To generate power, you have to connect. It’s true of the systems that create electricity and the movements that seek to ensure everyone has access to renewable electric power.
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) is a portrait of what can happen when groups come together and unify their efforts toward positive change. In a world where half the population lives in energy poverty, GEAPP is working to bring clean, green power to a billion people in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
GEAPP Vice President, Americas, & Chief Partnerships Officer Sundaa Bridgett-Jones has seen the organization grow from its first spark, co-created across borders and sectors, shaped through a critical in-person convening at the Bellagio Center, and launched in 2021 at COP26.
How did GEAPP go from an idea to a movement unlocking access to green energy around the world?
GEAPP started with the idea of expanding access to electricity by scaling the solar mini-grid work going on in India. The Rockefeller Foundation saw the potential impact of advancing renewables while addressing energy poverty and climate change together, and we started mapping organizations trying to make those issues a major focus of the development agenda. That included the prominent institutions like the World Bank and the International Energy Agency, but we were also thinking about a broader circle of influence beyond those actors.
Bringing people together is key. I’ve been lucky to be a part of so many efforts that involved mobilizing thought leaders, key actors, and champions to create change. Those experiences shaped how we used convening to launch GEAPP.
We started in the middle of the pandemic, convening a group of partners virtually to co-create what is now GEAPP, finding places where we converged, defining the problem, identifying impactful solutions, and creating a charter representing the group and their ideas. Once it was safe to travel, we brought everyone together at the Bellagio Center.
The series of convenings, including the final one at the Bellagio Center, included NGOs and philanthropic and private sector capital partners who wanted to be a part of this big idea to address energy poverty. Sustainable Energy for All CEO Damilola Ogunbiyi walked the group through what it took to move the Nigerian government forward on renewable energy and make investments in one community. Former Unilever CEO Paul Polman brought a clear private-sector perspective, helping solidify thinking on why we needed to productively engage energy companies and bringing additional attention to the technical expertise they can bring to the table.
Those convenings really helped to shape GEAPP, build buy-in, and create a sense of trust, because people’s fingerprints were on it. At the Bellagio Center, IKEA reconfirmed their commitment, and we also brought in Bezos Earth Fund and a number of private sector partners. We had people around that table learning from what we were doing together, watching and being engaged, putting their thought leadership and their money on the table. They wanted to have a stake in its success. Bellagio even helped enable a commitment from the government of Italy itself, which committed €50 million over five years.
Those convenings really helped to shape GEAPP, build buy-in, and create a sense of trust, because people's fingerprints were on it.
Sundaa Bridgett-JonesVice President, Americas, & Chief Partnerships OfficerGEAPP
What was it like seeing the organization you all co-created being unveiled on the world stage?
In 2021, shortly after the Bellagio convening, we launched GEAPP at COP26. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The energy was palpable. I had the great honor again of being the MC for the launch. It was my first time bringing to the stage any head of state, and there wound up being four of them. This was a moment where you think about visionaries, where you say, “there are so many things that are possible,” rather than, “nothing is impossible.” If you really lean into something, you can realize it and create true impact.
We set big goals – unlocking $10 billion in public and private financing; reaching 1 billion underserved people with reliable, renewable power; averting 4 billion tons of carbon emissions; and driving economic growth by creating, enabling, or improving 150+ million jobs. Now we’re working together to achieve them.
What’s needed for GEAPP’s work to break through to the next level?
Two of the great lessons we’ve learned are how to execute together and what executing as an alliance actually means. We even came up with a new word, “alliancing,” which may not be in the dictionary, but I hope will be part of our language. This fall, GEAPP is doing a series around what it means to build an alliance. We’ve also developed a new Partner Field Guide on what partnering really looks like and what it means to convene.
Over the past year, we have been talking about not just building an alliance but creating a movement to address energy poverty and climate change while ameliorating economic development for people who are some of the most marginalized. Achieving that means bringing people together in a spirit of radical collaboration.
To understand what I mean by that, think about the end of apartheid and the establishment of democratic government in South Africa. That, to me, is the greatest example of radical collaboration. Think about what actually had to happen to achieve that, not only in South Africa, but around the world. Visualize the level of alignment, collaboration, deal-making, and trust-building that are required to create such massive, positive change. That’s the way we need to think to build a movement.
Convening is critical to making that happen. We have to bring in people who are currently not even in our network. I’m sure there is a passionate youth leader somewhere in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who needs to be part of this circle of influence. They need to be part of this movement that we’re all building, and there is so much that we can learn from them. That’s exciting.
Movements created through collaboration produce greater impact than any organization could generate on their own. Building and maintaining them takes effort, care, and intentionality, but to Sundaa Bridgett-Jones, the results are worthwhile. “It’s hard to do, and it has a life of its own,” she said. “But it feels great to be in something where we can see we’re making a difference.”
Learn More:
- Learn more about The Rockefeller Foundation’s work with GEAPP to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
- Watch video from the launch of GEAPP at COP26.
- Read GEAPP’s 2023 People and Planet Report.