An Interview with Wes Hadley, Climate People's New Business Operations Manager

Please provide a brief summary of your professional background:

I have always been interested in advancing social and environmental solutions at the intersection of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. I am a proud alumnus of Indiana University where I earned a BS in Public and Nonprofit Management and an MPA focused on Sustainable Development and Social Entrepreneurship. I also expect to graduate with my MBA at UMass Amherst in December. During my time at IU, I was asked to serve as the founding Benefit Director for an AgTech startup called The Bee Corp, which was and is focused on creating innovative hive grading solutions for the commercial beekeeping and pollination industry. Shortly after graduating, I co-founded an online fundraising platform called Like it to Give whose mission was to create a way for individuals to donate to nonprofits simply by liking photos on social media. For the last several years, I have been working for an after-school entrepreneurship program in the Boston area called The Possible Project that helps high school students to start and run their own businesses. I started as an Entrepreneurship Educator and transitioned into an Operations and Technology leadership role focused on both day-to-day ops and designing and implementing scalable systems and processes to prepare the organization for a significant five-year expansion. I am also entering my eleventh year of service in the Army National Guard (ask me about my experience leading medical operations in Central America or during the MA National Guard COVID response).

Why do you want to work in climate tech?

As the adverse effects of climate change continue to increase, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions that can slow or reverse the carbonization of the planet. I’m excited to be entering the climate tech sector because of the industry’s potential to bring those solutions to market. I believe strongly in the need for responsible personal action and climate policy reform, but those alone cannot solve the current climate crisis without improved technology and infrastructure.

Why did you choose to work for Climate People? What excites you about the role?:

One thing that resonates with me about Climate People is that the organization values climate optimism and believes in both the urgency of the climate crisis and also the potential for novel solutions. Climate People is uniquely positioned to help fill a major gap in the climate tech market by helping to match rapidly-growing companies with the technical talent they need to scale their products and their missions. I am excited to use my operations skillset to help Climate People create and scale systems and processes that will allow us to amplify our impact by keeping up with the growing demand for climate tech staffing.

Fun facts about you? What do you do in your free time, passions or hobbies, etc.:

I am an occasional folk musician, local foodie, and home beer-brewer and coffee-roaster (check out my Boston area Coffee Guide)! You can often find me working on one of an endless string of home renovation projects or camping and exploring the outdoors with my wife, Sophia, and our dog, Carlo.

‍