Kenya Stump describes herself as “an innovative professional specializing in sustainability, biofuels, environmental management systems, and regulatory compliance issues.” 

A 2010 Together Green fellow, 2020 USGBC Leadership Award recipient, and current Executive Director at the Kentucky Office of Energy Policy, Kenya Stump helped make Kentucky the first state to leverage the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program funding to implement PEER projects in her state.   

Kenya’s efforts have led to PEER certification of well-known facilities across the state — the Electric Plant Board in the city of Glasgow, the Nolin Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, and the storied U.S. Army installation Fort Knox. Her work on these three projects helps serve reliable, resilient power to an estimated 60,000 plus people a day.  

And another project that Kenya helped facilitate in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis came to fruition in May of 2020. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman announced more than $600,000 in U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program grants to support Kentucky education, reduce the energy burden in low-income communities, and improve energy security. At the heart of this announcement was Kenya’s vision for applying SEP to power system reliability and resilience and leveraging the program to make a real difference in the state.

The governor cited the significance of this by saying, “Affordable electricity is a primary driver of our economy and essential for the wellbeing of everyone. Now more than ever in this time of the coronavirus pandemic, it is important to ensure continuing affordability and resilience of Kentucky’s energy resources.”  

Kenya is also currently managing Kentucky’s Brownfield, Environmental Leadership, and Compliance Assistance programs. She has remained an advocate for leveraging the SEP program to bring reliable, resilient power to America’s cities, including GBCI‘s efforts to replicate the PEER program for additional State Energy Offices.   

Kenya is a woman whose leadership embodies the powerful values of USGBC and GBCI: A commitment to educating others on the intersection of energy and health, and the impact of energy efficiency on creating a better quality of life.