Our Mission
We develop smart policies at every scale to accelerate the just and equitable deployment of advanced nuclear technologies. Our research is rooted in social science and champions a whole-of-government approach, so that communities can go from ideas, to development, to thoughtful and effective deployment faster and more efficiently.
Why We Do It
We believe all communities should have equitable access to clean energy that will meet their needs and create high-quality jobs. Nuclear energy is up to the task, but it’s going to need to look different. We don’t just mean new technologies—the entire industry needs to change from the ground up. Nuclear needs to grapple with the injustices of its history. We need a social science policy research agenda to match the engineering innovations. And most importantly, we need a diverse group of rising leaders who can partner with the climate movement to create an aggressive, coherent vision to address climate change and inequality. We wanted to create a new kind of organization that would do just that, and we’re ready to get out hands dirty.
Structure and Funding
Good Energy Collective is a nonprofit organization currently incubated by the Fastest Path to Zero Initiative at the University of Michigan. We operate using a "worker self-directed" nonprofit model, so that Collective members can have greater agency and influence as part of our organization. We are currently pursuing philanthropic funding and do not receive financial support from industry.
Our Team
The Collective is an interdisciplinary group of scientists, researchers, engineers, nuclear policy experts, and science communicators. Learn more about them on the profiles listed below.
Press
For more information about our work, check out these two links: An interview with our founders from Vox.com and a nuclear webinar video, featuring insights from Collective co-founder Jessica Lovering and Board Chair Rachel Slaybaugh.
Nuclear power has been top-down and hierarchical. These women want to change that.
Investments in nuclear energy could help solve the economic and climate crises
Advanced Nuclear Tech in a Decarbonized Energy Future: Feasible or Fantastical?
Conduct & Ethics
We’ve put together a Code of Conduct that lays out how we expect everyone to conduct themselves while participating with Good Energy Collective, including staff and Board members. Our employees and Board members also commit to abide by our Statement of Ethical Behavior.
DEI Statement
Good Energy Collective has an unequivocal commitment to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We believe that diversity includes supporting and respecting the personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. These differences include age, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, marital status, military service status, geographic origin, parental status, physical appearance, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socieconomic status, and more.
We seek to provide an inclusive environment where everyone is treated fairly and has equal access to opportunities, a commitment that lies at the heart of our mission. Specific actions we commit to take include:
- Elevate voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+, and women through writing and speaking opportunities, and continually seeking to improve our procedures for inviting contributors.
- Centering frontline and marginalized communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change.
- Providing training and educational opportunities for our staff and Board that specifically address racism and biases.
- Paying fair rates for all work done for the Collective.
- Ensuring our policies have DEI as an essential value from the beginning, not as an afterthought.
