33 min
Half of the World Population Does Not Have Access to Clean Cooking feat. Dymphna van der Lans ’02 Owl Have You Know
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- Society & Culture
Rice grads end up all over the world, and Dymphna van der Lans is no exception. Dymphna has worked and lived in China, India, and Kenya and engaged with island nations in the Caribbean and the Indian and Pacific Oceans to support their transition away from polluting diesel fuels to renewable sources of energy.
Dymphna brings more than 25 years of experience managing and leading global development, energy, and climate initiatives in the nonprofit and private sectors. She is currently the chief executive officer of the Clean Cooking Alliance, and recently led international corporate engagement with the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate & Energy team.
She sits down with host Scott Gale ’19 to unpack her impressive career, her experience working internationally, developing an early appreciation for the Chinese language and culture, and her passion for the energy transition and climate initiatives.
Episode Guide:
00:56 Dymphna's Early Life and Education
04:55 Dymphna's Journey to China
14:24 Career Path and Mentorship
16:38 Focus on Renewables and Alternative Energy
18:42 Dymphna's Role in the Clinton Climate Initiative
20:24 Journey to Working with a Former U.S. President
20:49 The Future of Energy: Opportunities and Challenges
20:49 The Importance of Diverse Energy Solutions
22:01 The Role of Renewable Energy in Corporate Operations
23:28 Addressing Energy Challenges in Island Nations
25:08 The Mission of the Clean Cooking Alliance
27:53 The Future of Clean Cooking and Energy Systems
29:31 Predictions for China's Role in Global Energy
31:12 Advice for Prospective Rice Business Students
Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
26:01: My organization [Clean Cooking Alliance], we're about 50 people. We work with a whole bunch of different partners to make sure that countries in the Global South are thinking about how they're transitioning to access to clean cooking. We're already providing these solutions to help them continue to grow. We work with the governments directly. We work with, sort of, adjacent ecosystems to help them think about what it means to have access to clean cooking and how you think about clean cooking projects. It's fantastic work. It gets ignored all too often because for people, it doesn't feel like an energy issue. It's a household issue. It mostly impacts women. So, it often gets overlooked. And my job is to make sure it doesn't and it gets funding.
On being comfortable with different cultures and working in different countries
10:02: I've just realized that I enjoy figuring stuff out and finding myself in new places, just like trying to really quickly understand how the system works, how people work, and how I operate most effectively and efficiently in a different context that is not my own. And I'm very comfortable doing that.Finding power in peer mentoring conversations
15:43: I found the real true power and honesty to be in those peer mentoring conversations. And when you do those, be explicit about it; this is not just like a friend or friends talking about something over a coffee. It is actually a fundamental question that you're wanting other people to filter back to you or mirror back to you that maybe hindering you in your projection or your ability to execute or balancing your life as a mother has always been a big question for me as well. And for a long time, I was raising my daughter by myself. So those conversations are so important. And I would encourage anybody to seek those out and be really thoughtful about them, ask good questions, and really listen and reflect back on what that means for you and in a position of leadership.
On Dymphna’s Rice experience
13:24: There's a thing about trusting your instincts and your gut, and my ability to sense what's happening in a room and in the system. Like I had the language to apply that to different situations that I didn't have before. I always had the feeling that I was unders
Rice grads end up all over the world, and Dymphna van der Lans is no exception. Dymphna has worked and lived in China, India, and Kenya and engaged with island nations in the Caribbean and the Indian and Pacific Oceans to support their transition away from polluting diesel fuels to renewable sources of energy.
Dymphna brings more than 25 years of experience managing and leading global development, energy, and climate initiatives in the nonprofit and private sectors. She is currently the chief executive officer of the Clean Cooking Alliance, and recently led international corporate engagement with the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate & Energy team.
She sits down with host Scott Gale ’19 to unpack her impressive career, her experience working internationally, developing an early appreciation for the Chinese language and culture, and her passion for the energy transition and climate initiatives.
Episode Guide:
00:56 Dymphna's Early Life and Education
04:55 Dymphna's Journey to China
14:24 Career Path and Mentorship
16:38 Focus on Renewables and Alternative Energy
18:42 Dymphna's Role in the Clinton Climate Initiative
20:24 Journey to Working with a Former U.S. President
20:49 The Future of Energy: Opportunities and Challenges
20:49 The Importance of Diverse Energy Solutions
22:01 The Role of Renewable Energy in Corporate Operations
23:28 Addressing Energy Challenges in Island Nations
25:08 The Mission of the Clean Cooking Alliance
27:53 The Future of Clean Cooking and Energy Systems
29:31 Predictions for China's Role in Global Energy
31:12 Advice for Prospective Rice Business Students
Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
26:01: My organization [Clean Cooking Alliance], we're about 50 people. We work with a whole bunch of different partners to make sure that countries in the Global South are thinking about how they're transitioning to access to clean cooking. We're already providing these solutions to help them continue to grow. We work with the governments directly. We work with, sort of, adjacent ecosystems to help them think about what it means to have access to clean cooking and how you think about clean cooking projects. It's fantastic work. It gets ignored all too often because for people, it doesn't feel like an energy issue. It's a household issue. It mostly impacts women. So, it often gets overlooked. And my job is to make sure it doesn't and it gets funding.
On being comfortable with different cultures and working in different countries
10:02: I've just realized that I enjoy figuring stuff out and finding myself in new places, just like trying to really quickly understand how the system works, how people work, and how I operate most effectively and efficiently in a different context that is not my own. And I'm very comfortable doing that.Finding power in peer mentoring conversations
15:43: I found the real true power and honesty to be in those peer mentoring conversations. And when you do those, be explicit about it; this is not just like a friend or friends talking about something over a coffee. It is actually a fundamental question that you're wanting other people to filter back to you or mirror back to you that maybe hindering you in your projection or your ability to execute or balancing your life as a mother has always been a big question for me as well. And for a long time, I was raising my daughter by myself. So those conversations are so important. And I would encourage anybody to seek those out and be really thoughtful about them, ask good questions, and really listen and reflect back on what that means for you and in a position of leadership.
On Dymphna’s Rice experience
13:24: There's a thing about trusting your instincts and your gut, and my ability to sense what's happening in a room and in the system. Like I had the language to apply that to different situations that I didn't have before. I always had the feeling that I was unders
33 min