Staff Spotlight

Community Energy Project is proud to provide a variety of direct, in-homes services and educational workshops, and participate in important advocacy work. Behind all of these vital efforts is a team of vibrant, multifaceted, and hardworking individuals. We are excited to introduce the CEP Staff Spotlight, a series dedicated to the people who make everything we do possible. Today’s spotlight shines on CEP’s Engagement Manager, Haley Mountain.

“Imagination decides everything.” – Blaise Pascal 

1.Describe your role at CEP and what makes you passionate about your position. As the Engagement Manager, I oversee our community education programs and the staff that run them. The work I do changes week to week and can include everything from developing new workshop content, to finalizing reports, filling in on the delivery of a workshop, or meeting with new organizations to explore ways we can partner together and reach common goals. I love that my role encompasses so many different activities and challenges me in new ways, which means I’m always growing professionally and learning new things.

2. Describe your work/relevant personal background and how this empowers you at CEP. I received my BA in Environmental Policy and my BS in Environmental Science from Western Washington University, with the goal of avoiding Environmental Education completely. Funny enough, I’ve now spent the past 10 years of my career solely working in environmental education for people as young as 4 years old all the way up to a 100 year old gentleman I met this past winter. My first job out of college as an AmeriCorps member running an education program for elementary schools was the first major step into environmental education and it has somehow snowballed from there to now managing CEP’s Education Team. I simply love talking with other people about how we can foster a sustainable and healthy natural environment. I want to see that kind of information shared with every community, not just those with the privilege of time, money, and access to learn it themselves.

3. Describe the program/department you run and why it is important to CEP/the community you serve. I directly manage our program coordinators that deliver our education programs, one of which is our flagship program that has operated since 1979, the Winter Weatherization Workshop. Serving the low-income community in the Portland area to help residents feel safe and comfortable within their home has always been the foundation of what CEP does. I’m extremely honored to play a part in delivering all our workshops to hundreds of people every year. The fun thing about the work my team does is that it changes every year based on the needs of the people we serve. So yes, we are still providing a workshop that was first created in 1979, but everything from the content, to the materials, to the partners we work with, is completely adaptable to the needs and wants of the people we serve.

4. What is a problem that the Portland community faces and how is your team addressing the issue? Portland has an ongoing problem with affordable housing, both for renters and homeowners, that has only been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Because of that, I have become extremely passionate about empowering renters with information and actions they can take to improve their home when it comes to safety, comfort, and efficiency. Over the years, we have seen an increase in the number of low-income renters in our workshops and have utilized their feedback to ensure we are appropriately serving them along with low-income homeowners. This has meant we have started partnering with more affordable housing providers so we can give workshops directly to their residents and altering the workshop content and supplies we give out to ensure they are renter-friendly.

5. What makes CEP unique in addressing climate change? CEP values the power that each individual person has to alter the home they live in, the homes their community lives in, and the larger ‘home’ we all live in. And we value that regardless of how much money a person has, how much or little they understand environmental jargon, or how experienced they are in DIY home maintenance. 

6. What is your favorite hobby? Pinball. I never knew it was so intertwined with the Portland bar scene, but my husband has thoroughly enjoyed getting me into pinball tournaments over the years and now we’re in a league together that plays weekly. It’s fun, it’s cheap, and it’s a great way to explore Portland.