Opportunity Miami

Can the third largest school district in America be powered by 100 percent clean energy by 2030? Across the country, it may hard to find any organization of this size contemplating such an ambitious goal. In this conversation with Miami-Dade School Board Member Luisa Santos, we explore where this bid stands. Santos is a product of the local public school system, and is focused on transitioning the school district to a clean energy revolution with electric school buses and solar powered schools, to start. “It's very exciting to lead in this and for the third largest school district in the nation to do it really could set an example for the whole nation and how school districts can and should play a big role in moving our country forward,” she told Opportunity Miami.

Greater access to public transportation means greater opportunity, according to Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert. From housing affordability and income inequality to driving economic growth and decarbonizing our economy, how people get around is at the center of it all. The way Greater Miami builds its transportation future over the next two decades will play an outsized role in determining what the broader future will look like. Gilbert joins us to discuss the future of mass transit in Miami-Dade County.

Established in 2012, ECOncrete is a manufacturer of concrete products intended to enhance the biological and ecological value of coastal and marine infrastructure. By enabling life on concrete, projects can meet both climate action goals as well as business goals. Chief Commercial Officer Michal Judovits told us. “I am confident that by 2040 no one will think about putting traditional gray concrete in the water, knowing what it does,” she said in our recent interview.

Miami native Francesca “Cesi” de Quesada Covey leads the county’s efforts to accelerate innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment as part of Mayor Cava’s #FutureReady economic development strategy. This includes determining how innovation and new technologies can help our economic future by focusing on three pillars: unleashing innovation, advancing workforce talent, and supporting small businesses.

Rini Greenfield is the Founding General Partner at Rethink Food – a venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs who are helping build the future of food. They invest in companies that help support the production, availability, and demand for healthier and more sustainable food for all people. As an impact investor, Rethink Food is looking for disruptive businesses operating across the entire food system with a focus on entrepreneurs seeking to provide sustainable and accessible food and beverage solutions for a growing population.

Terri-Ann Brown is the Director of the $10M grant from the Good Jobs Challenge initiative by the US Economic Development Administration behind Miami Tech Works. Launched in February 2023 at Miami Dade College Idea Center, the main goal is to create a sustainable and fortified local tech talent pipeline, closing the gap between companies looking for tech talent and the number of talented students and people in Miami for those high-paying jobs.

Eve Air Mobility is one of the electrical vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (or eVTOL) companies focused on taking four passengers on short trips in major cities. Eve expects to be certified by 2025 with commercial operations beginning the following year. The market will grow quickly and scale toward high-frequency operations within a decade, said Matthew Land, who leads government relations and public policy for Eve. For Miami-Dade County, that signals a need for an integrated ecosystem of regulations, technologies, and infrastructure to support safe and efficient operations, while meeting growing passenger demand for urban flights. Eve is already working on a Miami-Dade County Urban Air Mobility blueprint to engage with the community, different departments, and public-private stakeholders to figure out what needs to be put into place before eVTOLs can become a reality. Eve is collaborating with the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization on a final report that’s expected to be released within a few months. The county is “certainly well on the path towards preparing for eVTOL operations in the coming future,” Land said.

It’s often said that talent is everywhere but opportunity is not. This has long been the case in tech. To bridge the racial digital divide, one Miami native is going from the music to the tech industry. “There’s some very talented people right here in South Florida and all they need is an opportunity, and that’s what TechNolij is here to do,” said Ted Lucas of the nonprofit. Lucas founded Slip-N-Slide Records in 1994 and sold more than 30 million records with artists like Trina, Trick Daddy, and Rick Ross before starting TechNolij (pronounced “tech-knowledge”), an innovation center on Florida Memorial’s campus in Miami Gardens “to have creative people come, we’re gonna find you a job at these major corporations and get you an opportunity and apprentice program and we’re gonna make sure you go through it.”

Miami has been described as the epicenter of the climate change crisis in the country. But how can Miami transform its climate vulnerability into solutions? Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter released a study in 2022 that focused on Miami’s climate action and economic growth. In our interview, she describes how Miami can become a global climate solutions hub by reinventing its tech and climate scene.

We are undergoing an electric revolution. With electric vehicle registrations up, so is demand and interest in technology and infrastructure that can make charging more convenient, not just for cars but for our everyday lives. “The way the grid has operated for 100 years is going to change dramatically, and we're enabling that transition, and we're going to make it work as a very positive experience for consumers,” said Ty Jagerson of General Motors. He leads GM Energy’s V2X team, which focuses on energy services that can power more than just vehicles. “So if you've ever talked to someone that's had a chance to drive around in one of the GM electric vehicles, there's just this, pop, this power that you get, and all that power is also available for other applications. So you can literally use it to power your home, or if you're at a construction site, you'll be able to use it to power tools or lighting whole buildings.” That power of electricity creates additional opportunities to offset some costs and save on energy bills while also having an exciting driving experience. GM Energy will be supporting the rollout of the home hardware solutions that will enable this transformation toward a zero-emission future, led by GM’s vehicles, all of which are expected to be electric by 2035.