Zara Cheney, EV Implementation Analyst, National Grid (2023, Finance and Sustainability Dual Major), stoked her passion for sustainability by taking advantage of sustainability educational experiences at UNH and launched a career in the sustainable energy field. Learn more about her role and how she got there.
UNHSI: Tell us little bit about your role at National Grid.
Zara: My role at National Grid is working as an analyst on the EV implementation team. My team supports multiple different programs that increases accessibility to electric vehicle charging platforms across Massachusetts. We offer a wide range of rebates for both the chargers as well as the infrastructure work for Fleets, Multi-Unit Dwellings, Residential Customers, Workplaces and Public Charging in our service territory. I work to support our program managers who each lead a specific segment and process our EV rebate applications from beginning to end.
UNHSI: How did you get excited about sustainability?
My passion for the outdoors and our environment is what got me excited about sustainability! Then when I was at UNH, I learned through the sustainability dual major course offerings that sustainability is about so much more than just our environment.
One of my biggest takeaways is the three sustainability pillars: environment, equity and economic. Without these three pillars, you cannot have true sustainability or solve issues related to sustainability.
UNHSI: Can you tell us more about your UNH sustainability experiences and how those impacted you and/or your career path?
Zara: During the first semester of my freshman year, I took the business ethics course offered by Paul College. I was introduced to the idea of sustainable business and considering not just profit but the 3 Ps: profit, planet and people (a similar concept to the 3 pillars of sustainability). This idea fascinated me, and I wanted to learn more, so I began taking an introductory sustainability course the following semester. Through my business ethics course, I also heard about the B Impact Clinic, a class where students help companies obtain B Corp certifications. I decided to get involved with this as well which is where I got to see the impact that prioritizing sustainability had on real-life businesses. I also got to see what it truly means to be a sustainable business! This greatly impacted the trajectory of my college career and career after college as well.
UNHSI: What advice do you have for new students to UNH, who maybe don’t know what path they want to go down, but know they care about making a difference?
Zara: Try the intro to sustainability class SUST 401 and see if the sustainability dual major is something they are interested in pursuing. The great thing about the sustainability dual major is the range of classes you can take (some even overlapping with your major) and the ability to add it to almost any major.
UNHSI: For current UNH students, what advice to you have for them?
Get involved in clubs and classes that give you real-world experience. This helps you to figure out what might be a good career for you after graduation – or at least figure out what you don’t enjoy as sometimes that is equally important!
It also helps you develop important skills that will be beneficial post-grad. For example, in the B Impact Clinic I learned how to work in a client-facing role, solve problems as a team and present a final deliverable that meets your clients’ needs.
One other benefit as a sustainability dual major is the sustainability capstone. You get to work to solve a real-life problem for a real-life business. My project just happened to be on EV canopy charging with the B Corp, ReVision Energy, which was a great segway into my current position working on EV charging rebates.
