EcoPower '26 · Nine Weeks
EcoPower '26
“If you have the ability to help, do it. Three summers in Brooklyn doing this work has layered something on me. The Flats isn't just a place I worked in. It kept asking me to come back.”
What I Knew vs. What I Know Now
“I didn't think of civic infrastructure and the stuff I actually love as related. But Dying Light and Left 4 Dead are about systems, survival and community — which is exactly what emergency planning is. You can be two things at once. They're not opposites.”
The Moment I Surprised Myself
“Day one I said 'tired.' That was honest. I was sore and intimidated more than once — and the presentation was still mine, and I kept reworking it every time I got feedback instead of defending the version I already had. Standing behind a table with magnets on it, waiting for someone to stop, was scarier than the research. I did it anyway.”
What I Want to Build Next
“I want to get better at talking to people in front of a crowd, and figure out how you invite someone in without it feeling like an interruption. I'm leaving with knowledge and experience. Both of those I earned.”
Gratitude
People who shaped this work
Ndidi Chimah
Graduate Practitioner, EcoPower '26
Allyson
Report Back Logistics — secured the magnets
Jay, Victoria & Carlisha
Community & Civic Research team
Krissa
Community Network Video huddle
On the ground