Convo: Ari Matusiak on Electrifying Everything in Our Communities
In this episode of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Ari Matusiak, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rewiring America, the leading electrification non-profit, focused on electrifying everything in our communities. Ari is also the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Purpose Venture Group, a social impact incubator building ventures to address climate and economic inequality.
He and Ted discuss his background, growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, attending Brown University for his undergraduate degree, and Georgetown University for his Law degree. Following law school, he served in the Obama White House as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Private Sector Engagement, where he focused on economic policy related to jobs and competitiveness and oversaw the Administration’s relationship with the private sector.
Prior to Rewiring America and Purpose Venture Group, Ari was Chief Strategy Officer at Renovate America, which was the largest residential renewable energy and financing platform in the U.S., financing $3.5 billion of improvements across 150,000 homes. He also co-founded Young Invincibles, a nonprofit delivering economic opportunity to young adults. As the senior executive responsible for strategy and impact investing at the Rhode Island Foundation, he secured over $1 billion of new affordable housing and thousands of new, local jobs.
Rewiring America is working to launch a movement that electrifies everything. His team is motivated by the fact that 90 percent of all emissions in the U.S. are energy-related, and 42 percent of those energy emissions come from the decisions made at around kitchen tables: how we heat our air and water, cook our food, dry our clothes, and what kind of cars we drive. Through accurate, accessible, and actionable data and storytelling tools that power smart, inclusive advocacy and market-transforming partnerships, Rewiring America aims to achieve national emissions goals, improve health, lower monthly bills, and create millions of clean energy jobs.
