The Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC) is proud to announce the hiring of Barry Reaves as its first-ever Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) & Workforce Development. Reaves will lead the organization's efforts to ensure that the elements of DEIJ are embedded as imperatives in NECECs mission, vision, values and strategic plan. He will progress and champion a truly diverse and inclusive culture for NECEC as an organization, with the NECEC Board and across the NECEC ecosystem, including its partner and member organizations.

An Army veteran and graduate of the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Reaves is a seasoned diversity practitioner with more than 18 years of experience. In his development and oversight role with the Boston Planning and Development Agency, he was charged with leading racial, equity and diversity priorities while working to establish collaborative partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.

“Clean energy and clean transportation are key to building a stronger, more resilient and more equitable economy,” Reaves said.. “DEIJ is a key component to advance clean energy and clean transportation programs, along with the employment, business and economic opportunities that come with them. NECEC will work with our partners to ensure that these opportunities are available to all people regardless of ethnicity or gender, and continue to address the inequities in clean energy.”

For NECEC, the new Vice President position represents the organization following through on its expanded vision that practitioners in the climate economy need to tackle social challenges alongside technical challenges in order to maximize both their climate impact and to establish their industries as keystones in regional, national and global economies.

“When I came into the Northeast Clean Energy Council last year, we identified diversity, equity, inclusion and justice as central to our mission,” said NECEC President Joe Curtatone. “We cannot decarbonize only the wealthiest among us and call it job done. Likewise, we must make sure that jobs and the opportunity to build family wealth in the climate economy extend to everyone in every place. That's why I'm thrilled to have Barry Reaves as our first Vice President of DEIJ and Workforce Development. We have found a truly outstanding person to lead us into our mission of building a just, equitable and rapid transition to a clean energy future and diverse climate economy.”

During the past year, NECEC has worked to increase the diversity on its Board of Directors and it has adopted diversity guidelines for how it builds out its working staff.

“As we expand NECEC’s focus on DEIJ, I’m delighted to welcome Barry Reaves as Vice President for DEIJ and Workforce Development,” said NECEC’s Board of Directors Chair Dan Goldman. “The NECEC Board of Directors believe this to be a critical position as part of the overall leadership team and reflects NECEC’s commitment to make social inclusion a centerpiece of our goals around expansion of clean energy and climate technologies. We are committed to building a decarbonized and inclusive future with opportunities for all people.”

Reaves has officially started in his new position and can be reached at breaves@necec.org.