LEAP Project - 1. Overview and Intro to Team by Allison Ashcroft 15mins 9Jan19
Channel: Canadian Urban Sustainability Practitioners
Date: 14/01/2019

CUSP's quarterly member meeting in Jan 2019 focused on the LEAP (Local Energy Access Program) project.   

This 15 min webinar presentation by CUSP's managing director, Allison Ashcroft, provides an overview of the LEAP project phases, deliverables, and project team.   The LEAP project for 2019/20 will work with CUSP cities to operationalize the Equitable Clean Energy Program Design Guidebook for Local Governments and Partners available at: https://www.cuspnetwork.ca/equity-in-energy-transformation/

Allison's overview is a lead-in to two presentations with LEAP project team partners:
1) Maryam Rezeai who provides an introduction to energy poverty and why it matters in climate action work.  
2) Michel Frojmovic who details the approach the project team will take in developing a nationwide, neighbouhood-scale equity and energy poverty mapping tool and data table for supplemental analysis.

Bio, Allison Ashcroft:
Allison is the managing director of the Canadian Urban Sustainability
Practitioners (CUSP), a peer network for municipal sustainability
practitioners from Canada’s large and leading cities who collectively
work to advance climate and sustainability policy and program
initiatives. CUSP, is the Canadian Partner Network of USDN, a network
of 800 local government professionals from 170+ cities in Canada and
the USA. CUSP is incorporated as a non-profit.

The primary function of the managing director is to drive the
implementation of CUSP’s three-year strategic plan. Beyond curating
connecting opportunities for members and partners and maintaining
an effective network, the managing director provides added capacity
to members by pursuing strategic plan goals related to:
• Conducting research and analysis in the following focus areas –
impact finance, equitable inclusion and access, data measurement
and reporting.
• Helping to shape federal policy and programs, and
• Mobilizing funding for high-impact solutions.