Julie Barbour-Issa

One of my favorite parts of working with All In Energy is how open they are to hearing feedback and constructive criticism. Energy Advocates like myself are integrated into our neighborhoods and have a good sense of the barriers our residents face in terms of environmental equity. All In Energy’s staff are constantly looking for ways we can remove these barriers, streamline processes, and support these underserved residents. All In Energy will take the feedback from Energy Advocates and advocate for improvements in the Mass Save system to the Sponsors in ways that we could not do on our own. If a system is not working equitably they push and advocate to overhaul the system.

All In Energy also has one of the most diverse and inclusive teams I have ever had the opportunity to work with, and it has benefited my work because I am getting ideas and guidance from many different voices. They have built a platform for many different towns to collaborate, share resources, and solve equity issues together.

Mass Save is often the most complicated and time-consuming for residents who qualify for income eligible programs. Low-income residents in my towns previously had to go through a pre-approval process with their local Community Action Program (CAP) agency. Sending residents for support here felt like sending them into a blackhole: the CAP agency was working at capacity and was not able to support or even respond to residents in a timely manner. All In Energy listened to my feedback and starting this summer, income-eligible households were able to receive a Mass Save Home Energy Assessments the same way all other residents were receiving them. This meant that low-income families could receive a Home Energy Assessment in about a week versus waiting many months.

All In Energy staff has regular meetings with me and asks questions that help me make sure I am always thinking about the bigger picture in terms of equity. When the Town of Norwood was considering partnering with a Mass Save Home Performance Contractor, I was given so many resources to help me with our interview process. These questions helped us consider things like language support, households of all income levels, and how to target outreach to environmental justice communities in a way that makes everyone feel included and part of the process. Because of the support we received from All In Energy, our town was able to conduct better interviews and select a company that was better able to support all of our residents in an equitable fashion.