Join us in welcoming Tom Light as our new Executive Director!
He’ll help set the strategic direction and will represent us and our work to potential funders and adopters.
We asked Tom four questions to get to know him a little better:
Q: Why did you decide to come to Ice911 Research?
Over the past 7 years, I’ve seen how devastating climate change-related events can be to vulnerable populations in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. As a practitioner, I’ve been frustrated with the lack of large-scale proposed solutions. Ice911 represents a safe solution to ameliorate global warming now. It’s something that we should scale immediately. And the opportunity to join a small, yet powerful organization with a single-minded focus on what I consider to be the fight of our time was too much to resist!
Q: What do you hope to accomplish over the next six months?
I look forward to meeting the donors that support our work (you!) while preparing the organization for the dynamic growth and scale that will be required to execute field testing in the Arctic. I have the luxury to join an organization whose solution is already working! Ice911 is viewed globally as a thought leader that has been working to save polar ice since 2006.
Q: What would you say is your leadership style?
An inspirational style coupled with a sense of humor is critical. Leaders need to maintain a positive attitude when it comes to climate change, practice pragmatic optimism and propose audacious solutions that meet the size of the crisis. My core leadership traits in building effective teams are to lead by example and to remind myself to act as if success was inevitable.
Q: Tell us a little bit more about your personal background—family, interests, and hobbies?
When I’m not preoccupied with polar ice, I enjoy parent teaching at my son’s preschool, marathon running, kayaking in the bay and watching my favorite telenovelas from Colombia. I’m an annoying University of Michigan football fan (Go Blue!) and credit my spiritual upbringing for guiding me towards the social sector later in life.
To read more about Tom, see our official press release.
- Susan Kramer, Communications