Katie Hill, Social Entrepreneur, TED Fellow and Young Global Leader
As a Social Entrepreneur, Katie solves problems that impact billions of people.
Katie took a year off between high school and college to live in Nepal. She began college knowing she wanted to work on issues of global poverty and economic development.
After graduating from Stanford, Katie joined Acumen and lived in India for 4 years where she focused on energy, water, and agriculture investment
Katie shares her journey living in Nepal and India, her work in Clean Energy at Scale with Apple, and now in Kenya with a focus on social impact.
I don’t think you can work on topics of social change, environmental sustainability, and tech if you’re not deep down an optimist
In 2013, Katie joined Apple in Silicon Valley. Building on her core interests and strengths in leadership, product innovation, and sustainable investing, Katie set out to convert Apple’s entire supply chain to renewable energy.
Earlier this year, Katie quit a job she loved at Apple and moved to Nairobi, Kenya with her husband to fulfill their shared mission of making positive social change.
If you want to make a positive social impact, you don’t want to miss Katie’s inspiring story.
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Show Notes
- How she became a TED Fellow in 2009 [2:39]
- On creativity: Social Entrepreneur creates by building something that doesn’t exist. While leading clean energy inside Apple – when the path forward was unclear, pull on your creativity [5:40]
- Took a gap year between high school and college to live in a village 18 hours from Katmandu. Katie began her college years knowing she wanted to work on issues of global poverty and economic development. [8:32]
- After college, Katie moved to India and worked with Acumen for 4 years. She focused on energy, water, and agriculture investment [9:00]
- Her father influenced her decisions to live in the East with his travels while in the Peace Corps. [16:00]
- Left India to go to Stanford for an MBA / MS in Environmental Engineering – with a focus on social innovation [18:00]
- Winding Path to Apple – how do you stay optimistic when the path forward is unclear? [20:00]
- What advice do you have for someone about navigating the politics of a large, matrix organization? [26:00]
- Working in Clean Energy at scale for Apple for 5 years [23:00]
- The decision to leave Apple and move to Africa? I feel alive and get a lot of meaning living in this part of the world. My skills and capabilities matter more here. [28:00]
- Living in Nairobi, Kenya [31:20]
About Katie Hill
Katie is currently advising Omidyar Network (impact investment network with $1.2 billion deployed) on building an energy investment portfolio across Africa.
She launched and led Apple’s Clean Energy Program, an ambitious program to transition Apple’s product manufacturers worldwide to renewable energy. Her team enabled 3GW of new clean energy contracted for Apple production in less than 2 years, primarily in China. Katie led >10 joint-ventures in renewable energy across 6 provinces in China (>500MW). She also co-led Apple’s first issuance of a $1.5 billion green bond; the largest of any US company.
A TED Fellow and World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader,” she has a Stanford MBA and an MS in Environment & Resources. Before Apple, Katie spent 5 years with Acumen, primarily in India. She launched Acumen’s Energy Portfolio there and currently sits on Acumen’s Advisory Council.
Katie has lived and worked for more than 6 years in East Africa and South Asia. At age 17, she moved to rural Nepal for a year, which was a transformative experience and changed the course of her life.
Her work experience also includes McKinsey & Company, Generation Investments, and Dalberg Global Advisors.
Contact Katie – Links
- Katie’s blog https://medium.com/katie-hill-chronicles
- Connect with Katie on LinkedIn and Instagram
- Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer
- Kibera slum: 1 million people live in the slum called Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. Also, more than 1/2 of Nairobi’s residents live in slums.
Inspired Wisdom
Cynder Niemela, MA, MBA is an award-winning author and internationally recognized expert in executive coaching and developing global teams. An American growing up in the Middle East and Europe, Cynder leverages her international experience working in the Middle East as one of a few women permitted to work in Saudi Arabia. First, as a marine biologist followed by years of developing leaders and teams for Saudi-ARAMCO. Mission: Interview people from 100 countries who are working with heart and mind for positive social impact.