Welcome to the next installment of our new Staff Spotlight feature, where we share a brief interview to introduce you to some of our amazing staff members here at GRID Bay Area! This month we\u2019d like to introduce you to one of our two new SIS’s in Training, Amy. Her history includes adventures both abroad and at home, dedicated activism to stop oil drilling in the Pacific Northwest and expertise in electric work as crew lead for GRID partner, Habitat for Humanity East Bay. Thoughtful and warm, you’re sure to learn a ton when you’re on the roof with Amy. Keep checking back to meet more fabulous GRID Bay Area staffers!<\/p>\n
Name: Amy Hutto, Bay Area Solar Installation Supervisor in Training<\/strong><\/p>\n How did you come to GRID?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI first encountered GRID Alternatives when I was working for Habitat for Humanity EBSV as the electrical crew leader. The GRID crew rolled up with their trailer full of tidy, organized and well-labeled parts and tool bins, and I was impressed. The crew leaders were friendly and knowledgable and everybody seemed to have a good time. The more I found out about the company, the more interested I became. I left Habitat because I had an opportunity to move to a small mountain village in the state of Oaxaca, Mx., but sooner than I had hoped or planned, I was back in the US. After a few years of doing small construction projects for the Greenpeace equipment warehouses in Oakland and Washington D.C., I decided to pursue a longstanding interest in solar, having only ever worked with a few off-grid systems. That said, GRID was the only workplace that I actually considered applying, as the mission is the real draw for me.\u201d<\/p>\n What is your favorite GRID moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a particular moment, but working with Rising Sun so far has been the highlight for me, because meeting these folks and seeing their hunger for knowledge and being able to show them something – and then seeing them get it – it\u2019s exciting! Also, I must mention the many delicious meals that have been prepared by gracious homeowners and tenants. Cooking is not my thing and being cooked for is one of the best things ever, and something I had no idea could happen as part of the installs!\u201d<\/p>\n What is a fun fact about you? <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI was one of the \u2018kayaktivists\u2019 that, in 2015, went head-to-head with a towering Shell oil rig in Seattle. We stalled them long enough that they missed leaving port at high tide and got stuck in a shallow area just outside the bay for another day in an already dwindling drilling \u201cwindow\u201d for the frozen Arctic. Though mostly symbolic, the action garnered a lot of press and public support, including internationally. A month later, I was on a bridge in Portland, supporting one of 13 climbers that dangled in front of the ship called \u201cThe Fennnica,\u201d part of the same drilling fleet. This caused another delay, again more symbolic than logistical, but again featured prominently in the media. Shortly thereafter, Shell announced that they would scrap plans for drilling in the Arctic citing exorbitant costs, and public disfavor.\u201d<\/p>\n What GRID Value most resonates with you?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cEquity. It\u2019s important to me that we find ways to balance out the world \u2018cause right now it\u2019s so terribly imbalanced. For me it\u2019s beyond the no-cost solar – it\u2019s how I see the person, it\u2019s how I relate to the person.. we\u2019re equals. It\u2019s a really important part of the job to me – is to recognize that. It\u2019s only circumstances that have me as a GRID employee rather than a person receiving the services. Lilla Watson, an Australian Aboriginal artist once famously said, \u2018If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.\u2019 I try to always keep these words close so that I don\u2019t fall into the delusion of \u2018othering\u2019 which is in the least case unhelpful and in the worse case, quite harmful.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to the next installment of our new Staff Spotlight feature, where we share a brief interview to introduce you to some of our amazing staff members here at GRID Bay Area! This month we\u2019d like to introduce you to one of our two new SIS’s in Training, Amy. Her history includes adventures both abroad and at home, dedicated activism to stop oil drilling in the Pacific Northwest and expertise in electric work as crew lead for GRID partner, Habitat for Humanity East Bay. Thoughtful and warm, you’re sure to learn a ton when you’re on the roof with Amy. Keep checking back to meet more fabulous GRID Bay Area staffers!<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[27],"region":[],"series":[85],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-3766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organizational-stories","content-type-news","focus-area-volunteers","series-staff-spotlight"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"\n