firms across India and Malaysia. Sandeep now works to build the sustainable finance ecosystem in India collaborating with financial institutions, consultancy firms, educational institutions, philanthropies and corporates. So he is placed in a unique position to give us a 360-degree view of the sustainable finance job market in India for early-career professionals and give us a broad sense of where is it heading in the coming years.  Apply for free mentorship with Sandeep. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

60% of the buildings in India that will exist in 2040 have not yet been constructed (IEA, 2021). Meet our Green Guru, Mr. Anuj Gupta. Deputy Manager at Design2Occupancy, a leading consultancy firm providing a spectrum of services in the green building domain in India and abroad. Anuj is also a co-founder at D2O Learning which helps learners explore green jobs in the sustainability industry. Besides this, he has many credentials added to his name such as the LEED® Green Associate, IGBC AP, ECBC Expert, EDGE Expert, and in  2021, he has become the Climate Ambassador at Global Youth Climate Network as well. In this episode, we will learn from him how to build and leverage your network to make a successful career in green buildings space.  Some important questions answered: (01:20) Introduction (08:40) What is a green building? (12:10) Tips for modern hiring (16:10) Which degrees have coursework relevant to green buildings assessment? (17:25) What skill sets are required to work in green buildings consulting? (19:00) Which credentials/certifications are important to gain knowledge about the sector and where to start? (23:00) Importance of volunteering with professional institutions (27:45) What are the expected future trends in the green buildings market?  (31:00) What is D2O Learning? How to apply to be a D2O Scholar? Apply for free mentorship with Anuj Gupta. Limited Slots.  https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Meet our Green Guru for this week, Pratap Raju, Founding Partner at the Climate Collective Foundation and Country Head for New Energy Nexus India. Pratap started off his journey as a banker on wall street post his degree at Harvard but is now one of the leaders of the climate tech entrepreneurship ecosystem in India. He has built new ventures from scratch - not once or twice but multiple times in a wide array of sectors. He has had an IT startup, been a Bollywood producer-writer and also a successful renewable energy developer. Now, Climate Collective, the largest climate tech accelerator in South Asia, coaches hundreds of start-ups every year, leading their way to sustainability through innovation. Some Important questions answered in this episode: (00:50) Introduction (03:16) How does a banker on the wall street decide to do a masters in development? (07:15) How to decide if you should a start-up or do a job? (11:24) How does the diversity of life experiences help you build a venture? (20:42) Tell us about how you conceived Climate Collective? (27: 10) Can you describe in simple terms what is an accelerator? (34:03) What are the job opportunities in the startup support ecosystem? What skills are most sought after? Apply for free mentorship with Pratap Raju. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Welcome to Season 2 of the Green Guru Podcast.  Meet our Green Guru for this week, Divya Sharma, Executive Director at Climate Group- India office, one of the most respected thought leaders in sustainable urban development and climate resilience space.   Divya comes with a doctorate in urban climate resilience and a Master’s in urban development planning. She has extensively worked with national, state and municipal governments in India and abroad; regional, national and international development agencies and research community.  We will explore how she navigated various career roles, her maternity transition, her move from a smaller city like Bhopal to Delhi and international travels for work. In this conversation we will get to know her ‘life mantras’ and her advice to young women wanting to be leaders like her! Important Questions from the Episode (01:36) Introduction (06:30) Importance of a mentor in making a career choice (15:20) How to navigate the challenges of maternity transition? (20:41) Should you do a PhD or get equivalent industry experience? (28:51) What is the importance of networking, especially for women in sustainability? (33:21) What are the fundamental differences between research and consulting fields? (45:00) How to decide which role to opt for? What are some of the questions you should ask yourself before deciding between academics, research, consulting or non-profit? (52:45) What does Climate Group do in brief? (56:30) What are the job opportunities in the sector? Apply for free mentorship from Divya. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9  

Meet our Green Guru for this week, Ramnath Chandrasekhar, a conservation educator, nature photographer and a documentary filmmaker. He speaks about how his passion for visual storytelling has taken a shape of environmental education for the youth. We discuss the art of photography and making a career in it through consistent hard work, planning, trust-building, collaboration, upskilling and the right guidance from a mentor. He will answer some rapid-fire questions and have fun! Apply for free mentorship from our guests. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

