Tiffany Huynh, Senior Director of External Affairs at Elemental Impact, met with Punahou students and faculty this week to discuss how innovation and entrepreneurship are addressing climate change. The talk story session was coordinated through the Davis Democracy Initiative, which connects students with leaders working in public impact, civic engagement and community resilience.
Elemental Impact, founded in Hawai‘i, is a nonprofit investor that supports startups developing solutions in clean energy, sustainable agriculture, mobility, carbon reduction and the circular economy. Huynh highlighted examples from Elemental Impact’s portfolio, including:
- Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative – strengthening local food systems and regenerative agriculture
- Biki – reducing transportation emissions through Honolulu’s bikeshare network
- Ampaire – creating hybrid-electric aircraft to cut aviation emissions
- CarbonCure – storing CO₂ in concrete to lower the carbon footprint of construction
- Shifted Energy – enabling households to save energy through smart grid technology
- Glacier – using AI-powered robotics to improve recycling and reduce landfilled waste
- Planet FWD – helping companies track and reduce their carbon emissions
Huynh also explained how Elemental Impact evaluates companies based on climate impact potential, community benefit and founder experience. By learning about real-world climate solutions and the growing clean innovation sector, students gained insight into practical ways they can help protect the environment through future careers, research and informed decision-making.
During a Q&A session, students asked about the role of artificial intelligence in sustainability, clean energy innovation and how investment decisions are made in the climate sector.