"India needs 1400+ more companies like Shoonya to take care of our waste problem. There is enough and more work to do." - Manik Dhingra Meet our Green Guru for this week, Manik Dhingra, co-founder at Shoonya Environmental Solutions, tackling the problem of plastic waste through circular waste management strategies. Listen to his journey of becoming a social entrepreneur and leveraging the power of trust, networks and money to make an impact in one of the most challenging sectors in India, waste management.  Apply for free mentorship from our guests. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Meet our Green Gurus for this week, the entrepreneur couple who are changing the way we do sustainability. After years of experience in tech and consulting, they are now on a mission to bring behavioural change through their tech-enabled social enterprise, At-Quest. Going beyond just leading sustainable lives, they are inspiring many to make it a career choice. Listen to their journey about how and why they decided to switch careers. Apply for mentorship from Anveshi and Shreevidhya. Limited Slots.  https://forms.gle/VCLiRsEBNGGWVPNFA Also, don't forget to register for the event "Sustainability Positive" by At-Quest on 12th December focused on driving green behaviours among Generation Z and Millennials. This will be the first of the 4 events we will host every quarter under our "Learn-Act-Achieve-Celebrate" approach. The theme of this event is to LEARN.  SewspFaKPOIHB3E3XjVbN0-q7P1lAjkhqx0FORebuFkdLNDAw/viewformRegistration Link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQL

Meet our Green Guru this week, the sustainability head of Lavasa City, Krunal Negandhi. Despite the political clout around Lavasa, it was built in design on the concepts of Biomimicry in design and architecture with many unique features like net zero water management, city-wide vermicomposting, and the use of soil biotechnology. After spending more than a  decade in building Lavasa, Krunal's current passion lies in bamboo products and construction which he thinks can change the world.  Hear him speak about how the sustainability space has changed over the years, where it is headed towards in the coming future and the importance of mentorship in the climate and impact space.  Apply for free mentorship from Krunal. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Are you building a sustainability start up? Do you have a product/technology/service that will make a difference? Do you need a network and support  system to create an impact? Are you looking to collaborate with the brightest minds in the sustainability space in India? Meet our green guru Mr. Shravan Shankar who is building the perfect ecosystem for you to contribute to India's climate action. Learn from his diverse experience in sustainability, working across policy, corporate sustainability and startup innovation. Apply for free mentorship from Shravan. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Studies show that 42% of Indian households still rely entirely on biomass for cooking and 38 million people depend on unelectrified PHCs for healthcare in India (CEEW,2018) . Meet our Green Guru, Saurabh Motiwala, who is passionate about energy access. He works for providing reliable renewable energy to the masses and supporting greater technological innovation. Listen to him about his experiences of working in Bastar, one of the most remote areas of India, and also with one of the largest multilateral development banks like the World bank. Apply for free mentorship from Saurabh. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Over $30 trillion has been invested in environmental social and governance (ESG) assets. There are over 600 ESG rankings in the market which rate companies on over 4000 key performance indicators. What are these ESG ratings? How they assess companies performance on ESG parameters and incorporate climate risks? Learn about the upcoming trend in the finance industry- ESG ratings with our Green Guru, Kashmira Pavaskar. Hear her talk about her experiences of switching careers from corporate communications to sustainable finance, her decision to pursue higher studies and sexism in the job market.  Apply for free mentorship from Kashmira. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Do you know that India has one of the most ambitious renewable energy (RE) deployment targets in the world? Recent studies suggest that RE sector in India is expected to create up to 4.5 million new jobs over the next 25 years.  Meet our Green Guru for today, Karan Vallicha, a computer science engineer turned energy finance professional, now working with one of the leading renewable energy developers in India. Learn from his experiences how he shifted careers, how his master's degree at one of the top business schools in Europe helped him in shaping a career in renewable energy that's fulfilling and impactful!  Apply for free mentorship from Karan. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Wondered if it's possible to move back to the corporate life after founding a start-up? Wondered what does an impact assessment consultant do?  What are the skillsets required for impact reporting? Explore all this and more in this conversation with our Green Guru, Anupam Ravi. He is the Vice President at one of the leading impact assessment firms. Apply for free mentorship from Anupam. Limited Slots. https://forms.gle/EdkyrC44c1isbKdn9

Introducing the Green Guru Podcast.  Learn about why we started the podcast and what does being a Green Guru mean to us. Jui and I believe that the key to transitioning to a green economy is more professionals taking up green careers. However, we lack mentorship in this sunrise sector. The right advice at the right time, just an ear to listen to and a slight nudge of encouragement can do wonders to a persons career. We strive to learn from the conversations with a large number of professionals in the environment, climate change and sustainability sector. Look out for each episode every Thursday! The guests from our podcast will also take some mentorship sessions. Come, together lets make the planet a better place to live.

Get ready to go deep into the world of green careers! Rajashree and Jui will help you find your mentor who will guide you to build a sustainable career.